Cathy Isom has interesting information about how the USDA helped a farm in the nation’s capital, and how that helping hand turned into a 400% increase in business over the last year. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Download Giving a Helping Hand
Farms seem to be cropping up in some strange places these days, including down in the basement of the The Pub and the People Restaurant, located at a busy corner in Washington D-C.
“our micro-gram farm, we grow about 30 varieties of micro grains here in this location.”
Mary Ackley, founder of Little Wild Things City Farm. A farm with a tiny little room under the pub and a quarter acre of land nearby. A farm she started by herself about 3 years ago.
“and was able to make it work and the USDA micro loan was a huge part of that.”
USDA micro loans are small loans with streamlined paperwork which Val Dolcini, outgoing Farm Service Agency administrator, says are designed to be helping small or startup operations
“and to bringing new people into our offices. Women, returning veterans, farmers of color. Others that have been traditionally underserved by other USDA programs.”
For address, directions, map and contact information, please check out their Contact page on their website.
I’m Cathy Isom….
Note: Over 26-thousand micro loans that have been made since the program began in 2013.