Old becomes new again with this urban gardening project

Today's enthusiasm for urban agriculture — or, to put it more romantically, kitchen gardens — would seem more than familiar to millions of Americans who lived during the world wars.

"We're just going back and claiming our heritage," Rose Hayden-Smith, a historian and victory-garden expert, said at an urban-agriculture conference marking the opening this month of the Huntington Ranch, a 15-acre project at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

She noted that rooftop gardens have been around since ancient Rome and that urban agriculture in this country once meant growing food in Boston Common. School gardens are nothing new, and formerly empty urban spaces have been used to grow food in this country for more than a century.

Read more in the Home section: "Huntington Ranch digs roots into urban garden concept."

Photo: All kinds of foods, including a bevy of vegetables, are growing at the Huntington Ranch. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jared Finkelstein]

The trend in urban gardening does seem to be getting stronger. My company, Teich Garden Systems, designs and installs raised bed garden systems for homes and schools. We have seen more and more interest in gardens from all parts of the country for backyard gardens, rooftop gardens and even gardens on playground blacktop. The nice part is that it is changing the way people eat as they learn about where their food comes from and enjoy the flavor of freshly picked vegetables that just cant be beat.

Jared Finkelstein
Teich Garden Systems