My friend Greg Peterson is an urban farmer in Phoenix, Arizona. He’s an educator and
longtime foodgrower offering a webinar coming up soon called 3 Simple Steps To Grow Fruits
And Veggies For A Healthier Life (click HERE for more information). He has dedicated his life
to learning how to grow healthy, nutrientdense food and transforming the global food system.
He is one of the leaders in the Food Revolution and I absolutely love what he does.
Click the link below to check this out!
Click here to Join the Food Revolution!
https://dd200.isrefer.com/go/3StepsGrow/rose123
Below is an
article that he wrote about a day on his farm:
There is something to eat in my yard every day, 365 days a year. Last Thanksgiving it
was a wonderful salad that included: Six different greens such as Nasturtium leaves and sorrel
(a surprise find growing in the back ‘wild’ area); ruby red pomegranate seeds; an incredible
citrus called limequat that was sliced up skin and all for a tangy/sweet sensation; and a little bit
of the herbs tarragon and fennel, with a smidge of that pretty little threeleaf clover you see
growing in some yards called sour grass. The flavors were so diverse and striking that I chose
not to add any dressing at all.
I have spent a large part of the past 27 years integrating edible plants into my landscape,
from the Thanksgiving salad and my farm soup, to the occasional snack as I work through my
weekly urban farmer tasks. All the hard work and experimentation has netted an incredible,
edible yard and a hardknock education about how and what grows best in my yard.
When I was in the eighth grade my family moved into a home with a very large yard where
the back 1/3acre became our garden. We planted, the seeds grew and a spark ignited inside of
me…I decided to be a farmer. Over time, my dream became farming 200 acres out there
somewhere, and when I went back to school for my bachelor’s degree I was required to write a
vision for my life. In that vision, “farmer” showed up, but with a twist: Instead of 200 acres, The
Urban Farm was born on a 0.4acre property in Phoenix, AZ and I was a farmer. My gardening
hobby of 10+ years was in reality urban farming, an incredible canvas on which to paint my
dream.
One outlet for my passion has been to relandscape my entire yard with the notion that
everything that I grow is either edible, or supports the plants that are edible. Over the past 27
years I have planted trees that produce edible fruits, nuts and beans such as mesquite;
perennial herbs including basil, rosemary and oregano that I use a hedge trimmer on
periodically; along with the standard annual vegetables – broccoli, snow peas, and cucumbers
to name just a few.
Because of our name, visitors to The Urban Farm have an expectation that they will see
long rows of corn and beans, and a full working traditional farm. To the contrary, much of what
we have accomplished lives in standard garden beds, and if a person visiting did not know any
differently they would just see a nicely landscaped yard.
Magic happens when I stand back and watch the natural processes that exist in my yard.
A couple of decades ago I was fighting a basil plant it wanted to bloom, I wanted the basil
leaves as if I KNEW what was best for it. After a long battle, which I finally learned that I could
not win, I gave up and let the basil bloom, and boy did it bloom. What happened next was one
of those secrets that nature only whispers if you stand back and watch. The bees arrived by the
hundreds, and since then pollination has not been a problem on The Urban Farm.
My job these days has become helping others transform their outdoor living spaces into
edible wonderlands. Offering a plethora of classes on a diverse list of topics is the most natural
way for me to express my passion. Over the years topics such as vermiculture (cultivating
worms for their manure), desert gardening, edible landscaping, fruit trees, and the always
popular “Keeping Chickens in Your Yard” have begun to reconnect Phoenix residents to the
roots of where our food comes from.
Now I’ve expanded my reach to the global community by offering online classes, both free
and paid, to inspire and empower people from around the world to grow their own healthy,
organic food and join the food revolution. My latest free webinar, 3 Simple Steps To Grow
Fruits And Veggies For A Healthier Life, will cover how to choose the right space to plant
your edible garden, how to determine what to plant when, why soil is your most important asset
and gardening hacks that will make growing your own food easy and successful. If you are
excited to join the revolution and start creating your edible yard or patio but have little to no
experience, this webinar was designed for you! Click here to learn more.
Farming the city spaces around us presents a whole new paradigm for growing our own
food and reigniting our connection to nature. The tools are here, and the knowledge is available,
you can kindle your desire by getting your hands dirty, taking a chance and spreading some
seeds. The fruits of your labor are much tastier (not to mention cheaper) than what you find in
the grocery store and come along with the satisfaction that YOU grew them. Many people tell
me of their “black” thumbs as they admire what is grown on The Urban Farm. I reflect back to
them the years of experimenting that I have done, noting the countless plants that did NOT
make under my care… and that is how I learned.
is to use the dried flowers and leaves in a tea or as a topical salve or ointment. As a tea it can help relieve chest congestion & dry cough. And for topical use it can be used to help with excema, poison ivy and some bites or stings.
