Photo: Ruthie Abel

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Today there are less than a handful of full-service supermarkets in Detroit, and many rely on gas stations for food provisions. In Corktown, devoted growers planting everything from organic mizuna to apricot trees are taking Detroit’s oldest neighborhood back to its agrarian roots.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Nutritious small-batch delicacies made by youth at Detroit Food Academy, a program teaching food and social entrepreneurship, are sold at Corktown Farmer’s Market.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

“Do you have sea salt? Slice it, sprinkle it with sea salt, and let it rest a few minutes. It will sweat. Enjoy.” – Heirloom tomato consumption tips from Labrosse Farm’s Dawn DeMuyt.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Labrosse Farm’s Gwen Meyer waters quickly with harvested rainwater.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Gwen Meyer waters quickly as the summer sun rises over Labrosse Farm.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

“We take in keyboard refugees from the tech industry,” explains Brother Nature founder Greg Willere (blue hat), by way of introduction to the morning’s volunteers.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Labrosse Farm’s heirloom tomato ketchups and jam are produced at Corktown’s Detroit Institute of Bagels.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Gwen Meyer’s Japanese heirloom sunflowers, grown at Labrosse Farm in Corktown.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Labrosse Farm’s Dawn DeMuyt pauses with her stirrup hoe. “This is an incredible timesaver. We learned about it from Patrick Crouch, our transplant guru at Earthworks.”

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Chemical-free salad. Not lettuce. At Brother Nature.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Greg Willerer and his wife Olivia Hubert, a horticulturist and native Detroiter, run Brother Nature Produce, a one-acre farm in Corktown.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

A Friday morning harvest at Brother Nature Produce.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Edible flowers and a hoop house at Brother Nature.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

“It’s a nice way to start Friday. I volunteer for a few hours and get fresh veggies,” says Yvette VanDerVelde, at Corktown’s Brother Nature.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Flowers at Corktown’s Brother Nature urban farm.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Into the sunset over Corktown, Detroit.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

“I like to read books and to sing. Erykah Badu is probably my favorite,” said Taylor Powe, while helping her cousins harvest edible flowers at Brother Nature.

Get your plant on.

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Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

Cultivating Corktown: Detroit’s Oldest Hood Goes Back To Its Agrarian Roots

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