Tag Archives: urban gardening

Ypsi Immigration Interview: Megan Maurer

By Mark | March 16, 2014

Several days ago I was approached by a young woman named Megan Maurer, asking if she could interview me for her master’s thesis. I agreed on one condition. I told her that, for every question she asked me, I’d ask one of my own. What follows are her responses to my questions. MARK: As I […]

Posted in Environment, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged AAATA, AmeriCorps, Beezy's, civic engagement, civic life, Columbus, community gardens, cultural anthropology, Deja Vu, dissertations, Dos Hermanos, environmentalism, FernGully, gardening, gateway drugs, graduate school, Growing Hope, immigration interview, Indian restaurants, Kenyon, Kenyon Lords and Ladies, local food, Megan Maurer, More Buses, Ohio, Philander Chase, Portland, public space, race, research, social justice, Sustainability, tamales, Ypsi immigration interview | 6 Comments

Lisa Waud on her plans to expand Ann Arbor’s Pot & Box into the thriving entrepreneurial hotbed that is Detroit’s Corktown

By Mark | January 17, 2013

A few days ago, Linete and I foud ourselves in Detroit, without kids, poking around Corktown. The plan was to get something warm to drink at Astro Coffee, but it looked too crowded. Linette peaked in, through one of the fogged-up windows, to see if there was space for me. (She can fit most anywhere. […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, entrepreneurism, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2520 Michigan Avenue, absinthe, Andy Didorosi, Astro Coffee, Bureau of Urban Living, Canine to Five, City Bird, Claire Nelson, Cliff Bell’s, cocktails, Corktown, Dave Landrum, Detroit, Detroit Bus Company, Detroit Farm and Garden, Detroit gas stations, Downtown Home and Garden, Emily Linn, entrepreneurism, entrepreneurship, Felch Street, flowers, friends who do cooler stuff that I do, Gallery 555, gardening, Green Dot Stables, Hatch Detroit, Helen Harding, Honor & Folly, Hugh, ice cream truck, indy retail, Izzy’s, Jean Henry, Joe Posch, Katherine Yates, Le Petite Zinc, Lisa Waud, Liz Blondy, Mercury Bar, Michigan Avenue, Model D, Mudgie’s Deli, new ideas in retail, Open City Detroit, Paper Street, Pete Bailey, Pop-up for the Holidays, pop-up retail, Popular Mechanics, Pot and Box, Rachel Parke, retail in Detroit, Rooselvelt Park, scotch, Slows Bar BQ, Small & Mighty, St. Cece’s, Stagger Lee, The Sugar House, Two James Distillery, Valentine's Day, Xavier’s, YEP, Young Entrepreneurial People | 24 Comments

Amanda Edmonds on the future of Growing Hope and this weekend’s big fundraiser

By Mark | October 11, 2012

As I’ve mentioned here before, one of my favorite local non-profits is the urban farming education and advocacy organization Growing Hope. And, as they still have a ticket or two available for the big fundraiser this weekend at their new Michigan Avenue facility, I thought that now might be a good time to check in […]

Posted in Agriculture, entrepreneurism, Environment, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Bona Sera, Brandon Johns, canning, Chefs in the Garden, Cleveland, co-ops, Enterprising Health, farmers market, food justice, food preservation, food security, food stamps, Garden Leadership Training, Grange, Growing Gardens, Growing Hope, healthy food access, hoophouse, International Public Markets Conference, Michigan Avenue, place making, Project for Public Spaces, snap, social entrepreneurship, solar, urban agriculture, urban food system, winter farmers' market, Wolverine Diner | 9 Comments

The closing of Detroit’s Catherine Ferguson Academy for Young Women

By Mark | April 17, 2011

Today I learned about a documentary called Grown in Detroit. Here, according to the website for the film, is what it’s about. Grown in Detroit focuses on the urban gardening efforts managed by a public school of 300, mainly african-american, pregnant and parenting teenagers. In Detroit alone, there are annually more than 3,000 pregnant teenagers […]