Innovative Practices on Urban Farms Field Day

On September 17, 2025, the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Urban Agriculture Project and the Sinsinawa Mound Collaborative Farm organized an Urban Agriculture Field Day. The event was hosted at two certified organic farms at the Mound: Sandhill Farm, operated by Andie Donnan and Ashley Neises, and Dropseed Farm, operated by Jessica Hepker.

The Three Sisters trial, an on-farm trial with the Urban Agriculture Catalyst Project, featured a unique dark purple corn variety called Montana Morado, ‘Delicata’ squash and ‘Hannah Freeman’ pole beans grown in the mounds. The crops were spared from excess rainfall during the extremely wet summer, as the single-mound system mitigated waterlogging and promoted soil drainage, according to Hepker.

At Sandhill Farm, Donnan and Neises showcased neat rows of salad greens, herbs, and green onions, enabled by their paper chain pot transplanting system. Participants were invited to use the transplanter and make paper pot trays during the hands-on segments of the field day.

Paper pot transplanters use specialized trays to help make transplanting more efficient. The paper chain pots come folded like an accordion and upon opening, create 264 spaces per flat. These pots currently come in trays that result in 2-inch, 4-inch, or 6-inch row spacings. The unfolded paper then acts as a regular plug tray until transplanting. When ready to transplant, a tray is loaded onto the transplanter pulley and one end of the paper chain pot is fed through a beveled opening and pushed into the prepared soil. While pulling the transplanter, the paper chain unwinds and is pulled into spaces left by the furrow-maker. The furrow can then be closed and soil hilled around transplants using a ‘Zipper’ tool or a hand hoe. This system works well for crops such as onions, herbs, spinach, beets, beans, and flowers.

Field day participants traveled from Iowa and Wisconsin, including Wisconsin NRCS staff and Dubuque-based Urban Ag Project partner Korrin Schriver. This Urban Agriculture Field Day was made possible by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Urban Ag Catalyst Project and the Dubuque County ISUEO, the USDA Transition to Organic Partnership Program, and the administration from the Sinsinawa Dominicans of Sinsinawa, WI.

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