Featured Farmer:

Storm Kirk from Wind Healing Arts Center and Sanctuary

 Editor’s note: Storm was also on The Urban Farm Podcast! Listen here.
Tell me a little about your urban farm. What’s its name? Size?
Wings on the Wind Healing Arts Center and Sanctuary. 3.2 acres
What are you growing?
Everything: I will list some but there are too many to remember them all
Fruit trees-peach, 3 types of apple, 2 types of plums, cherry, apricot, 2 types of pear
Nut trees- walnut, acorn and olive (yes, I know olives are not nuts)
Berries- strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, mulberries
Flowers galore!
Culinary herbs- 3 types of sage, 5 types of mint, oregano, basil, 2 types of thyme, rosemary, garlic chives, etc.
Medicinal herbs- 3 types of lavender, lemon balm, calendula, anise, Echinacea, oat straw, marshmallow, mother’s wort, etc.
Wild herbs- mullein, heal all, chickweed, miners, lettuce, manzanita bark & berries, wild radishes, wild mustard etc.
Potatoes- red, white, golden, sweet potatoes
Onion, leeks, garlic
Squashes- spaghetti, sweet potato, acorn, zucchini, crockneck, butternut
Tiger melons, orange flesh, cantaloupe, watermelons
Spinach, chard, kale,
Beets, carrots, turnips,
Lemon cucumbers, Japanese cucumbers
Wine, table, and wild grapes
This year 5 types of tomatoes
Celery, lovage, horseradish, sprouts, microgreens
Wheat

What kind of climate are you growing in?
We live in zone 7 and have all four seasons, very cold to very hot
What initially got you interested in urban farming?
When I purchased my home 27 years ago, we had a $50 a week budget for all groceries and household item for a family of five, so gardening and canning was a necessity to feed growing children.
Do you use any organic, permaculture, hydroponic, biodynamic, or other methods? Explain.
Everything is organic, we have solar for the drag well, permaculture on the upper two acres, raise beds, straw bales, containers, black bags, rock bed gardens
Do you use compost? Where do you get it and how does it help your plants?
Yes, we make our own with food scraps, leaves, weeds, alpaca and chicken manure, straw and orchard grass
Do you have any urban livestock? Chickens? Bees?
We have chickens and alpacas. We had bees but I am highly allergic so we traded our bees and equipment for 7 years of free honey
What do you do with the food you grow?
Eat it, can it, dry it, share it and sell it
What is your greatest challenge in your farming endeavors?
Keeping up with all the work of running the farm and four businesses
What do you enjoy the most about farming/growing food?
Working and living with the Devas, elementals, Mother Earth/Gaia and eating healthy
Why do you think urban farming is important?
Urban farming allows individuals to regain the power in maintaining their health, restoring the balance back to Mother Earth, and reducing our carbon foot on the planet
Do you think this is a growing movement?
I hope so
Is urban farming the future of agriculture?
I believe urban farming is the one step in the right direction for humanity to begin working in harmony and balance with Mother Earth
Do you have any advice for someone that’s just getting started?
Start small, believe in yourself and explore and watch nature around to get a better understanding of how things grow
Anything else you’d like to add?
Sure, but that would take pages and I really do not like working on the computer.