With increasing food costs, rising demand (by up to 36%) at local food banks and funding to these banks and food pantries being threatened under the new administration, food self-sufficiency is turning into less of an ideal and more into an essential choice for many. It makes sense that gardening at home will continue to make its way into the spotlight. As residents explore options for cultivating their own food, vertical gardening — an innovative method of growing plants on vertical structures — proves ideal for people with limited space and those with limited mobility or reach, too.

In response to rising food costs and an increase in demand for food at local food banks, Snohomish Conservation District is partnering with Verdant Health Commission to pilot Harvest at Home, a free program to increase access to food gardening for residents of South Snohomish County.

It’s a rare sunny day in January, and about a dozen people gather on a farm in Snohomish County, Washington. The farmer, Brett Aiello of Reconnecting Roots Farm, wants to suppress the weeds around some newly planted fruit trees without disturbing the soil, and he’s enlisted some help.

The people in the field work together to sheet mulch the patch of land — some lay sections of clean cardboard, others cart wheelbarrows of bark chips across the field, carefully layering the chips onto the old boxes… Boehnlein says they’ve worked extensively with the Snohomish Conservation District. In one instance, the Snohomish Conservation District received a grant to explore agroforestry as a solution to farming wet ground.