A downtown Reno neighborhood is about to expand. The area near Valley Road already has a roller-skating rink, a German restaurant, and a psychic.

And soon, it will also boast the addition of a fully-operational organic farm, including homegrown vegetables, a beehive, and even a chicken coop.

It's impressive what you can do with a small space. The so called 'urban micro-farm,' is only 5,000 square feet, but with a little hard work, it could soon provide enough fresh food to help hundreds of local people.

The farm sits on Valley Road, nestled comfortably between Sixth and Seventh Streets. A bus stop, and several houses and businesses surround what used to be nothing but an abandoned dirt patch.

"It's never been anything really, just an empty lot," said across-the-street neighbor Ty Hagar.

The empty lot is now an urban farm, being built and maintained by local people. It's the vision of Urban Farmer Tom Stille, who is renting the land through Interpretive Gardens, a local, organic landscaping company.

Stille says it's his dream to help locals learn how to grow their own food in an urban environment.

"It doesn't take a lot of ground to grow for your own family. And it's remarkable how much food you can grow and share with your neighbors or develop some extra cash from growing food."

He says the rising cost of food and fuel is made worse by our dependency on industrial farms. The Valley Road plot will soon be used as a community farm to help locals learn how to prepare soil, choose crops, compost waste, and then grow their own gardens with limited space.

Stille says just because we live in a desert city, doesn't mean we can't produce our own healthy and organic, homegrown foods.

"We have lots of sunshine. If we can improve our soils, we can do a lot better than people give us credit for," said Stille.

So how accepting has the urban neighborhood been to this new farm so far?

Neighbor and part-time groundskeeper Dyan Buffa says keeping stray cats away from the chickens has been the biggest challenge.

"Which is a very stressful job because the cats are chasing them and they're running up the street."

But she and other neighbors say they're glad to see a community project helping to clean up the neighborhood and make it safer. Plus they say, the endless supply of fresh eggs and veggies are going to be a nice perk.

"I don't have a green thumb so I am hoping to get a few tips so things will grow," said Buffa.

And if you're wondering where the products of the urban farm will end up, you'll eventually be able to taste them at some of our local farmer's markets.

The chickens will be used not only for producing eggs, but also for providing manure to help boost the growing process. The beehives, on the other hand, will arrive in about a month. They will be used mainly to pollinate the crops and supply honey.

The first class is scheduled for Saturday, April 11th from nine to noon. To sign up, go to: http://www.riverschool.info/River_School/Home.html