Urban Farms (Minneapolis, St. Paul: coops, neighborhood, garden)

[Pennies4Penny]

Do many people in the Twin Cities area do urban farming? I would someday like to have a vegetable garden and possibly a few chickens for fresh eggs! Are they permitted in any of the surrounding cities? Is this something people are into up there or is it not too common?

[MnMomma]

I'm in Southwest Minneapolis. Our old neighbors had chickens--it's not super common, but they are definitely around (same with bee hives). We thought about getting chickens a few years ago and there were tons of local resources. We decided that we liked the idea of them in nice weather, but not over the winters.

Vegetable gardens are getting more common--lots of cold frames in my neighborhood.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Pennies4Penny

Do many people in the Twin Cities area do urban farming? I would someday like to have a vegetable garden and possibly a few chickens for fresh eggs! Are they permitted in any of the surrounding cities? Is this something people are into up there or is it not too common?

depends on specific location. Some cities still have restrictions on chickens. In Minneapolis they are legal, and I know of a couple of coops within a couple blocks of us. Not yet ""common," but growing in popularity and not rare, either. Beekeeping is growing increasingly popular, too. Vegetable gardens, on the other hand, are extremely common.

Minneapolis still has a few more restrictions than St. Paul (where you can even have goats), but there's a group called Homegrown Minneapolis that has been helping to reshape the city's urban ag policies.

[Pennies4Penny]

Originally Posted by MnMomma

I'm in Southwest Minneapolis. Our old neighbors had chickens--it's not super common, but they are definitely around (same with bee hives). We thought about getting chickens a few years ago and there were tons of local resources. We decided that we liked the idea of them in nice weather, but not over the winters.

Vegetable gardens are getting more common--lots of cold frames in my neighborhood.

Yes, the winter weather will definitely factor into our final decision. What are cold frames?

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

depends on specific location. Some cities still have restrictions on chickens. In Minneapolis they are legal, and I know of a couple of coops within a couple blocks of us. Not yet ""common," but growing in popularity and not rare, either. Beekeeping is growing increasingly popular, too. Vegetable gardens, on the other hand, are extremely common.

Minneapolis still has a few more restrictions than St. Paul (where you can even have goats), but there's a group called Homegrown Minneapolis that has been helping to reshape the city's urban ag policies.

Goats! So cute, but I don't know what we'd do with one . Bee keeping might be fun too. I will look into that Homegrown Minneapolis, thanks!

What kinds of vegetables are commonly grown there? What does well?

[Camden Northsider]

I know chickens are all the rage up in my neck of the woods. And here in the Victory Neighborhood, we've participated in this very cool project the past couple of years (boulevard vegetable gardening)- Victory Tiny Fields Project