Des Moines couple turns urban yard into farm and school
Photo by Gene Lucht
“We’re feeding ourselves,” Fallon says. “But that’s not going to matter a hill of beans if we don’t teach others how to do this.”
By Gene Lucht
Iowa Farmer
Jul 9, 2022
Excerpt:
The sign says Birds and Bees Urban Farm. There are no cornfields in sight, unless you count the few stalks of sweet corn in a raised bed toward the back of the property. But the people here are farmers.
“This is far from a hobby,” says Kathy Byrnes, who runs the operation with her partner, Ed Fallon.
This small tract, which consists of a group of raised beds in an urban neighborhood of 19th century Victorian homes, is a farm. Byrnes and Fallon describe it as their subsistence farm where they grow the food they need to live. They also hold classes teaching others how to grow food in an urban setting.
And while the farm here is small and intimate, it is also diverse. The couple grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruit. They have chickens and are just starting to raise rabbits. They have bee hives.
“If you count the bees, we’re growing tens of thousands of head of livestock,” Fallon says with a laugh.
