LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -A change to Lincoln’s Urban Gardening Policy now allows for people to sell unprocessed produce from their homes or community gardens.
For the Arapahoe Community Garden, the change in municipal code came just at the right time, as they were approved for a builder’s grant to make changes to the lot.
“Normally, people would grow stuff in their garden for self use, but this way with the new ordinance, we can sell that to the community and have the community participate in the garden,” said Isaac Rembodlt, a manager at the garden.
Another aspect behind the change to the code, according to the city of Lincoln, is to foster community connections.
“One of the cool things about having a community garden is being able to share that produce with the neighbors,” Rembodlt said. “This ordinance allows a lot of people growing produce at their homes to have a lot more options to do things with that.”
The city’s chief sustainability officer, Kim Morrow, said the mayor’s office hopes this will get residents of different cultures and backgrounds to interact with each other.
One example she gave was between two community members who share vegetables native to their home country.
“When you grow local produce, you can grow more sorts of tender varieties, more vulnerable, different, diverse kinds,” said Morrow.
She said the details of the policy are easy to follow, producers can sell for eight days a month, and a told of 30 days a year. The produce grown must be unprocessed, but the soil used does not require testing.
“I really look forward to the day in a couple of months from now, when a Lincoln resident could just walk down their street and maybe they might find a couple of people selling salad greens or fresh herbs,” said Morrow
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