John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ visits Alma Backyard farm in Compton, California which grows and distributes over 125,000 pounds of food a year to the local community on a total of 3 acres.
In this episode, you will learn about Alma Backyard Farm that is has a different purpose than most farms. They are growing not only food but more importantly creating relationships between plants, people, and places. You will learn more about their concept of relationship farming.
First, John will take you on a tour of Alma backyard farm and the amazing work they are doing to make fresh fruits and vegetables, and other high-quality food available for people in need. You will discover how their farm has been designed with the community in mind, not specifically on maximizing the number of crops they grow. You will learn about the mission of Alma Backyard Farms and how they retrain formerly incarcerated people back into society by teaching them to become farmers.
You will get a full tour of the farm stand that offers subsidized local and organic food to the local community. You will also get a full tour of their main farm in Compton, CA, and learn how they are growing their crops.
You will learn about how they have changed over the almost 10 years they have been farming and why they started.
You will learn how Alma Backyard Farms is making a difference in the Community and creating a more resilient food system in Los Angeles County.
You will get a behind-the-scenes look at how they store their food with a coolbot fridge but also an inkbird fridge that is set up to store summer-grown fruits that like it warmer. You will learn how they maintain the highest level of freshness of the food for the local community so they can eat with dignity.
Finally, John will interview Richard Garcia, one of the founders of Alma backyard farm to learn why Alma was started and how they have changed people’s lives. You will also discover the easiest vegetables and fruits to grow in Los Angeles so you can have a productive garden.
Table of Contents:
00:00 Episode Starts
00:22 Alma Backyard Farms
01:05 Walking into Farm
01:39 This farm Invites You In
02:55 Do this if you have kids
04:35 Mission of Alma Backyard Farms
06:27 Most Amazing Farm Stand Tour
09:18 Don’t Forget about People & Places in Farming
10:12 Designing the Farm to Invite the Public
11:30 Farm tour – How they grow at Alma
14:10 Like Plants Like People
14:52 Do this to harvest kale for a long time
16:19 Elevated Cold Frame on Abandoned Picnic Table
17:35 Composting to Grow Food
18:00 Fruit Trees in 15 Gallon Pots
18:26 Growing a Community of Plants
19:10 Wash Water Used to Grow Bananas
20:09 Growing Plants that have continual harvests
21:25 One thing Alma would have done differently
21:58 Grow this citrus in Southern California
23:35 Eggplants growing in December
24:35 Hedgerow growing for Beneficial Insects and Create Habitat for creatures
25:40 Plant Native Plants in the Winter to get them established
27:23 Plants like Music too
27:53 Fresh Avocados
28:09 Fruit trees vs Vegetables
29:20 Growing Passion Fruits on a Chain Link Fence
30:11 Open every other Sunday
30:42 Walk-in Cooler powered by Coolbot Air Conditioner
32:42 Farm Stand Availability List
33:55 Storing Summer Crops in a Warm Fridge
34:50 Using an Inkbird to Keep Fruits 50-55 degrees
36:37 Relationship Farming
39:00 Donating Extra Food to People in Need
40:44 Interview with Richard Garcia
41:09 Who is Alma?
42:30 Why was Alma Backyard Farm Started?
44:45 We have all had Trauma, and Gardening can help
46:04 How can farms think about more than Just Profit?
48:17 How can a farmer share their surplus?
51:18 Designing a Farm with Community and Community Gathering
53:40 What is the story of your Okra?
55:19 How to get Okra to Produce More Fruit
56:40 What are the easiest vegetables to grow in Los Angeles?
58:53 Do you prefer to grow fruits or vegetables?
59:52 What are the best fruit trees to grow in Los Angeles?
1:02:40 Where do you see Alma Farms in 5 Years?
1:04:05 How can you help out Alma Backyard Farms?
After watching this episode, you will learn about Alma Backyard Farm and the amazing work they are doing to build community, regenerate land, and respect plants while providing low-cost fresh fruits and vegetables to the community.
Referenced/Related Episodes:
Amazing Low-Water Use Urban Fruit Tree Orchard in LA
Urban Farm in Los Angeles
A farm that Grows on a Hillside in Los Angeles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMpvl_AYt3k
Subscribe to GrowingYourGreens for more videos:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=growingyourgreens
Follow John on Instagram at:
https://instagram.com/growingyourgreens/
Learn more and Support Alma Backyard Farm at
https://www.almabackyardfarms.com
Follow Alma Backyard Farm on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/almabackyardfarms
23 Comments
Jump to the following parts of the Episode:
00:22 Alma Backyard Farms
01:05 Walking into Farm
01:39 This farm Invites You In
02:55 Do this if you have kids
04:35 Mission of Alma Backyard Farms
06:27 Most Amazing Farm Stand Tour
09:18 Don't Forget about People & Places in Farming
10:12 Designing the Farm to Invite the Public
11:30 Farm tour – How they grow at Alma
14:10 Like Plants Like People
14:52 Do this to harvest kale for a long time
16:19 Elevated Cold Frame on Abandoned Picnic Table
17:35 Composting to Grow Food
18:00 Fruit Trees in 15 Gallon Pots
18:26 Growing a Community of Plants
19:10 Wash Water Used to Grow Bananas
20:09 Growing Plants that have continual harvests
21:25 One thing Alma would have done differently
21:58 Grow this citrus in Southern California
23:35 Eggplants growing in December
24:35 Hedgerow growing for Beneficial Insects and Create Habitat for creatures
25:40 Plant Native Plants in the Winter to get them established
27:23 Plants like Music too
27:53 Fresh Avocados
28:09 Fruit trees vs Vegetables
29:20 Growing Passion Fruits on a Chain Link Fence
30:11 Open every other Sunday
30:42 Walk-in Cooler powered by Coolbot Air Conditioner
32:42 Farm Stand Availability List
33:55 Storing Summer Crops in a Warm Fridge
34:50 Using an Inkbird to Keep Fruits 50-55 degrees
36:37 Relationship Farming
39:00 Donating Extra Food to People in Need
40:44 Interview with Richard Garcia
41:09 Who is Alma?
42:30 Why was Alma Backyard Farm Started?
44:45 We have all had Trauma, and Gardening can help
46:04 How can farms think about more than Just Profit?
48:17 How can a farmer share their surplus?
51:18 Designing a Farm with Community and Community Gathering
53:40 What is the story of your Okra?
55:19 How to get Okra to Produce More Fruit
56:40 What are the easiest vegetables to grow in Los Angeles?
58:53 Do you prefer to grow fruits or vegetables?
59:52 What are the best fruit trees to grow in Los Angeles?
1:02:40 Where do you see Alma Farms in 5 Years?
1:04:05 How can you help out Alma Backyard Farms?
Learn more and Support Alma Backyard Farm at https://www.almabackyardfarms.com/
Follow Alma Backyard Farm on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/almabackyardfarms/
35:50 was pretty cool too, ty
Definitely going to visit this farm it’s literally down the street from my house and I didnt even knew about it, as a gardener this is really exiting , we’ll be looking in to this 👍
Sharing this on my MeWe page!
Awesome in town garden/farm movement! I live in California too, the far North. We grow pretty good up hear, but I'm curious how to get the rest of CA to grow FREE THINKING PEOPLE who don't blindly vote "Left" because they think they are helping a downtrodden stranger and fighting a capitalist boogie man!?!
I'm from Los Angeles and we had something called the South Central farm… It was on 41st street and Long Beach… It was never as organized and nice as this farm in Compton but it was farmed by people in the community for years.. until Maxine Waters and other city people robbed the people of this farm and destroyed it… There was a huge protest for days me and other teenagers tried so hard to stop them, even Dany Glover and Daryl Hannah the actress were there… But we couldn't save the South Central farm…. I would of loved to see it turn into something like this… It would of been beautiful… I don't live in Los Angeles anymore but I will always remember the farm…
I wish there was something like this in Memphis TN
Great video. Community gardens should be everywhere
Go to moon water farms in Compton
i agree. I would love all Americans to form neighborhood 'farms' using their yards, so they can feed themselves and each other. America has the ability to grow delicious food and feed all its people. It just needs to think that way, then grow that way.
Bigger locations like this could hold classes about plants, growing, and using what is grown.
awesome!
Dutch greenhouses used to raise 790,000 pounds of tomatoes per acre.
This is awesome..i hope it continues
Great episode! Thanks for the tip about okra. Who would think?😊
Yes, an Alma Farm in every neighborhood!!! What a great idea!!!
Good interview
John, you are an inspiration, your content, knowledge & enthusiasm; have been watching for years+++ but only really planted flowers purely for aesthetic purposes, then started bee-magnet plants eg. borage; although edible, didn't really eat; now started beans in my 1m raised bed in the West Oz summer (ie. v hot & dry, & water not abundant)- now they have flowers & am v happy – thanks so much for your vids. Sorry not relevant to this vid – but what an awesome farm, would love to visit 🙂 (and work there!!)
Did you have a spiritual level-up recently because even your HANDS are looking earthy-AF and glowing 🍄 sorry if that is a weird comment but the vibe in this video is strangely high. 💙
You at 888k subs that's good luck thanks for sharing 👍🏿
Whats the name of the Movie?
Great video about a fantastic organization, but hearing "Ehma" and not "Alma" was driving me crazy.
John, while I'm not hard of hearing, growing up with a deaf cousin, I'm just used to watching videos with subtitles. Youtube has automatic closed captioning, but it seems to be turned off on this video. Please look into this so that those with hearing issues can watch this incredible video.
Wow great farm and wonderful presentation! They need to show this to some would be Grant donors