Farming in an Urban Environment
Our focus on urban agriculture began as a creative solution to two challenges facing the Twin Towers neighborhood - vacant land and limited access to high-quality food. We set out to enhance the quality of life for ourselves and our neighbors by turning these abandoned plots into productive vegetable gardens.
Today, over a decade later, we grow vegetables year-round across five farm plots covering more than four acres. Urban farming allows us to transform spaces that have a negative impact on our community into productive and beautiful gardens. We now grow more than 60,000 pounds of food each year and we’re dedicated to putting as much of that harvest as possible on the tables of families in the neighborhood. Through our work, we’re building relationships with our neighbors, building a local food system, and becoming a part of the fabric of the city.
“Urban farming in a residential neighborhood allows us to build community, engage our neighbors, increase the security and beauty of the neighborhood, and grow really great veggies all at the same time.”
Our Gardens
Lincoln Hill
Lincoln Hill is Mission of Mary’s most noticeable farming site. It sits on a lot that covers an entire block of Twin Towers, where a shuttered school once sat empty. We’ve re-utilized the space with twenty community garden beds, three green houses, an orchard, and a natural playground. We are excited to soon welcome a preschool right next door, too, and look forward to many opportunities to partner with them!
Silver Lane
Silver Lane was Mission of Mary’s very first garden site and serves as the Mission of Mary headquarters. The site features a nursery where we start the majority of our plants from seed, two greenhouses, washing and storage facilities, and staff offices.
Xenia Avenue
Sitting between the historic beauty of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and our frequent collaborator, Good Shepherd Ministries, our Xenia avenue site gets a lot of foot traffic.
Hawker Street
Covering around a half acre, Hawker features production beds and perennial landscape features.
Steele Avenue
Steele Avenue is the newest member of Mission of Mary’s farm plots. Built over the winter before the 2020 season, this plot is extremely productive for its small size, and the small twin greenhouses make a nice addition right in the heart of the neighborhood.
Want to see Mission of Mary in action?
