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Hi farming and food community of New Orleans!
Welcome to the Office of Resilience & Sustainability’s new Urban Agriculture newsletter! I’ve been honored to be the City’s first Urban Agriculture Liaison over the last year, helping to carry on the work growers and food system advocates have been doing for so long. Here’s a brief overview of the history of the role and what I’ve been up to: https://nola.gov/urbanag
I wanted to share some highlights with you all and uplift the amazing efforts that so many of you have been a part of to push for more awareness and support of urban agriculture in the City.
This quarterly newsletter will be a digest of the ORS’s efforts to support urban agriculture as well as a place to share useful resources, community events and ways you can get involved in the growing community.
Please reach out to urbanag@nola.gov with any contributions or ideas for what would be most helpful to include!
In community,
Grace Treffinger
Urban Agriculture Liaison
Urban Agriculture Liaison – Year in Review
In case you missed it, the Urban Agriculture Liaison (UAL) role was established in the city’s Office of Resilience & Sustainability almost a year ago. Grace Treffinger has been in this role working closely with the urban farming and gardening community. Read more about A Greener New Orleans (AGNO) campaign and this hard-won position they advocated for! https://nola.gov/urbanag
Urban Agriculture Working Group launched!
 The Urban Agriculture Working Group (UAWG) kicked off in March 2025 at City Hall with nearly 20 gardeners, farmers, and land stewards from across the city.
The UAWG is a place for growers from across New Orleans to share their common issues and work together to influence how the city can change its policies and programs to support and uplift urban agriculture and foster a stronger local food system.
 First UAWG Meeting at City Hall – March 20th, 2025
We’ve met quarterly and continued to dig into issues that affect most growers across the city from challenges with code violations for cover cropping to barriers to accessing land. Our most recent (and 3rd) meeting was in collaboration with the GNOGA (the Greater New Orleans Growers’ Alliance) at Material Institute. We use our meetings to hear updates from the UAL and share feedback on ongoing efforts to support urban agriculture like a proposed ordinance to allow cover cropping and a potential land access program for growers. Learn more here: https://nola.gov/uawg
GNOGA and UAWG Members at Material Institute – September 21st, 2025
Action Alert! Cover Crop Ordinance at October 9th Council Meeting
Example of cowpeas planted as cover crops over the summer.
Thanks to the advocacy of many growers in our community, in collaboration with ORS, Councilmember Harris is sponsoring a Cover Crop Ordinance!
What is this? A law that will add a definition of cover crops to the city code and legally allow them to exceed the 10-inch maximum weed height. This means growers like yourselves can seasonally plant cover crops without, hopefully, facing fines or other consequences. Come out and show your support for the ordinance!
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Cover Crops: Cultivated plants temporarily planted to slow erosion, improve soil health, enhance water availability, smother weeds, help control pests and diseases, and increase biodiversity. Cover crops shall not be considered weeds.
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If you’d like to make a public comment or just show up in support of this, join us at the City Council Meeting on October 9th in Council Chambers (City Hall). We’ll work with Councilmember Harris to identify the time it will be voted on. Email urbanag@nola.gov if you'd like more information.
Regenerative Garden Signs in the Wild!
Clockwise from top left: Crown Community Garden in New Orleans East, Galvez Garden in St. Roch, Recirculating Farms in Central City, Rude Becky Farm in Navarre
These yard signs, originally dreamed up by A Greener New Orleans campaign members, were created by the ORS team to help spread the word on regenerative agriculture practices. They help let neighbors know if a garden is being cover-cropped for the summer, like Rude Becky and Recirculating Farms above, incorporating native plants and other flowering plants to attract pollinators and increase biodiversity, or other practices that might look a little wilder but are good for the environment.
Regenerative Agriculture Training with Code Enforcement
Anna Timmerman, LSU Agriculture Extension Agent, and Grace co-hosted a training at the monthly Department of Code Enforcement meeting focused on identifying regenerative agriculture practices, such as cover cropping and sheet-mulching. Anna also brought some plant cuttings to help differentiate between actual weeds and cover crops, native plants, and other cultivars. There were about 60 staff present and lots of good engagement! This training is one more step we’re taking to help reduce code violations that gardens incorrectly get for practicing good land stewardship. Thanks to Director Anthony Davis for having us and for everyone’s participation!
Water Access Guide for Growers
We’ve worked hard to create this Water Access Guide for Gardens & Farms, in collaboration with SWBNO and the Urban Agriculture Working Group. The reality is that, if your site has never had a water meter, it can be an extremely expensive process to hire a utility contractor and plumber to install the needed infrastructure. This guide doesn’t solve all these challenges but aims to provide a step-by-step process for farms and gardens to get an irrigation-only, aka agricultural water meter. This means you only pay for irrigation, not sewage or sanitation fees. Check out the guide here: https://nola.gov/wateraccess
There are more guides for growers in the works! Please email urbanag@nola.gov if there are any that would be most useful for you, specifically for how growers can navigate different city processes and departments.
Greater New Orleans Growers’ Alliance (GNOGA) Map!
We’re currently updating the GNOGA Community Resource Map with more gardens and farms. If you’d like your market farm, community garden, or related project added to the map, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/UbRAxWbFEH6SwDAm7.
Find more GNOGA links here: http://linktr.ee/gnoga
Resources
Upcoming Events
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Fall Garden Festival in City Park
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When? Saturday, October 4th 9am – 6pm
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Where? New Orleans Botanical Garden
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Bug Fest!
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When? Saturday, October 11th 10am – 3pm
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Where? New Orleans Mosquito, Termite & Rodent Control Board (2100 Leon C. Simon Dr)
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NOLA Flower Collective’s Fall Plant Sale
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When? Saturday, October 18th 10am – 1pm
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Where? Press Street Gardens (800 Homer Plessy Way)
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On Farm: Water Access - Come learn about the process of getting an agricultural water meter at your garden or farm and receive a Water Access Guide.
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