How one Detroit farmer tackles water access: ‘The plants will be watered fully and consistently’

Farmers in Michigan and across the Midwest are turning to hoop houses as a low-cost way to extend the growing season and protect crops.
By Carole Hawke-Diop
Planet Detroit
September 23, 2025
Excerpt:
The hoop house at Detroit’s Home Ec Garden was constructed in August by The Build Crew, a seven-person team from Keep Growing Detroit.
- “The hoop house allows us to collect more rainwater. I can set up drip irrigation, and the solar pump will allow me to put it on a timer,” says Lynelle Herndon, the farm’s founder.
- The improvements at the urban farm on the city’s west side were made possible by a USDA-funded grant.
“Sometimes it doesn’t rain, sometimes the tanks get empty,” Herndon said.
Access to water is a barrier to growth for many gardens in Detroit that are often located on formerly residential lots. When a house is demolished, the city disconnects utilities, including municipal water.
Reestablishing a water connection can be costly. In addition to the expense of hiring a Detroit Water and Sewerage Department engineer to locate the water main shut-off valve, going on the grid increases a farmer’s overhead, making them responsible for a hefty water bill.
“The challenge of growing out here in these conditions without water is a lot,” said Herndon.
Some smaller growers can plant near their homes and simply run a hose from the house to the plants. But for larger farmers like Herndon, one of the first awardees of the Detroit Black Farmer Land Fund, which provides funding for land purchases to farm on plots that are not adjacent to their homes, this is not an option.
`Read the complete article here.`
Source: https://cityfarmer.info/how-one-detroit-farmer-tackles-water-access-the-plants-will-be-watered-fully-and-consistently/
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