Growing Veggies, Blowing Minds
Justin Husher and his Urban Farm Manifesto
By Isaac Mell
Three years ago, Justin Husher started a farm in Cleveland, and Sat 2/25 from 7 – 9PM at Visible Voice Books he unveils the Urban Farm Manifesto. This 20-page comic-zine synthesizes his experiences and theories thus far as an urban farmer and food sovereignty advocate.
Many who attend the Urban Farm Manifesto Fuel Fillup Pickup Party may already have contributed to the RocketHub campaign to print and market the Manifesto. Others may show for a chance to eat free sweet potato donuts with a choice of Ohio Maple Syrup Glaze or Cleveland Honey Glaze and drink complimentary Manifesto Strong Ale from Origins Brewery. Wine will be sold, but if Husher reaches his next fundraising goal of $2,100 (he has already surpassed his initial hope of $900), he will give the wine away for free in celebration.
Husher sells regularly at Gordon Square Arts District Farmers’ Market and through LEAF (the Lakewood Earth and Food community). He also supports small businesses by selling to places like Fat Cats, Root Cafe, Loop and Great Lakes Brewing Company. His next venture is to facilitate a network of urban farms in Northeast Ohio.
Husher’s background combines the academic (BS in Botany from Miami, MBA from Cleveland State), the practical (years of gardening, composting and organic-lawn-caring) and the literary (immersion in neo-gardening writings) with a hip hop, heavy metal spin. He grows food you’ve never heard of, let alone tasted: Gypsy peppers and tigger melons, walla walla onions and Mexican sour gherkins, pawpaw fruit and patty pan squash. His heirloom tomatoes alone evoke a mix of colors and countries and poetry — Purple Russian, Black Mauri, Snowberry, Green Grape, White Tomesol, Thai Pink Egg, Black Cherry. These are fruits and vegetables that, as he says in the Urban Farm Manifesto video, “can blow people’s minds.”
And so can the Urban Farm Manifesto.
Check out Husher’s blog, The Garden Life and Times of Justin Husher, and the Old Husher’s Farm Facebook page, for more. To contribute to the campaign, pre-order a Manifesto to pick up at the Fuel Fillup Pickup Party, and more, click here. And be sure to attend the event on Sat 2/25 @ Visible Voice Books.
Isaac Mell grew up in South Euclid, OH and attended American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He welcomes conversations with potential employers, collaborators and friends.
Cleveland, OH 44113
One Response to “Growing Veggies, Blowing Minds”
justin husher
Thank you Cool Cleveland for your support! I hope Isaac or another staff member is coming out on Saturday. I would love to get yall a media copy of the Manifesto and some sweet potato donuts. Thanks again. Sincerely, Justin Husher