More and more, we’re hearing stories about folks who are growing food in their backyards (this includes ourselves). This fellow, Manny Howard, is doing it at his Brooklyn home and he recently wrote about it for New York Magazine [My Empire of Dirt]. Also included in the article was a video, which was a bitch to embed here (had to hack the code myself and apologies for the pre-roll ad, ugh!) but I thought it was worth it to see and hear this man show off his radical, urban backyard farm. The thing that stuck with me and what I’ve been hearing and feeling is that in order to sustainably grown your own food, you need a network of folks doing it. It would take an entire neighborhood with several varieties of food to provide for just a handful of families. I think it’s possible and I hope we hear more stories about neighborhoods coming together to feed each other.
Another thing that really sticks with me when I meet other backyard farmers is that many of us don’t know what is correct for proper farming. What is the proper way to grow this or that? You learn as you go, wikipedia something if you think it has some special method for growth. But mostly, you can stick a seed in the ground, water it, and it’ll grow and you can eat it. That’s pretty much how it works. Don’t let this stuff intimidate you, just try it and learn each time, then share it, ok?
Check out the article and then throw some seeds in your backyard, see what happens!
Technorati Tags: backyard farm, garden, my empire of dirt, manny howard, brooklyn, ryanishungry
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