The Future Of Urban Farming: LA MicroFarm Grows Food with Rainwater

[@growingyourgreens]

Jump to the following parts of the Episode: 00:16 Don't Grow a Lawn and Waste Water! 01:26 Degnan Microfarm - Grows food for 45 Families at a residence 03:13 The problem with Industrial Grown Food 05:25 Backyard of Farm 06:15 Where is the 5,000 Gallon Water Tank? 07:26 Do this to prevent water runoff 09:09 Using Teraponics to Grow Food to Minimize Water Loss 09:55 7 Foot Tall Vertical Teraponic Growing System 11:35 Crops being Grown in this Vertical Gardening System 13:49 Using Teraponics for growing trees 14:34 Root Boxes to Grow Root Vegetables 15:35 Okra in Standard Boxes using Teraponics 16:05 Growing Herbs on the Wall Boxes at Sildwalk 18:16 Growing Vertically 18:43 Growing the three sisters 19:06 Water Tank Feeds all the Plants 20:50 Interview with Jamiah Hargins 21:26 Why did you decide to Start Crop Swap LA / Microfarms 22:28 How did you now grow 3 microforms 23:02 How is your farm impacting the community? 23:47 Why is important to grow food for the community? 24:50 Why is it important to grow nutrient-dense food? 26:00 Tell me How you are Sold Out and have a waitlist 27:20 How will your 4th Microfarm benefit the community? 29:00 Is your model profitable? How do keep it funded? 30:20 How can people help you with your mission? 31:37 Are there any final words of wisdom you would like to share with my viewers? 32:14 How can contact CropSwap LA?

[@soniatriana9091]

Also, the logistics seem extremely complicated, expensive, & definitely overwhelming for an ordinary low-medium income families or seniors living in their own homes??? What can these families realistically do in their own homes, on a much smaller & simpler, easy to maintain scale???

[@pilsengirl]

I am so proud of my dear friend Jamiah. His modest beginnings working in the garden began in Chicago volunteering in a school garden in Pilsen.

[@ryleesblooms]

We did the same thing In unincorporated Los Angeles county as well but with a focus on pesticide free flowers. 80% of all flowers sold in America travel 3000 miles covered in pesticides illegal in America. It’s not regulated, and a recent study showed florists handling flowers for 2 hours purchased from grocery stores and whole sale markets had 117+ residual pesticides all over their gloves and aprons. Think about where those flowers go? On your table next to your food. So we educate kids on beneficial insects, growing your own food and flowers. Cheers to another local urban farmer!!!

[@belindahopkins7875]

I am so excited to hear young people will learn gardening 😊

[@anthonykeato9574]

Heres the roundup kids 😂 can you imagine the education system teaching ethical growing techniques to our kids?

[@EmpressKadesh]

Really the education should be starting in elementary school. This country fights over if kids should be fed lunch or not (I was shamed my entire youth because I was a foster kid, told I didn't deserve to eat because of the choices of my parents) meanwhile every school should have a garden so the kids can learn to grow their own food.

[@amigosyl4573]

even the start of a ancient way of growing and way of living ! school is made to endoctrinate ! not to be aware of real free life of abundance

[@kimparke6653]

Government run public schools would not do that

[@simplysimple7628]

Absolutely agree. It truly is a scary thing how much people are so dependent on grocery stores and restaurants. I know many people that don’t know how to cook anything. That is CRAZY. Agriculture teachings should be mandatory in all schools. But nope. The system wants the future generations to keep being dependent on it. They don’t want independence. Scary stuff…..

[@shockingdocumentaries4255]

What are you doing about it? Do you garden yourself? Even if you focused on having one plant or starting microgreens that would make a huge difference. It’s easy to get caught up in what’s NOT being done for us and will never get done. But the problem isn’t that you can’t depend on the “powers that be”. It’s the fact that we are so dependent on it we don’t exercise our power to do things for ourselves. Even as people are demonstrating what we can do for ourselves NOW and are being told to garden ourselves, we change the subject to talk about what others AREN’T doing. Meanwhile, many people gardened before the pandemic. Even more started during the shelter-in-place. Some of those people continued and discovered a passion. Others didn’t continue, but learned a new skill and now have everything they need to garden in their emergency prep supplies. You can see many of these people online, at farmer’s markets, and at local libraries during seed and plant swaps. However as long as you keep getting distracted from what you can do for yourself or even the community to focus on groups of people you don’t see as helpful but depend on, the way they want you to, you will NEVER be an independent sovereign adult. Open up your eyes to what you can do and you will see endless possibilities. Before you ask, I do garden myself. I have been for 5 years, the year before the shelter-in-place. All from a studio apartment. Yet some people have seen my plants, even asked for seeds, while claiming you can’t grow food indoors. Some people are so negatively oriented and brainwashed to be dependent that even when they the food growing they STILL insist it can’t be done. Many even get angry when I grow cherry tomatoes upside in soda bottles without a trellis. My plans for a community garden where I’m at has not worked out yet. The more oppressed someone is the harder it is to encourage them to do things that they are interested in and will empower them. You talk about what they can do based off their situation. They tell you have they can’t depend on others to do for them. You clarify that you are talking about them doing for themselves. They say it’s expensive and others that’s not true. If you try to show them EVIDENCE it can be done. They get angry, try to refuse seeing the evidence. Maybe even say how things aren’t that bad. The response is all about complaining, changing the subject to dependency, using myths to defend limitations, and defending the circumstances they hate and not doing the things they are interested in because ‘life is SUPPOSED to be hard’. For some reason thsts an excuse to make it even harder. So I decided to go with the flow and turn that obstacle into a benefit. The same way I turned being broke and very little space by 2 windows, into an opportunity. This year, I’m focusing all my gardening time improving my own indoor garden. Im also focusing on preserving my food using dehydration. I have no equipment or even an oven that works. However that broken oven is the perfect spot to dry my chamomile for tea and cure seeds I’ve saved, like I’m doing right now. The time I would have spent traveling to an outdoor space to garden is being used to write a book debunking myths about gardening. I’m sharing my journey and the things I’ve learned from urban gardening. Mainly the mindset of using what I have to get what I want. It’s about being resourceful to find ways to get things done and how that empowers you as that way of thinking spills over into other areas of your life. It’s all about accepting the things you can’t change: the government Changing the things you can: gardening if you can, bartering to get access to land in exchange for food, etc. And the wisdom to know the difference: and not confuse complaining about what others are doing for you with finding things you can do for YOURSELF. By the way, focusing on perfection and how this program isn’t doing enough good because it could benefit younger kids and complaining about how you didn’t get this stuff as kids, is fallacious thinking. It’s another way to distract you from doing things that empowers you NOW. And conditions you to be dependent on people YOU KNOW are not dependable. While ignoring that HUMAN NEED to be independent as ADULTS. 😮 You have the right to grow food. Land that’s not be used, and hungry children you are so concerned about it distracts you from the solution being talked about. You have the right to feed those kids. Your complaints don’t help them. Why not start a garden? Stop using the excuse the government won’t do it, or the current solutions aren’t good enough, as an excuse to NOT do what you feel called to do. You could use a box lined with a garbage bag filled with dirt, over rocks, leaves, newspaper. Seeds aren’t even needed you can just ‘regrow’ supermarket food you usually throw away. Like lettuce stubs and seeds from the tomatoes you buy. Their are plenty of videos. Food scraps can be used to compost in place by putting it in the bottom of the container under the dirt or on top of the dirt surrounding the plant like mulch. All you need to buy is the potting soil and garbage bag. The rest of the stuff can be donated by retail businesses that have extra boxes, food scraps, seeds and even plants. Many supermarkets will donate produce that’s not fresh but is perfect for regrowing and seed saving. The rest can come from the produce you are throwing away. For $10 dollars you can start a herb or salad garden. If you grow from seed to seed or use supermarket produce to grow to seed, you only have to buy the produce or seed ONCE to keep growing it the rest of your life. There’s also buying seeds in bulk, growing microgreens and sprouts for growing lots of nutrition in a small space within a week. Seed saving also helps provide plenty of seeds. In the past I’ve purposely grew lettuce during the summer in the heat to get seeds. Now I’m growing more salad greens separately in the hottest location I have, to get kale and spinach seeds for next year. All the old seeds from these varieties are being used as microgreens. If you are growing indoors with southeast facing windows or grow lights you can grow fresh produce YEAR ROUND. Whatever you do, please focus on helping yourself to become more empowered FIRST, before you try to help people. As the Bible says, “THE ROAD TO HELL IS OAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS”. People who want to help others, but have a fatalistic mindset, aren’t helpful. They just infect others with their illogical thinking that STOPS any progress from being made. Their plans don’t even make sense because they haven’t took the time to try it out for themselves.

[@Cbaroglio]

Well said. Thank you for sharing.

[@theUrbanGardener]

Such an amazing project! An important farm for those who can’t grow their own, as we all should do!

[@soniafurmage8446]

This is amazing & inspiring! Hope this mentality spreads!💪🌱💕

[@zacklee-of3te]

It has encouraged me to start something local for produce.. I’m getting all the materials as we speak @@soniafurmage8446

[@melissasueferrin3409]

Very inspirational, Wouldn't it be cool if there was one on every block?

[@comicalhomestead]

It absolutely would.

[@davecadena5537]

Love the knowledge that you're sharing. Keep it up John.

[@differentkim]

Jamiah! Good on you! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

[@hargins]

Thank you!!

[@comicalhomestead]

I completely love what you are doing. ❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😊. God has blessed you to make a difference.

[@Theimpromptulife]

This is amazing! I hope every neighborhood starts doing this and forcing government to get out of the way. I’ve heard regions of Oregon are trying to take out small farms by making it almost impossible and extremely expensive to get permits to sell to public and farmers markets. So this makes me really happy to see this!!! This is what we need to have freedom for food sources.

[@oeautobody3586]

Thank you! I'm in Oregon just amazed this governor is not standing for family farms, just amazed.

[@honualohaheenalu6727]

WOW WOW WOW excellent all around system , they thought of every thing!

[@colleen9844]

Awsome!! One of my all time favorite episodes. It's so exciting to see this being done, and the potential is insane!! Thx John for all your hard work 😊

[@terryulmer969]

Thank you for sharing John. Sending love from Arizona. Walk in Beauty, dear!

[@nopelindoputraperkasa5869]

Nice sharing Vidio...Very useful and inspiring Excellent God Bless You Greetings from a traditional Indonesian gold prospector 🇮🇩🌸🌸

[@User5260jo]

Jamiah is so happy with his inspirational ptoject...rightly so! I grow food in my small backyard. I just love to be in the garden.

[@stevegorkowski3246]

Thanks John, Very few people grow here in the city and even less have 300 sq/ft like I have at my house. Here in Wisconsin I finished harvesting the last of the kale and carrots! Keep the great content coming and the great can-do attitude you offer in your videos! It keeps me looking forward to the next growing season!

[@leona-lewispowell6138]

Yes...! We are so... proud of you guys Jemiah!

[@pearlg6411]

What an amazing property. My first response to John's question was that I probably wouldn't put that structure in my front yard either, but It's actually strategic brilliance. It's great advertising, inspirational, and comforting to see (food security is beautiful), and it would be really beautiful to see an entire street of homes like that, especially from a space that is usually lawn that nobody uses or hangs out in.

[@anaelechavez8358]

What a beautiful human being. ❤

[@edwardshepherd5275]

Your lawn cleans all the pollution in the air also cools the temperature down 20 to 30 degrees cooler. I love my lawn and my garden! Love your show too!

[@NamKon26]

Wow, the greenhouse farming techniques discussed at 7:30 were eye-opening! I’m excited to implement these in my own greenhouse. Keep up the great work!

[@djjuicedidit]

I’d love to learn how to do this in my town!

[@gogreenlocally]

Crop Swap is an awesome organization and a great example of what we could do in other cities. ☺👍

[@wemilk]

Thank you John you are an amazing human being and a gift to the world!

[@pascalxus]

freakin awesome! i hope every city and suburban neighborhood can get something like this!

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

All schools should have a garden and a crop gardening program!

[@soniatriana9091]

Janiah is an incredible visionary!! It’s amazing to see how his love for his young daughter’s health & well being is what drove him to CHANGE!! And what a “CHANGE” he has inspired & created!! ✔️It would be great to have him discuss how he & his team came up with such a sophisticated Water Catch System & the serious Plumbing knowledge this system requires!!

[@GtJrGrowsItAlaska]

Hello from Alaska @John

[@growingoutthebox]

Love the idea. Lots of great ideas here. I know I was subscribed to your channel. Thanks for the info.

[@garybrohard3144]

Do they have any videos or plans on how they built that water system?

[@carolynharris1127]

i am just AMAZED!!!

[@Angela3.0]

😊❤Absolutely love this❤😊 Green love💚 mini home Farm 👍

[@Sydney.hiking.legends]

Really cool

[@alicetheegreet]

Back in the 40s, 50s, and through the 70s, people always had a backyard/front yard gardens. It was a planned and strategic plan to move people into growing grass instead of food. It'll be nice if there was a movement back to those times. Home farms/gardens and air/line drying!

[@Debbie-henri]

A fantastic amount of food, that looks so much more interesting than a boring slab of lawn (the latter being nothing but an environmental nightmare). Even if you don't like the design here, you can make one that is much more aesthetically pleasing, even incorpoeating a little 'rewilding' and still help feed your family. I think the owner of this garden has done a brilliant job, is reducing his impact (and that of his local customers) on the environment, his plants doing a much better job of cleaning and refreshing the atmosphere than a lawn ever could.

[@lumumba6865]

Good stuff

[@teedub1990]

The lack of food markets in LA is a real thing. I'm fortunate to live near a Sprouts, Ralphs and Sams but on a drive to my hospital that is 8 or so miles away, there is nothing but fast food outlets. Not one grocery just a few miles away from me. If I lived in that area and didn't have a car, I'd would not be able to get actual food. I in fact don't have a car and rely on others in my household. It's not a hassle to give me a ride to a store less than a mile away. Five to ten miles? yeah, wouldn't happen. This is such a needed thing. I'm really stoked to see the various local solutions to these problems.

[@davecadena5537]

Hey from OC California

[@ivanguajardo7111]

I just had my patio repaved with concrete and thought of doing exactly that, but decided it would be much more expensive that using city water. Could you do a video on how they installed the tank and how much the project cost?

[@lpmoron6258]

You can find all kinds of videos on you tube to show how to set of rain water collection.

[@ryleesblooms]

You can also purchase rv/garden filters to attach to your hose. The rv ones are exactly the same as the garden filters at a fraction of the cost. Just change them out every season. 2 filters $25

[@farmerjeffmays9858]

Gotta Love Growing Your Greens Channel John Kohler is Awesome No Farmers No Farms No Food Everyone Has To Eat Or Starve

[@MyNononono]

Dorsey definitely needs this!!

[@wemilk]

Hello from south East Wi-much love and appreciation!

[@yvonnehyatt8353]

Please teach this to the children in the neighborhoods. Daniel Priestley has good ideas and may can help.Thanks

[@belindahopkins7875]

What does the glue have in it?

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

Nothing beneficial that's for sure. A simple wire grate would hold stones of those size in place without needing to risk leaching toxic chemicals into the water supply.

[@laurajones2032]

Isn’t there a safe glue?

[@honualohaheenalu6727]

how do i have them come to my house to do the same?

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

For fruits and vegetables this is wonderful. We would still need sources of protein, and in my opinion animal sources are best, but this is wonderful for produce. I just love it.

[@freeheeler09]

Chickens or rabbits would both work very well with a micro farm! Also, you can water fruit trees, shrubs and ornamental flowers with grey water.

[@jahnets11]

Very cool...been saying this for years...and I bet it's not sprayed...

[@sunkissedkhala]

I love what they’re doing at Degnan Microofarm! I hate the guy that spent the entire tour criticizing the crops and stuff. Just kind of rude on the interviewer’s part.

[@CharlesJustinKennedy]

One mile is also the same as the 15min cities. Basically going back to pre-industrial revolution

[@mikebunetta7420]

Live the amish lifestyle without the religion and twice the politics 😮😂😂😂

[@AndreaDingbatt]

AWESOME!!

[@laurajones2032]

EXACTLY 0:43 CRAZY LAWNMOWERS!!!!

[@ElectricSoul828]

Every American should be doing micro farms.

[@LeeDaiYing]

❤❤❤ it is very touching ❤

[@anitahamlin2411]

Awesome!

[@mokgaetjidorothyledwaba1557]

Good project.camera man should show us more on the garden than the presenter

[@Goldifarms]

Shocked to see so many lawns in LA! Why??

[@keepinitsk8a516]

We got a lot of rain this year, I know they’re well stocked on water now.

[@soundmindbodydivine]

Hey that's my neighbor!

[@earthladyadventures5018]

this is a fantastic idea ❤😊

[@FirstKind.1]

Hey man! I'm in Vegas main reason I started tuning into your channel...is the Gilcrease Orchard worth a visit? Are there any other places in Las Vegas area to pick your own? Thanks brother thanks for all the episodes

[@growingyourgreens]

gilcrease is worth a visit for sure. I usually go once a week during the season. They are closed for the winter now. They will reopen in the spring. They are the only place in Vegas for pick your own.

[@FirstKind.1]

Yup i just checked. Their closed. I was going to stop by, I saw they had some Arkansas black apples I never knew about or heard of. Did you get a chance to grab some?

[@Ch-ll5oi]

Amazing; Does the City help with the funding of the set up?

[@Moon..Shadow]

Ho2 do th3 plwnts at bottom of the gutters get enough sun?

[@Debbie-henri]

I would presume they would select the plants capable of tolerating a little bit more shade than others. I have dappled shade falling over parts of my vegetable/fruit borders from nearby trees. Rather than remove the trees, but in those plants that don't mind the shade. In my climate, Wortleberries (Blueberries/European Blueberries) are very short, and can tolerate quite a bit of shade. In the ground in deeper shade, behind structures such as seen here, you could plant containers with Blackcurrants and gooseberries. They are remarkably shade tolerant in my experience.

[@TheSandralr]

Best episode , I’m in LB i want to volunteer!

[@efrenmoreno7706]

That's so Smart 🤓 that's my plan when I move to the Salton Sea 😂

[@CarlNZ]

Love it!

[@yeevita]

I want people to grow food at their homes, instead of growing food deserts, so I LOVE seeing food being grown in a normal residential lot. There are tons of residential lots across the US. How much food are they growing? Everyone should be getting some of their food from their own dirt.

[@cacogenicist]

Iti funny to see people in LA try to do residential landscaping like they're in ... Portland, or some such. 😊

[@haleya9526]

Another thing AI cant do, put out great videos like this

[@idm1738]

❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@yvonnehyatt8353]

What about the rocks -glue used ?🤔 and what does the water do for the system?

[@mountainmanmike8383]

Wow

[@images675]

Idk if it’s me or does it sound like he’s Knocking on dogs Garden?😂😂😂

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

First of all growing local food is great, do it however you can. Anyone on the path to growing their own is doing the right thing IMO. However, this system has many flaws, some of which are preventing it from being profitable on its own. For example, buying fertilizer is a huge money sink. Especially when you are already going around the city collecting fruit, you could be collecting all sorts of organic matter and turning it into compost that's better than anything even available for purchase. The soilless medium, which looks like coco peat/perlite mix is also a huge waste of money. Again, free organic matter can turn the soil we already have into the perfect growing medium. Plus all the microorganisms that live in the soil will be much happier than they are trying to survive in that "terraponic" environment. Also, if you're trying to save water you should mulch the tops with clean straw/leaves or some organic matter which doesn't wick water. The idea of using glue to keep heavy rocks in place is utter nonsense, they're not going anywhere and now you've introduced the possibility of leaching toxic chemicals into your rainwater supply. Lastly the CropSwap app is literally non-functional. Such a great idea yet they can't hire a competent app designer to make it work on the most basic of levels, it's a shame. As a gardener who started with hydroponics, realized I was still beholden to the system, then found Permaculture; I can tell Jamiah has not yet realized the true abundance of nature. Hopefully he consults with a Permaculture designer or gets his own PDC so he can optimize his system and remove money as a barrier to his work spreading.

[@balsamforester959]

🙏

[@scoobydoo5447]

Interesting idea, but the whole “not breaking even” kind of kills the whole “sustainability” aspect of it.

[@butterflyj685]

Glue sounds toxic! What kind d of glue?

[@hargins]

hi! no, it's food-safe traditional plumbing glue, on toxicity. Thanks!

[@butterflyj685]

Thanks! Is there a particular brand you prefer?

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

Every human being deserves food sovereignty. Don't let the government take yours away; they are in the pockets of big business! True freedom is autonomy to make our own choices over our food, our health, and anything else. Always seek more autonomy and self-sufficiency in your lives and seek ways that we can empower others in our community to do the same! F**K BIG BUSINESS! WE DON'T OWE THEM A GODDAMN THING!!! NOT ONE GODDAMN THING!

[@IRailroad]

❤

[@kathrync829]

I''ve been told that when foraging you shouldn't forage near roads. Obviously they have a lot of traffic there. Is it safe to eat food grown near a road?

[@CampingforCool41]

The issue with eating stuff near roads is the runoff contaminated with chemicals. They seem to be watering with rainwater only from their own property so it’s fine.

[@kathrync829]

@@CampingforCool41 Thanks

[@lpmoron6258]

Used to be lead in the gas we used to power those automobiles. Now it is unleaded. Not saying there no other pollution.

[@higheriam]

💦Decentralization is good for everyone. 😊🌾✨

[@user-mj8ml2vs5d]

10,000 gallons isn’t that much. It’s probably used in a very short amount of time.

[@samlyons3552]

People need to know Dandilions are food

[@stupedcraig]

It's crazy how much America has tried to segment people's lives. The idea of trying to specialize people's lives so much that they can only sleep and work to maximise profits is crazy.

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

The entire southwest needs to ban lawns or at least strictly limit their maximum size! Enough is enough.

[@jwiheath1928]

You’re talking as if you’re in control of that garden you keep saying if it was you what you would do but it’s not really about you not trying to sound rude but really listen to what you’re saying

[@zonevproductions]

he's profiting off government hand outs to ex convicts and people on warefare using our tax money to fund his operation. Its all BS these "at risk" people. I have to pay full price or grow my own. They should do the same