Urban Farming at Edgemere

On a half-acre lot in the Edgemere neighborhood of Far Rockaway, New York, sits a garden full of produce and flowers. To help ease the burden of fresh food scarcity, the urban farm at Edgemere provides the community with homegrown goodness.

The farm is entirely volunteer-run and has had many benefits not only for the neighborhood, but the volunteers as well. Two of the volunteers and founding members of the farm, Mike Repasch-Nieves and Louisa Rosenberg, have found joy in the hard work.

For Mike, it’s about knowing where his food comes from and being able to share with the community.

“When you are able to make that connection with a  plant and you realize that that’s where your food is coming from, a switch flips and that’s a deep connection that I have and that I want to share with others.” 

Besides a myriad of fresh vegetables and herbs, the farm also boasts a variety of flowers. Initially,  Louisa didn’t see the need for flowers, but she soon realized the power they have to uplift spirits, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Flowers do make people feel good and they bring hope, so we’ll keep growing flowers.”

Plants, both organic and ornamental, have a way of connecting people. As Louisa has been tending to the flowers, she’s experienced something greater than she had expected.

“I’m connected to the beauty of the flowers and the magic of the flowers.” 

For more information, visit the Edgemere Farm website.

You can follow the farm’s work on Instagram.

This episode was filmed and edited by Robert Capria.