I won't hide it: I'm New York City-born-and-bred. Concrete was my cradle, and carbon-monoxide-tinged air my mother's milk (a strained analogy, but apt). Which is to say that I know squat about life on the farm. Don't know how reap, don't know how to herd. And don't even think of approaching me about animal husbandry. When I want produce, I get myself to the supermarket two blocks away; when I want milk, I want to pour a glass, not squeeze a teat. Bottom line: There may be grit under my fingernails, but it's the asphalt captured from clawing my way to survival in these mean, mean streets. And that's just the way I like it.
So when our sponsor, Samsung, came up with this video I have to admit I felt deeply for the office drones. I know how I'd be feeling if I was cast out of my element to that extreme, and I'm just glad those guys brought their Galaxy Tabs along to help them cope:
Much to my surprise, though, it turns out that not everyone here in the five boroughs shares my genetic deficiency in the field of agriculture. Turns out there are people city-wide who have taken relatively small plots of earth bared from the metropolis' concrete heart and turned them into veritable cornucopias of hearty produce. And when GreenThumb, the city office that oversees these urban farms, invited me out to the Bronx to witness their annual harvest celebration, I had to go and have a look. Here's what I found: