planning his spring planting schedule, his daughter Lynn vowed to for volunteers to work together to
growing food. We provide a place keep the farm going strong. produce food for others as a team, and a shared space for them to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of
A Small Farm with that work.” a Big Impact
The Koiner urban farm provides community in a number of Using urban spaces for small-scale ways. Volunteers work together to farming is becoming rarer as development pressure and its ecory patches and fruit trees, as they
tend vegetable and herb plots, bernomic realities push land into use learn about soil, integrated pest for housing, retail, office, or industrial purposes. Kate Medina, Ex- more. In regular shifts at the end
management, composting, and
ecutive Director of Charles Koiner of their“ day jobs,” they form strong Conservancy and Co-Founder with friendships, and often have dinner together on the lawn, or walk
Hannah Sholer, talks about the relentless pressure counties and cities face to funnel all available land students, who sign up for 12-week
to a local restaurant. High school
towards solving housing shortages. sessions, can earn Student Service Kate, Hannah and Lynn worked Learning hours, obtain paid internships through MoCo Depart- with Maryland Environmental Trust to put a permanent conservation easement on the property, program, or gain course credit at
ment of Recreation’ s TeenWorks
so that it can never be sold for Montgomery College, as they experience the value of teamwork development.
Kate reflects,“ In addition to and productivity, and form lasting housing, food, and health care, bonds with others. people also need places to gather, to come together as a commu- concept bursts forth with joyful
The community“ shared space”
nity. Through our nation’ s history activity for the entire neighborhood, taking on the feel of a small people turn to gardening in times of trouble, to enjoy the process of park. The Koiner urban farm hosts weekly farm markets so shoppers can buy local produce, and Thursday nights feature food trucks, local musicians, and artisan vendors, with children playing games on the lawn as families enjoy a picnic supper under
Music on Thursday nights at the Koiner urban farm attracts a weekly community gathering. twinkling lights in the trees. The farm hosts yoga and meditation classes, workshops such as canning, pickling, seed starting, and home composting, as well as seasonal plant swaps and seed swaps. Any extra food from the weekly farm markets is donated to Shepherd’ s Table just around the corner, a nonprofit that provides prepared meals to people in need.
Expanding Agriculture Education
Based on the success of the urban farm in its ability to provide education opportunities for students to learn about agriculture and food production, the Koiner leadership took their vision to the next level – working with MoCo Public Schools to establish a school-based farm site— at Loiderman Middle School in Silver Spring. After several years of planning, Koiner now has an astounding production plot with 140 raised beds that yields hundreds of pounds of food per day in season. With student interns and community volunteers, they grow a huge variety of produce, from strawberries and okra to countless varieties of peppers and malibar spinach. It began with a much smaller“ teaching plot” as a pilot program, where teachers brought their classrooms outdoors for lessons in sciences. Staff and volunteers have gradually installed infrastructure such as storage containers, shade structures, portable bathrooms, a walkin cooler for vegetable storage, composting facilities, and spigots to provide water for hand washing and a drip irrigation system. Like the urban site in downtown Silver
plenty I autumn harvest 2026 11