Where most people would see a fixer-upper house along a busy Des Moines street, Polk County Farm Bureau members Eric and Jenny Quiner envisioned a different future to unite their community.

The Quiners planted one of Iowa’s first urban farms in the northwest Des Moines neighborhood where they live, affectionately called the Dogpatch by the locals.

And their neighbors have embraced their new urban farm, with regulars stopping by each week to...