舊金山自家有機小農場公司

via : springwise. June 30. 2008.
Not long ago we wrote about permaculture and Australian Permablitz's volunteer-based implementation of the concept in urban gardens around Melbourne. Now one of our spotters has come across the first for-profit example we've seen.
Launched earlier this year, San Francisco-based My Farm calls itself a decentralized urban farm that grows vegetables in backyard gardens throughout the city. For anywhere between USD 600 and USD 1,000—depending on size—the company will install an organic vegetable garden in a customer's back yard. My Farm will first test the ground for toxins and other soil-composition issues, and gardens can be as small as 4-by-4-feet or so large as to completely transform the back yard. Customers can also choose whether to produce just enough for their own family or whether to become owner-members producing enough for My Farm to sell as well. Either way, once the garden's in, My Farm will maintain it using organic and permaculture techniques including drip irrigation and a compost pile; the company's employees do most of the work by hand and travel by bicycle whenever possible. Maintenance costs are USD 20 to USD 35 per week, with discounts for owner-members. Then, of course, in addition to maintaining, My Farm will also harvest produce at its peak, leaving a basket of fresh veggies on the consumer's doorstep when they're done. For members, that basket includes some of the abundance produced by other backyard gardens as well, resulting in even more diversity. Finally, for those without their own gardens, My Farm's produce is still available for delivery: a full basket, suitable for a small family, costs USD 35 per week, while a small box for one is USD 25.

S.F. firm harvests potential of unused land
Last month, Vollen, 44, and her husband, Gary Vollen, 45, turned to MyFarm, a new San Francisco business that took the family's local and organic diet to a new level: by designing and planting an organic vegetable garden in their Marina district backyard. The Vollens pay MyFarm a weekly fee to maintain and harvest the vegetables that have just started to mature. They can gaze at their garden and dig into just-picked lettuce without so much as touching dirt.