Green Daily

Ever think about building a farm in your back yard? No, not a garden. An actual, honest to goodness farm where you could grow all the produce and raise all the animals you'd need to survive. Well, that's what Manny Howard, a Brooklyn resident tried to do in his 20 foot by 40 foot backyard. He's written a remarkable account of his experiences for New York Magazine.

The goal was to see if he could spend the entire month of August eating food he had grown on his farm. Locally grown produce is great for the environment. Not only do you know that what you're getting is fresh and hasn't been treated with preservatives to survive a long truck ride, but there's no long truck ride at all. That means you get less pollution and a healthier body. A whole locavore movement has been started by people trying to eat food grown within 100 miles of their homes. Howard wanted to take things a few steps further.

There was just one problem. Howard's home locavore farm was struck by the first tornado to hit Brooklyn in about a hundred years. He really should have seen it coming. Howard was able to pick up the pieces and eat food from the farm for three weeks in August. But some of his crops didn't survive. We won't spoil the rest, because you really should check out the full article. It makes for fascinating reading.