Maybe you’re a homeowner with a brown thumb and no interest in doing anything with your yard. Or maybe you want a garden, but just don’t have the time/skills/energy/patience. Or maybe you’re elderly, a busy executive, disabled, or a parent of small children who wants access to fresh organic garden food but the expense or effort is just too much. Wouldn’t it be great if some green thumb gardener would come, do all the work of putting in a garden or edible food forest in your yard…and then you could have some of it for free? Well, that’s the premise behind Albert Kaufman’s idea, Farm My Yard.
Maybe you’ve got a green thumb and want a garden, but it seems the few community garden plots available are always in use, or too expensive, or too far away from where you live. Maybe you live in an apartment, or your own yard is too shady for the heirloom tomatoes you want to grow. Or maybe you want to create enough produce to donate to the local food bank. Farm My Yard allows you garden space and irrigation water FOR FREE, in your own neighborhood. And you get to work with the homeowner to help plan a bounty that you BOTH can enjoy.
Albert Kaufman has a Farm My Yard website and Farm My Yard facebook page where you can learn more. He’s got downloadable yard signs, legal forms, and explanation sheets as to how it all works. When he gets funding, he’ll even produce a few yard signs to buy if you don’t want to download and make your own.
I think this is a great idea for both homeowners and gardeners. Homeowners get someone else keeping their yard looking nice and producing food for them. Gardeners get free land and irrigation water to grow fresh organic food for themselves and/or to share. Who gets the better deal – the homeowner who gets free organic food and landscaping…or the gardener who gets free land, irrigation water, organic food, and the chance to play in the dirt?
Albert Kaufman is a computer/software geek , social media expert, and community organizing hero. He’s always got his hand in creating some innovative new idea to make life better for whatever community he is in.
Better Ideas Now 
Awesome. Just added a link to this post from Farm My Yard website.
Great!
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You’re too kind, thanks for the sweet article. this is an idea in progress, for sure! there are a thousand different arrangements that could come of this for those involved – I hope that people see that and don’t get caught up in “why it can’t work” – because it totally can! try it out. I also am glad to make a sign or two for those in PDX who’d like one. and, I hope to print up some signs with incoming funding – people can donate to make the project a bigger success on the website, thanks!
Thank YOU for being a thought leader. I’ve been enjoying Freecycle for many years, one of your other projects I’ll be featuring here in the future. In fact, I just gave away a bag full of frozen veggies through freecycle Portland today:)
I have a little porch garden going right now..eating and spicing food with home grown herbs is really one of the best feelings ever 🙂 I don’t have a yard but I love this idea.