First Snow

This morning saw the first blanket of snow on the herb garden and pumpkins left out for the squirrels. Hopefully the fresh herbs still in the garden will survive until next week for Thanksgiving dinner. The Broccoli seeds under the bell jars have sprouted! Nothing else has started to come up and I doubt they will at this point. We have had some very cold nights.

Late Season Crops

I decided to try some very late season veggies. This morning I sowed Broccoli, Carrots, and Lettuce seeds. It's been relatively mild so far this Fall. I've always wanted to try a late Fall/early Winter crop. It would be incredible to be able to harvest something for a Holiday meal directly from the garden.

Ice Box Pickles

What to do with the last crop of green tomatoes....

Bring to a boil...
1 quart Apple Cider Vinegar
1 quart water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt

pack clean jars with:
Sliced onions
Cayenne peppers
Herbs & Spices
(I used Oregano, Dill, Curry, Clove, Black Pepper, Lemon Grass)
Garlic cloves
Sliced Green Tomatoes

Fill jars with boiling vinegar mixture
Put jars in the back of the Ice Box for at least two weeks

first frost....

Tonight is the first frost warning of the season... looks like that will be it for the remaining Basil. The Tomatoes still on the vine will begin to deteriorate quickly, and I need to harvest all of the remaining Peppers. (there are loads of them still out there!)

October Harvest

It has been unseasonably warm here this week and I continue to find ripe tomatoes. At this rate it looks like I could be picking tomatoes into November! Here is what's left of today's harvest after giving my neighbor a nice bag full...



...and I'm continuing to cut herbs for drying. Here is the last of the Rosemary & Lavender. There is still plenty more Thyme and Oregano to pick...

Best of 2008

Some images of the best from the garden of 2008...

Hot Peppers...



Patio Tomatoes...



Oxheart Tomato...



Mortgage Lifter...



Lemon Boy...

1/20th Acre Farm

Below is a scaled layout of my 1/20th acre Metro Farm in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nothing more than a typical suburban back yard. I've been growing herbs and assorted vegetables for the past ten years, nothing serious. This year I put in the large rectangular raised bed and grew tomatoes from seed for the first time.I was amazed at the production I got from 130 sq. ft. of additional garden space, and I have decided to work on a multi year experiment to see how much I can produce on 1/20th of an acre using 100% organic growing principles. I am going to add additional raised beds and build a small greenhouse. I currently use a single compost bin, and that will be expanded to a multi stage compost system so that I can produce my own garden soil.

Welcome to Metro Farming!

This new blog is dedicated to the promotion and networking of organic urban and suburban micro farming....