Randall has a doctorate in Anthropology and has worked in third world countries in the areas of ecology and hunger. When he came to Houston he noticed that people, even wealthy, educated ones, didn't seem to know what to do with land. There was no systematic approach to learning about land use. With our weather and the rain we usually get, we can grow nearly anything. He points out that vegetables in stores have been developed to have a long shelf life, look good, and ripen together.
Gardening encompasses all three.
Founded in 1994, Urban Harvest is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building communities through gardening. Urban Harvest emphasizes neighborhood revitalization, environmental education for all ages, better nutrition, and supplemental income for low income residents. They do this through classes now offered through Leisure Learning, pamphlets, Randall's ecological gardening book on growing fruits and vegetables in the Houston area, a quarterly newsletter, a popular Spanish radio program, and an active program of community garden improvement. There are now about 85 Urban Harvest affiliated community gardens in our area, most within Houston city limits. Urban Harvest staff members stress an organic, ecological, sustainable, permacultural approach to gardening, saying that poisons are unnecessary.