BBQ season officially kicks off this weekend and, in many households, the tomato slices topping the (grass-fed) burgers will have been grown in the very backyard in which they will be consumed. The
urban agriculture movement persists as a modern family pastime, disproving the skepticism that once wrote it off as a fleeting
hipster fad. Silos aren’t being erected on the front lawn (yet), but with the gentleman farmer population seeing an uptick, retailers are bringing seed ‘n feed supplies to the city.
Detroit Farm and Garden: Detroit resident Jeff Klein had already owned a local landscaping business for 13 years when he noticed an increasing number of city residents desiring home gardens that produce dinner table fare. Seizing on this apparent shift, Klein recently opened
Detroit Farm and Garden, a store that’s equipping Motor City locals with the tools necessary for cultivating edible gardens. DFG, whose aims are a bit higher than just being another heirloom seed vendor, aspires to incubate local economies by empowering its customers with the resources and education—
in-house classes are in session already—to sustain the fledgling cottage foods industry that’s become a tent pole of
Detroit’s revitalization.
Hayseed’s Big City Farm Supply: New Brooklyn shop
Hayseed’s Big City Farm Supply is billed as a pop-up, but it seems likely to endure beyond its end of June expiration date. The Greenpoint store, a collaboration between the pastoral-minded urbanites behind
Brooklyn Grange,
Domestic Construction and
Brooklyn Homesteader, has garnered much neighborhood buzz since its opening last month—and not just because of its stock of
(nearly sold-out) beekeeping gear. While its inventory includes everything the experienced farmer needs, from soil and compost to rabbit and
chicken feed, Hayseed’s also offers weekend workshops to teach the agriculturally uninitiated how to transform their backyards, rooftops and balconies into food-producing plots.
Agrarian: Williams-Sonoma, a retailer best known for selling the kinds of upscale kitchen appliances found on wedding registries, is now in the farming game. (If this isn’t proof that it isn’t just bohemian Gen Ys toiling in the soil, we don’t know what is.) Their new
Agrarian line is unquestionably ‘farming for yuppies’, but shoppers who can forgive them for selling
$879.95 faux rustic chicken coops will find a thoughtful selection of products for the neophyte homesteader. Among the
reported 257 offerings are
vertical grow frames,
jam pans, and
copper weed whackers. Those intimidated by the idea of getting their hands dirty can put on the proverbial training wheels with one of many
kits.
