Although I do hear that downtown farming has its own, significant, challenges. Lot of nasty stuff has often leached into the soil over the years.

Thanks for this! I’ll let my bro’s family, who live north of Detroit, know!

Bob in HI

Agree, especially in Detroit.

Can bringing in compost help?

I know it can be done, but how do they keep the rats away?

Thanks for the post Laura.

Having lived in the Detroit area (not in the city) and worked at Wayne State for many years, I can tell you that what’s under that land is basements of houses that were just plowed under, and contain who knows what kind of nasty stuff.

I moved there in 1965, the mayor was into divisive (Detroit vs. suburbs) rhetoric, then the riots came and devastated the city and it never recovered, and it never will. So sad.

It still looks like a mini dresden.

Detroit. Who knew?

Thanks, Laura, for the stories you bring to FDL.

Cheap land that you can farm without buying the land? I bet they don’t even have any regulations against putting up a windfarm either although you would have to buy the land then. I bet Detroit’s burbs need power and I bet Detroit still has power lines capable of handling heavy power loads. I bet some of these lines extent to the burbs.