Community Agriculture Day at Milbank Urban Farm

The Community Agriculture Day event was held on July 26th from 10AM-12PM at the Milbank Urban Farm in Southeast Raleigh.  During this event, the Palmetto Futures team led a demonstration on sustainable agriculture using compostable materials. The event featured engagement with youth who were trained on how to construct raised beds and cultivate soil to grow crops.  

To prepare the site for demonstration, our team cleared out vegetation to install two 4 feet by 8 feet raised beds. 13 youth, including 8 from the Milbank neighborhood, participated in the construction of the raised beds while learning the basics of agriculture. Participants also collected soil samples for future testing of the site to gain insights into the health of the soil. 

This introductory event serves as the beginning of a series of events as we work with the youth to develop an urban community garden. The next steps will be to continue cultivating the soil to prepare for a future event centered around planting nutritious foods that can be utilized by the community.  

This work is funded by the NC Black Alliance.