The Hawley Hamlets Eco Village
Building a community around an urban food forests may seem like a European idea, but it is gaining interest here in the U.S. as well. With climate change becoming an imminent concern, some community members are investing in their own communities food security. One example is in the heart of one of the more dense neighborhoods in the breadbasket of America—the Hawley Hamlet.
Tim and Kay’s home at the corner surrounded by an edible landscape with solar and geothermal power.
Tim Rinne and Kay Walter began gardening 15 years ago on their modest urban corner lot just a few miles east of downtown Lincoln. They saw more opportunity from growing food than sod and started small with some vegetable gardens. Fast forward to today and they are now the founders of a small dedicated farming community that has expanded to cover nearly the entire block.
When I toured the project a few months back to get a broader perspective of solar panels on historic buildings, another feature of the Hamlet which is located in the Hawley Local Landmark District, I learned far more about neighborhood revitalization, relationship building, and growing food for a small community. Tim’s vision is for a community where we do not have to rely on regional grocery store chains and can instead get the majority of our food from our yards or a central garden in our own neighborhood within walking distance.
Tim and Kay purchased several more homes on the block over time, adding solar panels and building out the central garden space. The homes on the block share a central north-south alley with homes on either side. The idea was to use the backyards of these homes and create a central garden space to be shared by all the owners. As Tim put it, you usually know a few neighbors across the street and next door, but rarely do you get to know who is living behind you. The norm, especially in the Midwest, is to fence every lot off and never see the neighbors behind you. This is definitely the case in my neighborhood where there isn’t a fenceless yard to be found and most are 6 foot solid wood fences. Tim and Kay flipped that script by getting nearly everyone on the block involved in growing their own food and building a small network amongst their neighborhood residents.
The greenhouse that was built in the middle of the block in the garden area that required a more rigorous approval process than initially thought.
An example of where city codes impact the ability to use an urban lot for growing food. The grape vines had to be pulled back several feet on the fence line to maintain proper sight lines for vehicles leaving the adjacent alley.
Unfortunately while the project is admirable and a need moving into a climate challenged future there are regulations that make this eco village a challenge. One hurdle is the height of plants in the boulevards adjacent to the street. This area is another great location for growing food, but only as long as the plants stay less than 30 inches in height to avoid sight line issues for vehicles. Another is lot lines. Trying to build a community greenhouse requires respecting lot lines and adhering to setbacks. Last is ensuring this lofty project continues beyond the owners tenure on the block.
What the Hawley Hamlet demonstrates is that creating an eco village or even just a community led initiative for a local food forest only takes one or two people to get started. While community gardens have been around for decades, a world where food insecurities is increasing may need a refreshed approach. Creating little Hawley Hamlets woven throughout neighborhoods is a way to create more ownership in the process for growing local, health food, introduce neighbors, and solve a growing problem made more pressing by our changing climate.
