- project leader
- Hollie B
- location
-
11305 Woodland Ave.(Buckeye-Woodland )
- latest update rss
- No updates yet.
the project
Under the right circumstance farmers sometimes get a bumper crop, meaning that their crop produced more than anticipated. At Bumper Crop Farm, we see every crop grown, person served, and collaboration made to be a bumper crop of opportunity that may not have happened under different circumstance. Through this lens we expect to see the best in our farm, each other and ourselves. Bumper Crop Farm is a project that not only responds to the Covid19 crisis by meeting basic needs and building social connections, it responds to an opportunity to facilitate the transfer of urban farmland back to the hands of the neighborhood.
After managing this 10 year old urban farm with the Green Corps program, I set off to continue my passion for agricultural education. I joined Peace Corps Nepal as a Food Security Volunteer, but after only one and a half months of training in Nepal, Peace Corps was evacuated globally due to the spread of Covid19. While back in Ohio I brainstormed ways to combine my passion for farming with responding to the Covid19 crisis. Upon discovering the exit of the Green Corps program from this farm and the farmland’s pending transfer to the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority I drafted a project proposal and sent it to anyone who might hear me out. A few successful connections later Bumper Crop Farm was born.
Bumper Crop Farm has four main goals for this season:
- Grow and distribute fresh fruits and vegetables at a ‘pay what you can’ price to the Buckeye-Woodland Community with an emphasis on supporting those unable to leave their homes due to Covid19.
- Support community members who are interested in gardening by offering a community garden, in person and virtual garden education sessions and at home gardening opportunities.
- Act as a hub for community collaborative projects that emphasize health, nutrition, garden and environmental awareness with a focus on how to tackle the localized effects of covid19 present in the community now and the anticipated effects in the near future.
- Provide stipends to community members to do work on the farm.
The money raised in this campaign will allow us to reach our fourth goal, providing stipends to community members to do work on the farm. Providing stipends to community members will accomplish two things: generate temporary income opportunities and provide a rich experience of farm management training to participants.
Your generosity is greatly appreciated and I thank you for helping us fulfill our mission at Buckeye-Woodland Bumper Crop Farm!
Peas and love,
Hollie Baker
the steps
There is already a lot of activity happening at Bumper Crop Farm. Over 15 volunteers (not all there at once) with a total of 205 volunteer hours, have helped to weed, weed whack, repair fencing, prep rows, fertilize, transplant, seed and water donated plants and seeds. With the help of friends and volunteers we have installed two rain water catchments and replaced the plastic cover on one of the two 52ft. hoop houses. A growing support committee is developing among farm neighbors, community gardens, and small businesses nearby. The committee serves as a panel to discuss what is going on at the farm, connect community members to the farm, and brainstorm collaborative projects.
With the help of stipend supported work opportunities I will be able to invite community members to receive pay for consistent labor and management needed on the farm. Having consistent and paid support on the farm will help Bumper Crop Farm to achieve its goals. Simultaneously we will be able to fulfill our goal of providing temporary income opportunities to the community during the covid19 crisis. One effect of funding these stipend supported work opportunities is the transfer of knowledge and skill of farm and garden management to the participants in an experiential way.
Starting week of 5/25 to 10/25 funding will be used to
- Provide a weekly stipend of $50 to one Buckeye-Woodland community member to mow and weed whack
- Provide four weekly stipends of $300 each to four community members working 20hrs per week on the farm
- Fill lawn mower gas can $4 once a month
Work goals on the farm
- Week of 5/18 – 5/31 prep, clean up and amend community garden raised beds for community gardeners, recover the hoop house with plastic, plant collards, kale, broccoli, okra, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and sweet potatoes seed beets, chard, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, onions, and herbs. Provide plants to community gardeners.
- Week of 5/31 – 6/6 continue prepping beds, planting and seed starting, and start a seed crop collaboration with Cleveland Seed Bank.
- By the end of May start up community collaborative flower project and walk by harvest garden.
- Continue community collaboration with local small businesses to start up a micro market on the farm.
- June 16th open first roadside “pay what you can” farm stand.
why we're doing it
The neighborhood surrounding the farm is subject to food apartheid, systematic implementation of a food desert. One result of Covid19 is the disruption of food distribution chains which adds to the pressure of obtaining fresh healthy produce in this community. Our project addresses this issue by shortening the distance to get food to people. This will also spread awareness about the positive impact of shortening the food distribution chain on the local economy and health of the environment. Which in turn may promote interest in growing one’s own produce (the shortest distribution chain), reaping the many benefits of a garden.
This project aims to combat the lack of community interaction caused by Covid19 by offering in-person and virtual garden education sessions. Our community collaboration efforts will allow for building community relations, connections, and support networks. While the future of this urban farmland is uncertain due to the pending development timeline from CMHA this project gives us the ability to facilitate the transfer of urban farmland back into the hands of the neighborhood in an inclusive way. Meaning, that if a collaborative project takes hold and needs room to grow this project will remain flexible and able to adapt to the needs of the community with the resources it has to give.
Furthermore, this project will fund stipend supported work opportunities on the farm in an effort to provide temporary income within the community and act as a direct way to transfer knowledge and skill of farm and garden management to the participants in an experiential way.
budget
Budget Estimates:
Stipend supported work opportunities
Weekly mowing and weed whacking $50 per week for 5 months $1,000
Four Weekly Farm Hand stipends 20hrs a week at $15/hr for 5 months $24,000
TOTAL COST APPROX: $25,000
PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED = $25,000
ioby Platform Fee $35
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) $1,361
"ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $816
TOTAL TO RAISE = $27,212
Please note: ioby fees are estimated and will be calculated based on totals at the end of the campaign.
updates
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photos
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