Business & Tech

Urban Farm Helps Community Stay Sustainable

The Edmonston farm lets locals have a hand in growing produce.

The Riverdale Park Farmers Market is a popular destination for area residents each week, when they support local farmers and buy locally grown and organic produce.

Yet, just beyond the borders of Riverdale Park, in Edmonston, is an urban farm that allows people to experience farming hands-on and learn exactly how their locally grown produce is made.

Engaged Community Offshoots, or ECO, was founded in order to help Prince George's County residents learn the benefits of sustainable living through an offshoot farm in Edmonston and a composting facility in College Park.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The ECO farm held an open house Saturday to help promote its facility and programs — including a new class at Prince George's Community College.

Vinnie Bevivino, director of urban agriculture operations for ECO, said the farm, which opened in April, has already produced items including lettuces, arugula, cilantro, basil, sunflower and pea shoots.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"We're hoping to begin selling these items to restaurants in order to make enough money to continue operations," Bevivino said. "We already sell items at a farmers market in Langley Park, but want to expand to the Riverdale Park Farmers Market."

He's hoping to get items to grocery stores as well in September.

"We definitely feel the pressure to earn money," Bevivino said. "We're always trying to calculate cost of production, including labor."

The group also makes its own compost at the farm, with the help of local businesses that give them their wood chips and food waste.

Farm Manager Christian Melendez said a compost tea, created by soaking compost in water for about a day, is later used as fertilizer.

"There's a facility in College Park just for compost production," Melendez said.

ECO processes nearly 40 tons of organic material monthly to produce fertile soil at the College Park facility. After six to eight months of composting, the material is moved to worm bins.

Bevivino, who has a bachelor's in soil science from the University of Maryland, initially worked alongside ECO Founder Margaret Morgan-Hubbard as a part of a UMd. Extension Program on the community garden in Riverdale Heights behind the Multicultural Youth Center near William Wirt Middle School. However, the university pulled its funding, and now the garden has become a part of the curriculum for the youth center.

Zach Feris, a volunteer, said he learned about the farm when he attended an ECO summit on urban agriculture in June.

"I show up when I can to help them with any physical labor," Feris said.

As a former resident of Riverdale Park, he said the town is providing a great model for the local food movement with the Riverdale Park Farmers Market.

"I do think there is a larger social value to encourage people at a local level to get involved with their food system," Feris said. "By getting their hands in the soil they discover the joy of growing produce."

He said it is important for local residents to take responsibility for their own food security and food sovereignty, pointing to the recent salmonella contamination of eggs.

"That was two egg producers that caused the contamination of 500 million eggs," Feris said, something he thought could be prevented if consumers take responsibility for where they buy their food.

Bevivino has big plans for the facility in addition to the hoophouses used currently to grow produce, including aquaponics, or the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating system.  

For now, in an effort to manage their finances, the group relies on volunteers and will also gain some money with a the help of a workshop it will offer through Prince George's Community College.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Riverdale Park-University Park