After yesterday’s tornado-ripe thunderstorm passed over Decatur, I ventured outside to see if there was any damage. Fortunately, there was none. In fact, as is often the case after a storm front passes without doing damage, it was especially pleasant to be outside.

Hands down the most interesting item on tonight’s Decatur City Commission agenda are requests from the Asst. City Manager David Junger regarding the long talked about urban farm on the property of the United Methodist Children’s Home.

For two years, the city has been openly talking about a possible Urban Farm Market on two rare open acres of land owned by the United Methodist Children’s Home, which sits just outside the Decatur city limits.  However, there were many hurdles to overcome.  Who would run such a farm and who would pay for it?

Yet again, it looks like Decatur has found a creative way of bringing parties together to make it a reality.

According to Mr. Junger’s letter – which is on page 33 of the attachments – about a year ago, city staff heard about the urban garden on Sams Street run primarily by refugee women resettled in the United States from Burundi.  (DM first reported on the effort back in June 2010)  The city contacted and met with Refugee Family Services, which runs the Sams Street garden project, who were very excited about the possibilities of the UMCH project and confirmed they had the skills and ability to manage to two acres.

Awesome news! But what about the money?

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