Biography of an Organic Urban Farmer

by Derrick DeWan Pinckney

I grew up during a time when everyone gardened in my neighborhood. The Catholic twin nuns to the left and the Logan family to the right of our house were my first inspirations. I weeded gardens for $.50 to $1.00, cut lawns, and occasionally got ran out of a garden from mis-adventure! I belonged to the seed and card sales clubs which were advertised in comic magazines from the early to late 70's. I delighted in going door to door, in and out of my neighborhood to find customers for my seed business venture. Most importantly, I planted seeds and grew a variety of flowers and foods. In a way, you can say my childhood was the training ground, my inspiration for wanting to grow organic foods. Another childhood influence was my Vegan neighbor, Tom Crimmins, who always took time out to educate us kids about foods and plants. As a kid, many of the things Tom spoke about went over our heads. In example, he would explain the digestive system of cows and monkeys and relate them to us, but more importantly, he would take us on foraging expeditions in an over grown vacant lot across the alley from my mother's house, which us kids nicknamed the dirt field (imaged above, in photograph behind the tree). Tom's field trips taught us about the native and non-native plants which were in our midst, stuff we could munch on while playing in the dirt field. My favorite was the wild clover, with its deep purple buds and hidden succulent sweet nectar tips. The dirt field was a buffet of delights: blackberries, fennel, clover, dandelions, plums, and apples.

Fate would have it that before I graduated from high school, my football/track coach gave me a book called "Dynamic Tension." It was a book written by a track coach from California that pointed out the importance of stretching before and after playing sports. In the back of the book he listed natural remedies for athletes: Hyssop, Red Clover, Genseng, Garlic, Alfalfa, and Comfrey. Again, fate would also have it that the town I grew up in, Tacoma, Washington, had a natural food coop called "The Food Bag Coop." My curiosity was sparked by the natural remedies for athletes, so I made my way to the coop to inquire and acquire some of herbs. I can truly say that 1982 was the year that my food consciousness and awareness was awakened. Going in to the coop changed my life and relationship to food. Also, my childhood neighbor, Tom (Vegan), he worked at the coop part-time!

The next 18 years of my life would be the culmination of experimenting with herbs, health foods, acupuncture, fasting, Naturalistic doctors, and many non conventional ways of approaching my relationship to food, personal health, and a desire to grow non-certified/pesticide free organic foods.

Having attended lectures and known many great healers, herbalist, and farmers, I came to the conclusion that farming did not have to be row by row upon acre and acre of land. I started imagining new ways that people could grow food for their own consumption and that of others. Many of these ideas need not be mentioned because they have come to flourishing, as many of our ideas are download or glimpsed from the spiritual ether realm, and are for anyone to snatch up and utilize!

The concept I am currently wanting to explore is called "Designer Urban Farming" or "Urban Farmed Food," which is farming within a current or defined urban foot print or neighborhood. I will be discussing more about "Designer Urban Farming" in a future forum here. For now, I hope you have a better understanding why I came be such.