Backyard (and Frontyard) Farming

If you haven't been paying close attention, you might be surprised to know that scores of people across North America are responding to soaring food and fuel prices and product shortages by turning to urban agriculture. This is a phenomenon that has been covered fairly extensively in the media - but it's not easy to keep up with all the stories. So here's a little compendium of some of the best stories I've seen so far:

Cuba's organic revolution
From The Guardian
Cuba could be seen as the mother land of urban agriculture, since the country was forced to become self-sufficient in the early 90s, when it lost the large majority of its trade with the former Soviet Union. An urban gardening culture sprang up almost overnight.

Urban Back-to-the-Land Movement
From The San Francisco Chronicle
Urban sustainability projects in San Francisco, including the Institute of Urban Homesteading, which teaches city dwellers urban farming techniques and Sustaining Ourselves Locally, a collective of nine people maintaining a 5,000-square-foot urban garden.

Life (Mostly) Off The Grid
From The New York Times
A video featuring the Dervaes family, who live a green life on 1/5 of an acre in Pasadena, Calif.

Eat Your Lawn
From CHOW
An all-encompassing story about the move towards converting urban yards to sustainable growing lots.

Green Acres II: When Neighbors Become Farmers
From The Wall Street Journal
For one man, a front yard was not enough. So he got his neighbors together and co-opted their lawns too.