For the past few years urban farming has become a large part of my life and my community. I have learned many things about chicken farming, including gardening. Urban farming has become a trend that is starting to grow throughout the Phoenix Metro area. It involves many aspects, including backyard poultry, other animals, and backyard gardens.
Before I go on with my blog let me tell you a little bit of my background story. In 2010, my Dad brought home a dozen baby chickens for my 17th birthday. At this point we already had three cats, two bunny rabbits, and a baby tortoise, so adding more animals wasn’t a big deal. What I didn’t realize is that this would open up a whole new world for me, the world of urban farming.
Once, the chicks were old enough to become free range, we built a coop to house them and started spending more and more time outside, creating a garden that we could potentially eat from. We started eating more fresh vegetables and organic eggs, something that I never expected to happen.
Our flock of chickens continued to grow and at some point we had over twenty-five chickens, four roosters, and two ducks. The roosters produced an alarming amount of baby chicks, which is how the name of my blog came about, Populating The Community. Because there were so many chicks, we started giving them away to any good home that would take them.
I decided to write this blog because I wanted to learn more the community that I had joined when my Dad brought home these chickens. There are now several organizations such as Valley Permaculture Alliance and Grow House that are around to support and promote urban farming. I will be writing about these organizations in the future.
I hope to gain more insight about urban farming and share it with the world so that others can learn about these organizations. I would like to find and share resources such as, Urban Sustainable Living Magazine, for readers to learn more about urban farming.
Populating the Community 
Windsor, urban farming is definitely an interesting topic. Being from Kansas City, I have a fundamental understanding about the the ways farming is used and how it operates. However, I am very interested in the ways farming is used in a metropolitan area such as Phoenix. I am sure farming in Phoenix is impacted differently by resources, water and space. I look forward to hearing more about organizations and communities that promote urban farming.
Windsor,
It’s so cool that you grew up with so many animals. It must’ve been really awesome to watch your baby chicks grow up and use the coop that you built. The garden that followed the addition of the baby chicks is interesting; did you guys just make a garden because you were already spending more time outside with the chickens? I’ve always wanted a garden that I could grow my own food in–such a neat idea! I’m excited to see more of your blog and how other people in big cities have worked farming into their lives.
It will be interesting to see what sort of tips or information you will be posting. Urban farming is becoming very popular in Phoenix, and as someone who can’t even grow an herb garden on their balcony, I know I could benefit from some more information!
Your story strikes a chord–my family also experimented with raising chickens too. (They’re SO adorable when they’re little!) Unfortunately, our neighborhood is crawling with cats and they wouldn’t have lasted a minute had we not given them to friends with exactly the same kind of operation that your family had set up.
My first thought is how healthy urban farming could be. First, farming gets you outside no matter how small-scale your crops begin. You also don’t really have an excuse for not eating more healthily and can be that healthy (and tasty) influence on your friends. Start a kumquat-sharing co-op! During the lemon season we literally get hundreds of lemons from one friend that we mass-produce into lemonade and pies. Delicious.
Something I’ll be checking back for is some of the restrictions placed on urban farming–with all of its benefits, I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it!.
I can definitely relate to your experiences with urban farming; my dad currently has 20 chickens, a vegetable garden and a giant orchard. It’s a completely different type of living that most people haven’t experienced, and it’s about time someone starts talking about it. I’m curious how Phoenix compares to other cities for urban farming, if they even keep statistics on something like that. Can’t wait to see what you post next!