I hope you all are participating and enjoying Earth Week Bingo! I can’t wait to see pictures submitted throughout the week and to see the most unique trash you find for the possibility of incorporating it into our trophy!
For this week, we wanted to highlight buisnesses and projects that are going on here in South Milwaukee that promote community wellness through environmental sustainability. I reached out to Ellen from MARM Farm to give us an update on what has been going on. For those of you who may not be familiar, The MARM Farm is a small-scale urban farm dedicated to regenerative practices and organic growing right here in south milwaukee. They focus on education and conservation, providing fresh produce for pay-as-you-can farmstand while teaching the community about the benefits of urban farming and sustainable living.
Celebrating Earth Week, we are excited to share that The MARM Farm Education and Conservation Center is officially open and thriving! We’ve just begun our in-ground planting season, and our greenhouse will soon be bustling with microgreens, offering fresh greens for our community. Our pay-as-you-can farmstand will be returning this year, making fresh, healthy produce accessible to everyone. Follow us on social media for the latest updates and upcoming events!
In addition to our traditional farm activities, we’re proud to introduce the debut of the SCUGU (Self-Contained Urban Growing Unit). This innovative 40-foot shipping container is now located at the north end of the municipal building parking lot. Over the next few months, we’ll be converting the interior for hydroponic and mushroom growing. Half of everything cultivated in the SCUGU will be donated to Human Concerns, supporting local food security, while the other half will be available for sale within our community. This project was made possible through last year’s Bucyrus grant funding.
Additionally, MARM Farm has partnered with a few of our schools this week in celebration of Earth Day and Arbor Day. For Earth Day, MARM Farm partnered with Blakewood Elementary to beautify the school grounds, learn about native plants, held a recycling drive, and talked about garden preparation. In celebration of Arbor Day, we will be partnering with the City Street Department to engage all 4th graders in the school district. Students will gather at the Mary C. Nelson Arboretum for an agroforestry scavenger hunt and learn about the importance of native trees and urban canopy. Each student will take home a tree seedling to plant at home, and the street department will plant a new tree at the arboretum, helping to grow a greener, healthier South Milwaukee.
You can learn more about the MARM Farm through their website https://www.forfarmersmovement.com/team/the-marm-farm-(milwaukee-area-renewal-movement) or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MarmFarmMilwaukee. They also send out a newsletter regularly that you can sign up for.
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