In Havana alone 30,000 residents tend 8,000 community gardens and small farms producing vegetables, fruit, eggs, medicinal plants, honey, and such livestock as rabbits and poultry. And all this produce is organic because chemical pesticides for agriculture are not allowed within the city limits. Outside of Havana the Organiponico movement is also growing rapidly with impressive results. I wanted to learn more, first hand, about the urban agriculture revolution in Cuba. So in December I was able to spend several days in Havana.
Taxicabs are everywhere, and happy to provide gringos a tour of their city.
I chose a newer Mercedes because the driver was knowledgeable about urban farming locations, though he admitted no customer had ever asked him to tour local farms and gardens. The first stop on my tour was a two-acre garden at Avenida 4 and Calle 4 tended by Benito Ross and two helpers. Benito grows over a dozen salad crops and produces 35 tons of food a year in exquisitely maintained raised beds propped up by old slate roof tiles and drainage tiles. A large active compost pile graces the entrance to the garden, along with thousands of soda cans adapted as seedling starters. Benito is a succession planting genius, with most of his crops grown and sold within 50 days of planting to people and restaurants in the neighborhood.