Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/76198
This lot was cleared of trash and a cover crop established to prepare it for planting. THE KINGS of Flint J acky and Dora King have been urban farmers for about six years. The six acres that they farm now contain two hoop-style greenhouses, vegetable gardens, and a 200-tree fruit orchard. The property used to hold a row of abandoned houses and a commercial business that repaired cars, Dora King said. It's located on the north side of Flint, Michigan, in an area called Beecher, which used to be a thriving community with a strong main street, she said. In the 1980s, General Motors began reducing its automobile manufacturing business in Flint, and with it went Turnstead, an automotive parts manufacturing company located in Beecher. Michael Moore's movie, Roger and Me, documents the effects of GM's decision to set up factories in Mexico and end the jobs of 30,000 of the 80,000 GM workers in Flint. Dora and her husband moved to Beecher 24 years ago. They started a business, King Karate, teaching martial arts to young people, and from that base they built a nonprofit organization called Youth Karate-Ka Harvesting Earth Educational Farm. They applied to the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation for the trees, help in plant- ing the orchard, and the training to manage them. The urban orchard was planted on May 20 by about 200 volunteers, including the Kings' students. Dora calls it "the process of reinventing ourselves," using vacant urban land to make city dwellers more self-reliant and healthier. From using martial arts as a way to teach low-income kids self-control and self-esteem, they went into produce gar- dening to teach youngsters how to work and how to profit from work, and to bring fresh produce into the community. The Kings learned quickly how to tap into the traditional land-grant university services rural farmers use. They found Michigan State University Extension and educator Bob Tritten, who serves horticulturists in all of eastern Michigan. He set up classes for them and their students. The latest was in fruit tree pruning. They were the first urban farmers to win the state's Small Farmer of the Year Award, selected in 2011 for their conservation efforts by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Michigan. The Kings and their students spent three years clearing lots and then growing cover crops and otherwise preparing the soil for planting. The vacant land had been a dumping ground for trash and was filled with broken concrete, old tires, couches, and other junk. They began selling produce in 2008. Their unheated hoop houses operate year-round. In winter, the Kings grow spinach and other cold-tolerant crops. The rest of year, they grow carrots, pota- toes, tomatoes, onions, peas, broccoli, lettuce, peppers, and they also raise chick- ens. They grow vegetables outdoors, on vacant lots, as well. Youth Karate-Ka, the nonprofit, now owns 33 vacant lots in Flint and Beecher. Young people who work on the farm earn money from selling produce at the Flint Farmers' Market, to local restaurants, and to local residents. The principles that apply to vegetable produce will be used with fruit from the orchard. One key thing that has helped the Kings and others like them was the state of Michigan's decision a decade ago to create the Michigan Land Bank. It streamlined the process for returning tax-reverted properties to productive use. Instead of wait- ing seven years and then auctioning off the properties—with title remaining clouded—the Land Bank system hands reverted properties to the local county treasurer, along with clear title, and then works with the treasurer to determine the best use of the land. Vacant lots are often sold to adjoining property owners for as little as a dollar. Vacant houses and other buildings are either demolished or rehabilitated. Aban- doned buildings, as well as being an eyesore, attract drugs and crime, cost money to police and maintain, and lead to further degradation of the neighborhood. The Michigan Land Bank currently has for sale 8,000 residential or commercial properties that were foreclosed for delinquent real property taxes. Another of the Kings' benefactors is the Ruth Mott Foundation. She was the wife of Charles Stewart Mott, one of the original founders of General Motors, which began in Flint in 1908. The Motts were very much concerned about the vitality of their city, and created supportive foundations. The Kings say their goal is to make the farming operations self-sufficient, and not dependent on foundation funds. The Kings have been featured in newspaper articles, film documentaries, and videos. Find them on YouTube by searching for The Kings of Flint. —R. Lehnert "Maybe now it is Detroit's turn to feed those suburbs. There is a lot of open land in the city, and there is rapidly increasing interest in local production of food for ecological reasons. "A number of interested groups have been eagerly promoting the idea of city farming for several years, but Detroit officials have been slow to embrace the idea. I don't fully understand why, but I suspect a significant part of the reluctance is simply the conceptual issue: It is difficult to imagine farms as anything but the antithesis of cities. "Farmland is what we've always cleared to build cities. To reverse the process can feel like we're giving up on cities altogether." For more information, go to the Web site,www.ftpf.org. www.goodfruit.com • GOOD FRUIT GROWER AUGUST 2012 45 LEADER IN BIOTIC BIOLOGICAL FERTILIZERS Ano the Pe fe n o theh er r rema kabl Perfect B le nd res BioticCalcium C m a r kabbl e in no i nn ovnn ovation from esearch la bo boratories! ™ Unique high calcium biotic fertilizers in a machine spreadable granule form. 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Calcium is particularly effective in breaking up compacted soil caused by sodium and clay to allow less tillage and increasing topsoil depth. Calcium promotes water infiltration, retention and conservation which allows water to become more available in chemical terms. Test show farmland treated with gypsum can require up to 33% less water. This savings along can pay for the cost of application of BioticCalcium™. Only Perfect Blend has been able to manufacture a product that is as advanced and as topsoil efficient as BioticCalcium™. Growers have used gypsum for over 200 years. The remarkable marriage of these two products creates an entirely new soil nutrient. Pasco 509.545.1865 Plymouth 509.783.4076 Moses Lake 509.766.7772 188 106th Avenue NE, Suite 401 Bellevue, WA 98004 Phone: 425.456.8890 Fax: 425.456.8889 www.perfect-blend.com 2001-2012 Perfect Blend Biotic Fertilizer © All copyrights reserved. Photos courtesy of the fruit tree Planting foundation