The food network

Hungry Mother Organics has long wanted to not just sell produce, but get the average person to grow it, as well. Now the local farm is starting a 1,000 Backyard Farms campaign, along with the non-profit F.O.C.U.S. (For Our Country United States) to track and map the growth of the local food network in the Carson Valley and Reno area. Backyard farmers of any size are encouraged to sign up their gardens or farms with the campaign. Gardeners who send a photo or rough sketch of their garden plan and their location to <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">{ document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,97,32,104,114,101,102,61,34,109,97,105,108,116,111,58,115,116,97,99,101,121,64,104,117,110,103,114,121,109,111,116,104,101,114,46,99,99,34,62,115,116,97,99,101,121,64,104,117,110,103,114,121,109,111,116,104,101,114,46,99,99,60,47,97,62)) } </script> will be entered to win $150 worth of soil and plants from Hungry Mother, to be awarded in May.

The idea is to discover how many people are already growing their own food, and how much they’re growing. This will be used to create an interactive map, which will be available at 1000backyardfarms.org. “Ultimately, we hope to use the information to determine the number of backyard farms in the region, the acreage of the farms and estimated total food yield,” the website states.

Also part of this effort is a new Backyard Farmer Association. Roughly 35 people attended a meeting of the group in early April at Hungry Mother’s roadside stand in Carson City. The group, with a yearly membership fee of $25, will hold monthly classes and meetings featuring special speakers and opportunities to swap ideas, tools and produce. The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 3 at 6 p.m. and will include a tour of Comstock Seed’s property in Gardnerville.