TRAFFIC

Get a green thumb or get your produce from a local grower

BY BETHANN STEWART - bstewart@idahostatesman.com

Published: 05/31/09

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Courtesy of the Idaho State Historical Society

A vegetable delivery man, circa 1926.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

ELSEWHERE

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

GO LOCAL

Want to give it a try? There's still time to grow a tomato or a cucumber this summer - and you can always buy from folks who grow nearby.

Start small.

Add some herbs to your landscape. You can never have too much basil - and oregano, thyme and chives will come back year after year.

Grow an insta-garden.

Reuse the trash cans you no longer need because the city of Boise is replacing them. Fill them with dirt, plant some seeds and put them in the sun. Add water. Or, cut them in half and use as a planter.

Support local farmers.

Find them at your local farmers market. It's the next best thing to growing your own. Good for the environment, good the economy, good for the belly.

When Boise was populated with miners, its first local food industry was born to feed the workers who toiled underground - the gardens along the Boise River.

Chinese farmers delivered fresh produce throughout the city on foot, horse-drawn cart and bicycle until the 1930s.

Garden City's main boulevard, Chinden, got its name from the contraction of Chinese and garden.

Then in the 1950s, along came cheap petroleum-based agriculture. Folks here, and the rest of the country, ate less and less food grown close to home.

Now, with small farms popping up - some literally in the middle of town - and a growing network of local producers, the Valley is going back to the future.

"I think we're going back and going forward at the same time," said Mary Rohlfing of Morning Owl Farm in East Boise.

Instead of petroleum-based fertilizers, Rohlfing uses animals to help enrich the soil on her farm, much like farmers 100 years ago. But she does her marketing online, and when she wants advice about pests, she texts other farmers.

The nascent local food movement has the potential to fuel the local economy. For every farm out there at least one new job is created.

"I buy all my trays from a local dealer. I buy fertilizer from a local store. I buy all my tools from a local store. Because we have livestock we use local feed," Rohlfing said. "Every dollar we take in we consciously try to put back into the local economy."

For people who enjoy eating good food, local farms offer a fresh option.

"We grow varieties of tomatoes you'll never find in a grocery store because we can grow for taste," Rohlfing said. "The grocery store has to grow for travel."

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393

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