Sustainable Agriculture Research at Troy Gardens

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Society Initiative funded three research projects at Troy Gardens. Under the direction of Agronomy Professor Bill Tracy, Camilla Vargas worked on two concurrent projects-testing a combination of organic soil amendments (to increase soil fertility) and ground cover plants (to reduce week growth on fallow, or unused, farm land); and growing huitlacoche, an edible corn fungus much prized in Mexican cuisine, as a cash crop.

In the soil fertility project, Camilla worked swaths of three different soil amendments into a test plot: compost, wood chips with alfalfa meal, and rotting leaves with alfalfa meal. A fourth swath was left untouched as a control. Perpendicular to the swaths of soil amendments, Camilla planted swaths of two different ground-covering plants: clover and sorghum sudan grass. Both of these species grow fast and thick, and are effective at choking out weeds. Camilla and Troy farmer Claire Strader wanted to find out which does a better job of it. The results of this project guide farmer Claire’s management of the farm. One-eighth of the farm’s land is allowed to rest from production each year. Keeping the fallow land planted with cover crops that keep it weed-free is a way to keep the soil from organic farms healthy and sustainable without the use of chemical fertilizers or herbicides.

The other half of Camilla’s project involved tricking corn plants into producing huitlacoche instead of kernels. The tassels on top of a corn plant produce pollen grains, which are blown by the breeze onto the silk peeking out of the future ears. When a tiny grain of pollen lands on a thread of silk, it becomes fertilized and a kernel of corn is born upon the ear. If the tassels are instead removed and spores of the huitlacoche fungus are inoculated onto the emerging silk at the right time, the ear will produce “corn mushrooms” instead of kernels. These corn mushrooms are considered a gourmet delicacy and can be sold to specialty markets and restaurants at a handsome price.

Under the direction of Professor Lydia Zepeda of the UW-Department of Consumer Science, graduate students Kathy Gonzalez and Kym Leggett researched options for Troy Farm’s economic sustainability. The first part of this project involved gathering precise data about how much time and labor each crop requires. Kathy and Kym installed boxes at the end of the farm rows; in these the farm workers recorded exactly how much time they spent on each activity for every individual crop on a daily basis. The project assistants created a spreadsheet from this information that provided an economic analysis of crop mix to help farmer Claire determine the cost of production for each crop.

In 2003, Kathy conducted a market study to research whether local chefs would be interested in buying produce from Troy Community Farm. The results showed that those chefs who were inclined to buy locally produced food already had suppliers, while the other chefs preferred to rely on large, one-call distributors. It was clear that selling general farm produce to local outlets would require significant time and relationship building.

The solution was to grow a high-value specialty product not currently available locally. This type of crop could be farmed intensively and sold at a premium price, a goal both attainable and profitable. Most importantly, it would not undermine existing relationships between local outlets and other small producers. Huitlacoche fit the bill.

To assess potential interest, Kathy conducted a huitlacoche cooking demonstration with local chefs in 2003. The demo was a delicious success. Subsequently, two public cooking demos were conducted at Mercado Marimar Mexican grocery, and at the Food for Thought Festival on the Capitol Square. Over 300 people tasted samples prepared in a variety of recipes by amateur and professional cooks. In 2004, Professor Zepeda and her student assistants organized the first annual Huitlacoche Festival at Mercado Marimar, where over 150 people sampled huitlacoche, listened to music, and whacked at piñatas. They also conducted another demo at the 2004 Food for Thought Festival. In 2005, Troy Gardens hosted the second annual Huitlacoche Festival as part of their Savor the Summer Festival, an event that is now the largest event hosted by Friends of Troy Gardens.

Due to production challenges, huitlacoche is no longer being produced at Troy Community Farm. However, the Huitlacoche Project succeeded in familiarizing potential customers with Troy Community Farm’s product, and established a relationship between a successful small grocery and our farm. Most importantly, the efforts to introduce huitlacoche to a wider Madison market brought together Anglo and Latino people to learn more about each other.

Bringing people together by means of Troy Gardens is the aim of the third Kellogg-sponsored research project. Urban and Regional Planning Department Professor Marcia Caton Campbell and her Project Assistants Olivia Parry and Michelle Stahlhut engaged in social and cultural research to discover how to build and maintain diverse public participation in everything Troy Gardens has to offer.

Marcia and Olivia conducted in-depth interviews last year with ten long-time Troy participants and a small group of Hmong gardeners. They looked for common themes in people’s responses to questions about what was working and was not working, and what their concerns were regarding Troy Gardens. They shared these themes with FTG supporters in a presentation in 2004 at a Kellogg-sponsored Learning Community Retreat. Former FTG Executive Director Sharon Lezberg used this research to tailor FTG operations and to develop long-term outreach and organizing strategies. FTG implemented several ideas from Marcia and Olivia’s research to successfully increase contact with other Northside neighborhood groups.

Overall, Troy Gardens holds tremendous potential as a community resource on Madison’s Northside, but even more promise as a model for other neighborhoods and cities. By working in partnership, FTG is able to make the most of this project at a local level while graduate students and professors at UW-Madison will be able to make the most of the Troy Gardens example at an international level.