Detroit has a thriving urban agriculture community, where residents use available vacant land to grow food, feed their families and neighbors, and run successful farm businesses. Keep reading to learn about a few urban growers activating vacant land, supporting the natural ecosystem, and strengthening the local food system!
Michael B. Anthony Flower Farm
What neighborhood are you in, and what makes your corner of Detroit unique?
My company is located in Detroit’s North End neighborhood. What makes our corner of Detroit unique is all the historical architecture, farms, and artwork created by local people.
How did you get started?
Our flower farm started in 2023 with a few raised beds at my residence and since then has grown into a half acre. Prior to that, I received my Master Garden Certification from Michigan State University. Our flower farm is MAEAP certified which means we use sustainable practices.
What do you love about growing flowers in the city?
Growing flowers in the city brings so much life back. So many people have expressed their appreciation for the work that we do. It’s so important to have flowers growing to support the bees which play a major role in the environment and our lives.
What is the best way for people to support your work, or follow along your journey?
The best way to support my company’s work is to visit Detroit’s Eastern Market and Ann Arbor Farmers Market on Saturdays where we sell our fresh-cut flower arrangements. They can also show their support by signing up for our flower subscription so they can enjoy our seasonal flowers in their space all the time.
Adamah Farm
What neighborhood are you in, and what makes your corner of Detroit unique?
We are located in the Piety Hill neighborhood of Detroit, just north of New Center. We were originally named Piety Hill decades ago because of the large number of churches in the neighborhood, especially quite a few large churches right along Woodward. While the “piety” part of the name is accurate, the “hill” portion is a misnomer as there is not much of an incline of any kind throughout the neighborhood.
Share a brief history of your farm, such as how or why you got started.
Adamah Farm is part of a larger community-based non-profit, Central Detroit Christian, that has been a part of the Piety Hill neighborhood for the past 30 years. The farm started about 15 years ago as a community garden to help residents have easier access to healthy produce. For the past 7 years, it has been a production farm focused on healthy food access and youth employment and development.
What do you love about growing food in the city?
Our farm is located right on a corner, so we have a lot of neighbors walking by throughout the day. I enjoy when folks stop by, especially the older neighbors originally from the South. I get to learn about their history, especially the different types of food they ate and how they prepared them.
What is the best way for people to support your work, or follow along your journey?
People can support us by joining our CSA or visiting us at our Farmer’s Market stands. We’re at Eastern Market on Saturdays in Shed 3 and at the Oak Park Farmer’s Market on Thursdays. If you want more information about us, you can visit our website or follow us on Instagram.
City Commons
What neighborhood are you in, and what makes your corner of Detroit unique?
City Commons is a cooperative of 7 growers, so we are scattered all over Detroit from Brightmoor to Riverbend and many spots in between.
Share a brief history of your farm/organization, such as how or why you got started.
City Commons started in 2012 with a group of Urban Farm apprentices with the Garden Resource Program interested in finding a way to get their produce out to metro Detroiters in a way that was sustainable both financially and with the limited time any one of us had. Starting a cooperative just made sense! That first year we only had 20 households enrolled in the CSA but over the years we’ve grown to about 100. The cast of farmers has also changed over the years, but our dedication to growing good food and sharing the burden of running the business stays the same.
What do you love about growing food in the city?
Growing food in the city allows for so many connections between farmers, neighbors, customers, or the person who walks to their bus stop by your garden – you are never so remote that you don’t have the opportunity to create meaningful relationships with other people. Not to mention the relationships we all get to have with the land, plants, and ecosystem.
What is the best way for people to support your work, or follow along your journey?
Our main season CSA is closed for 2024, but folks can e-mail us if they want to get on the waitlist. We still have flower, storage, and Thanksgiving shares available, or you can order produce on a week-to-week basis.
Sanctuary Farms
What neighborhood are you in, and what makes your corner of Detroit unique?
We are in the Riverbend community, which is close to Jefferson Chalmers, Grosse Pointe, and Chandler Park. The neighborhood is unique because it’s so close to the water, and vacant land is abundant. National Geographic has called the area an urban prairie, and it’s true. You can really get lost in nature over here.
Share a brief history of your farm/organization, such as how or why you got started.
We wanted our careers to be more focused on doing something good for society and our surrounding ecology. We had the idea to start a farm in 2020 and broke ground in February 2021.
We were initially looking to buy land on a street called Coplin. We always saw deer in the alley there, and they would walk us down the street to where we are now on Lakeview. We almost called ourselves Deer Farms because we wouldn’t be here without those deer. We ultimately chose Lakeview St because it was a fully abandoned lot, which gave us room for farming, composting, and maintaining a nature sanctuary.
What do you love about growing food in the city?
It’s still unconventional and unique. It’s a path less taken, especially as a career in an urban setting. I love the autonomy and sense of security that there is food available if all else fails. And most importantly, we’re doing something good, something that is beneficial to the soil and all the other life forms.
It’s also a great feeling to give our food to other producers and chefs who appreciate and support locally-grown, organic produce.
What is the best way for people to support your work, or follow along your journey?
They can follow us through our Linktree which has links for all of our public-facing platforms. People can also support by giving their time to help volunteer at the farm. If they don’t have time but have financial means, they can give us a donation or purchase produce and compost from us. And sharing our platform with other folks is always helpful.
Find An (Urban) Farm
Detroit isn’t the only city in Michigan with urban farms – explore our Find Food and Farms Directory to search for one near you!
Carrie Hause is the Digital Media Specialist for Taste the Local Difference. Contact her at [email protected].