Gallery: Breaking Ground at the Howard Street Farm

A demonstration garden could be up and running by June along the proposed Howard Street Farm project.

The development is headed up by The Talking Farm, an urban and local farming non-profit .

"We are developing the 2 1/4 acres in stages, as funding allows. We have a five-year plan for grading, fencing, and soil amending beginning in the NE corner and continuing west in phases," said Linda Kruhmin Talking Farm's Farm Operations coordinator.

"Last week, we installed a stone access road, removed 300+ buckthorn and cottonwood stumps (that volunteers had cut down last fall), built a knee-high soil berm to prevent any water spillover from the old manufacturing site to our east, and graded the site to facilitate drainage in our clay soil." Kruhmin told Patch, "Next we will spread out a 6" layer of wood chips, install a deer fence and gates, and be ready for our volunteers to help build the infrastructure."

Once the plot begins to grow, owners plan on selling goods through farmer's markets, directly to local restaurants, and will include donations to food pantries.

Flip through the above gallery to see the early stages of the farming project.