Our Historic Manor and Urban Farm

Urban agriculture can be defined as growing fruits, herbs, and vegetables and raising animals in cities, a process that is accompanied by many other complementary activities such as processing and distributing food, collecting and reusing food waste and rainwater, and educating, organizing, and employing local residents. Urban agriculture is integrated in individual urban communities and neighborhoods, as well as in the ways that cities function and are managed, including municipal policies, plans, and budgets.

What is an Urban Farm?

An urban farm grows food in an urban area on land – usually either a backyard or a vacant lot – that would not typically be dedicated to producing food.

So what makes an urban farm a farm and not a garden? Two factors tend to come into play. First, many urban farms choose the term farm because they tend animals as well as grow plants. Chickens coops, bee hives, and rabbit warrens are the most common urban farm livestock elements. Turkeys, goats, and even pigs are also raised on urban farms. The space needed to graze sheep or cattle/cows is too great for most urban farms, some suburban farms, however, have larger grazing livestock.

Second, sometimes urban farmers see themselves as such (rather than gardeners) because even if they don't have any livestock, they feed more than the household that tends the farm.