Chemical and biological indicators of soil health in Chicago urban gardens and farms

Ugarte, Carmen M.; Taylor, John

doi:10.1002/uar2.20004

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…Soil contamination from lead, other heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been raised as a potential concern for urban agriculture sites (Ugarte & Taylor, 2020; Wortman & Lovell, 2013). Conceivably this could be an issue at some of the sites located adjacent to high‐traffic roads, but it was not a concern expressed by anyone we interviewed.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban food forests in the American Southwest

Allen

Mason²

2021

Urban Agric & Regnl Food Sys

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Food forests are multilayered polycultures of mostly perennial species and an agroforestry practice well-suited to the urban environment. They are gaining increasing attention in temperate regions of Europe and the United States, but, to date, there has been little research on them in the American Southwest. In this study, we visited 14 food forests, all but two of which were in urban or peri-urban areas. At 12 of the food forests, we interviewed a person who established or manages them. The food forests span a significant range of the physical environments, types of communities, and ownerships found in the American Southwest. Despite challenges associated with the southwestern environment, such as the hot, dry climate and difficult soil conditions, we found clear evidence that food forests can be successfully established in the urban areas of this region. In addition to food production, these food forests are providing numerous other benefits such as mitigating the urban heat island effect, increasing local biodiversity, and improving the aesthetics of urban neighborhoods. While there is a need for additional research, a variety of networks and information sources have been established that are providing both practical information and inspiration for the establishment of additional food forests in the region. INTRODUCTIONFood forests, also known by names such as forest gardens, are multilayered polycultures consisting of mostly perennial species. They may include seven or more layers including overstory and midstory trees, shrubs, herbaceous species, ground cover plants, root crops, vines, an aquatic layer, and fungi (Butler et al., 2018;Crawford, 2010;Jacke & Toensmeier, 2005). Food forests are increasingly recognized as an agroforestry practice (Park et al., 2019;Gold & Garrett, 2021) along with the other temperate agroforestry practices of alley cropping, forest farming, riparian buffers, silvopasture, and windbreaks.Abbreviations: CRMPI, Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban food forests in the American Southwest

Allen

Mason²

2021

Urban Agric & Regnl Food Sys

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“…Recent surveys of soils on urban farms indicate that growers are overapplying composts (Small et al., 2019), resulting in levels of N, P, and K that far exceed crop recommendations (Fernández et al., 2012; Wielemaker et al., 2019). Consequently, as Ugarte and Taylor (2020) point out, the ‘more is better’ approach to applying composts that is often promoted in urban agricultural literature needs to be reconsidered. Instead, farmers should regularly conduct standard soil fertility tests to quantify nutrient pools in their soils and apply more targeted rates of fertilizers to meet specific crop needs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf mold compost reduces waste, improves soil and microbial properties, and increases tomato productivity

Richardville

Egel

Flachs

et al. 2022

Urban Agric & Regnl Food Sys

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Soils in urban settings are often degraded, which can prevent growers from optimizing the health and productivity of their crops. In this study, we investigated whether amending soil with a locally made leaf-mold compost could (a) improve soil chemical and biological properties, (b) increase survival of a microbial inoculant with plant growth promoting and disease suppressive capabilities, and (c) enhance the yield and quality of a tomato crop. Results were promising, with dramatically greater concentrations of active soil organic matter (SOM) and marketable fruit in plots receiving the amendment in both years of the study. Foliar disease severity was also lower in compost-amended plots in the second year of the trial. Inoculating tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) transplants with Trichoderma harzianum T-22 reduced deaths that are due to transplant stress in one of the cultivars evaluated, and the compost supported greater populations of this microbe in soil demonstrating that it is possible to enhance the efficacy of beneficial microbial inoculants in field settings using targeted practices. These results indicate that urban farmers can improve the productivity of their farms by amending soils with leaf mold compost, which will help ensure the long-term sustainability of urban farming initiatives. However, all composts should be tested to ensure they do not contain toxic levels of heavy metals or pathogens, and farmers should avoid overapplication since this can reduce crop health and lead to environmental challenges.

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“…The impervious surface layer does not document sealed surfaces such as driveways, sidewalks, and parking areas on residential lots, possibly leading to overestimates of potential UGI area and suitable ground area for UA. At the same time, such impervious surfaces could be replaced with permeable paving, a form of UGI, or could serve as the basis for cap-and-fill or raised-bed UA, a common UA production practice [77,78], or even hydroponic systems.…”

Section: Study Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitating Multifunctional Green Infrastructure Planning in Washington, DC through a Tableau Interface

et al. 2021

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Multifunctional urban green infrastructure (UGI) can regulate stormwater, mitigate heat islands, conserve biodiversity and biocultural diversity, and produce food, among other functions. Equitable governance of UGI requires new tools for sharing pertinent information. Our goal was to develop a public-access geographic information system (GIS) that can be used for comprehensive UGI planning in Washington, DC (the District) and to create an e-tool for UGI in the form of Tableau dashboards. The dashboards allow stakeholders to identify (1) existing UGI and (2) potential areas for new UGI including urban agriculture (UA). They also allow users to manipulate the data and identify priority locations for equitable UGI development by applying population vulnerability indices and other filters. We demonstrate use of the dashboards through scenarios focusing on UA in the District, which currently has 150 ha of existing UGI in the form of documented projects and an additional 3012 ha potentially suitable for UGI development. A total of 2792 ha is potentially suitable for UA, with 58% of that area in Wards 5, 7, and 8, which are largely food deserts and whose residents are primarily Black and experience the greatest inequities. Our work can serve as a model for similar digital tools in other locales using Tableau and other platforms.

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Chemical and biological indicators of soil health in Chicago urban gardens and farms

Cited by 14 publications

References 31 publications

Urban food forests in the American Southwest

Urban food forests in the American Southwest

Leaf mold compost reduces waste, improves soil and microbial properties, and increases tomato productivity

Facilitating Multifunctional Green Infrastructure Planning in Washington, DC through a Tableau Interface

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