Northern Kentuckian to bring non-profit urban gardening to Cincinnati core

Cincinnati stands apart from many of the country’s urban areas with Findlay Market, a place where people who live in the core can easily walk to get fresh food, including an abundance of fruit and vegetables.But Cincinnati is not alone in the dearth of spots available for urban gardening, but a Fort Thomas husband and wife are working to change that by creating a non-profit that would set aside inner city land for gardening.The idea builds on the current work of Memorial Inc., a non-profit which operates the Over-The-Rhine  Eco-Garden in partnership with the Civic Garden Center. Memorial Inc. pays local youth a $6 per hour stipend to tend the garden, and sells the produce at Findlay Market. Proceeds go toward funding Memorial Inc’s family and youth social and educational programs. Memorial Inc. leases the land, which recently has been threatened by development.That’s among reasons that Luke Ebner, who works for Memorial Inc., along with his wife Angela, are working to create Permaganico, a non-profit that will raise funds that will allow him to purchase land in inner city Cincinnati without fear of it being sold to developers.”What happens in an urban farming program is sometimes a piece of property is on a-one year lease, the property gets fixed up and the owner wants to sell it,” Ebner said.Under Ebner’s plan the land would be jointly maintained by Memorial Inc and Permaganico, he said.  “What Permaganico is trying to do is provide an opportunity for people who want to get into farming and want to produce food,” he said. “We would show them how to do it and show them how to avoid mistakes.”Ebner is still in the early stages of forming the non-profit, which would raise organic produce. Permorganico is registered as a state-non-profit and is awaiting registration as a federal 501(c)3.Long-term, Permorganico could serve as a place that could hold land in trust strictly for urban, suburban and rural farming, Ebner said.He would like to see Cincinnati as home to a program similar to The Intervale Center in Burlington VT. Intervale is a non-profit that for more than 30 years has managed and preserved more than 350 acres of land, supporting viable farms and increasing local access to local and organic food and agricultural education.Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Luke Ebner, Memorial Inc.