Welcome to the Urban Farming Revolution!

My name is Greg Peterson, and for the last 40 years I have been practicing urban farming.

It all started in 1975 when we moved into the Weldon house, a 1/2 acre property with this magical thing called flood irrigation.  I was 14 and when we arrived mom said to me “Greg, see the right half of the back yard?  That’s our garden, go start digging.”  That’s when I learned how to grow cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and planted my first of what has become thousands of fruit trees.

When it was time to purchase my first home in 1989 I found the perfect property to begin my urban farming journey, although back then I was just gardening.  Until 1991 when I discovered a magical concept that brought together all that I had always thought possible into one understandable container.  Called permaculture, I learned about working in the flow of nature, about stacking functions and how everything can work together as a fully operational system with NO waste.  So I decided to use my 1/3 acre to create an entirely edible landscape, converting the flower beds to garden plots and replacing the non-edible trees with fruit trees.

Through this process I learned how to dig my toes into the earth, listen to the plants, and experiment with new progressive permaculture techniques. My mission is to show others that they too can realize the power and joy (and deliciousness) derived from urban farming!

What I couldn’t learn from doing I supplemented with higher education, earning a Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies in 2004 and masters in Urban and Environmental Planning in 2006 from Arizona State University.  During my tenure there in 2001 a professor asked me to write a mission and vision for my life.  In doing so The Urban Farm was born.

Over the past 15 years I have hosted gardening and farming classes in the community, opened up the Urban Farm and other urban farms for the public to see, and successfully run a fruit tree planting program that has planted over 10,000 fruit trees.  After teaching for several years at a local trade school in 2011 I had the opportunity to return to my alma mater and teach a class called Sustainable Food and Farms.

But don’t be deceived this is not about me, this website is about you becoming part of a larger community of urban farming thinkers. To help you understand what it takes to create your own urban farm.

Now my task is to translate all of this knowledge and input from others onto UrbanFarm.org for you to access!  All you need to know about urban farming is presented on this website in a simple and complete package.

By joining the Urban Farming Revolution you are now a member of a global community of citizens who recognize the larger issue. Our agricultural system is broken. We now have access to more, but less nutritious food than ever before. Food that has been soaked in chemicals, food that has been homogenized and grown across the globe in exploited soils by exploited people. Urban farmers are the new victory gardeners. You can support yourself, your family, and your community and make a positive impact on the world. So go ahead, name your farm and start talking to your fellow farmers!

Grow food, share it, and be part of the revolution

Get involved now!

Learn more about how we have been involved in the press.