Silver Lake's Forage is a restaurant based on the eating experience of preparing food brought in from customers as grown in the area. But in mid-April, Forage found themselves having to put on hold their program of accepting homegrown foods for preparation because of the uncertainty of the practice's legality. more ›

Plans to build a quarter-acre urban farm next to a school near downtown were officially announced by Long Beach officials on Monday. It's the 16th such plot for the oceanside city and is all part of the municipality's move towards sustainability. more ›

An ordinance expanding what Angelenos can grow at home and later sell was approved by the L.A. City Council today. The "Fruit and Flowers Freedom Act," as it is called, changed the city's Truck Gardening ordinance, which said only vegetables and herbs could be grown, trucked to a market and sold. more ›

Long Beach really wants to be the greenest city in the country. They are working towards being a truly walkable city, complete with a large bicycle network. Another sustainable goal of theirs are community gardens and urban farms. To date, there are 15 of them with a 16th to be announced on Monday. more ›

Today marks a big step for the homegrown revolution. The L.A. City Council unanimously approved a motion that instructs the city attorney to amend an old and ambiguous city ordinance to allow for the on-site use and off-site sale of flowers and fruit grown within city limits. Currently, the simple act of growing them in your backyard with the purpose of selling them is a citable offense. However, vegetables are okay. more ›

A one and half acre community clinic, garden and urban farming site at Fremont High School was approved today by the L.A. Unified School District board. The project fits into two district goals: one, a health care master plan and the other to create community parks and gardens on school campuses to address safe open spaces and healthful living. more ›

Naming the movement the "Food & Flowers Freedom Act," urban farming advocates went before the City Planning Commission this morning at a hearing in Van Nuys to put forth a proposed ordinance amending outdated and unclear language on record in Los Angeles since 1946. Following the hearing, the CPC voted unanimously in approval of the proposed amendments. more ›

A symposium held at Sci-Arc this last weekend featured winners of a recent locally-focused transit design competition. Adam Christian at his blog, Urban Insights takes note of the 2nd place winners, the Fletcher Studio, who "proposed urban agricultural villages that would convert freeway embankments into terraced hillsides. Affiliated bungalow housing would be built alongside. These developments would be a new source of 'green' jobs, employing farmers on a rotating, seasonal basis." With some 527 miles of freeway, there is about 960 acres of unused land that could be made into workable space. That's a much better iday than these bogus freeway flower advertisements. (Thanks, Streetsblog, Curbed!) more ›

In a discussion about the upcoming trend (and hopefully long-term habit) of residents taking part in urban farming and apartment gardening, commenter trishells points out her illegal use of water under current city ordinances. However, she has a great point: more ›

No, urban farming is not the name of some cool sounding store that will become the next fad like froyo and cupcakes. It's just what it is--farming and gardening for yourself at home at in local gardens for the community. Up in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom wants community gardens on vacant and underutilized city-owned lots. At the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama has planted a garden on the south lawn. Although the garden on White House Place in Los Angeles is threatened and the South Central farm is now over a hundred miles away in the Central Valley, the urban farming efforts found in Silver Lake, South Pasadena, Altadena and elsewhere seem to be growing in popularity. more ›