Unfortunately, I didn't bring my notes home to type them up. From the last two chats with urban farmers, it seems there were very specific problems and design opportunities. These were the ones that I remember:
1. Communication - Urban farmers don't have a very organized or uniform way of talking to each other and sharing ideas/solutions to their concerns. The farming authorities/administration in Detroit seem to have a website and organization, but for some reason or another is exclusive or preventing information flow. (*someone might have to look into who/what the authorities are)
2. Water - Water bills are expensive and the cost of water seems to be fluctuating/unstable (the Detroit government seems unstable in general) and getting a constant supply of clean water or being able to disperse it throughout the garden is time consuming and difficult.
3. Bee keeping - Bee keeping is common for farmers, but all the supplies and bought and shipped from far destinations. Lets keep it local and cheap (or DIY/open source)
4. Compost - Detroit Dirt provides compost from tons of people and needs a way of turning over or sifting through (for trash/debris) huge amounts of compost (think of a pile about 15 feet tall). An ideal way seems to involve different sized grids/wire mesh on an incline.
I'll get the rest of the information posted soon! If anything, it will be done by next semester in time for some real student organization to tackle these projects.
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