The Tempe, Ariz., property will operate a farmers market and function as a 100% natural garden without the use of chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides, according to the 10-year lease agreement.
The turf of Rio Salado Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., will be transformed into an urban garden by Ken Singh of Singh Organic Soils, LLC, the Tempe-based East Valley Tribune reported.
In May, the Tempe City Council authorized Mayor Mark Mitchell to sign a lease agreement with Singh to transform Rio Salado into a sustainable urban farm and community space. The lease is valid for 10 years and includes the potential for renewal, the Tribune reported.
Arizona State University’s Engineering Projects in Community Service program will partner with Singh to transform the space, the Tribune reported.
“It was very exciting to city leadership, ASU and other partners to look at something that’s very different and unique. It maintains that space as open space, but is something that we don’t have in the community already in Tempe,” said Amanda Nelson, Tempe spokeswoman for community development.
Kemper Sports Management formerly operated the golf course, which was one of three municipal courses in the Tempe area. However, the company announced in 2012 it would not renew the lease, prompting the city of Tempe to seek a new operator for the 63-acre property, the Tribune reported.
Nelson said other plans for the property consisted of traditional golf course concepts, but Singh’s stood out for its uniqueness. The urban farm will operate a farmers market and function as a 100 percent natural garden operating without the use of chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides according to the lease agreement, the Tribune reported.
Singh intends to include orchards, gardens, walkways and some recreational aspects, such as tree houses and sandboxes in place of the sand traps. He also said he spoke with local golfers to potentially develop a golf theme, the Tribune reported.
“You can come here, take your shoes off, run through the field, look at the lake, do a somersault. I don’t know, simplicity!” Singh said. “Basically we want to have a community gathering place if such a thing can be created.”
Work to renew the soil and replenish the property has started, Singh said, and he hopes to design the gardens next month with a goal of opening the farm’s first phase at the end of this year or the beginning of 2015, the Tribune reported.
“Further down the road, we’re looking at a number of things that could be included such as campsites for families and bikes for people to ride around the property,” Nelson said.
Working with the community to grow food and encouraging others to grow their own food is one of Singh’s missions, and he said the creation of an urban farm is an opportunity to show the community how nature works and how food can be cultivated, the Tribune reported.
Singh Farms in Scottsdale takes a natural, organic approach to crop growth and produces its own compost under his direction. The nutrient-rich soil enhancer transformed the dry landscape that existed before the compost was added to the soil, creating a garden Nelson called a “little oasis,” the Tribune reported.
“Seeing what he and his company have done there, it really helps to visualize how this golf course can really transform into something completely different,” Nelson said.
“I just want to be able to show nature—how beautiful it is, what it does for us and basically you know that we should be looking a little closer and protecting mother earth,” Singh said. “The more we clean the earth, water, the air, I think the better we live.”
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