It has been a little over a year since I've returned back to my hometown in Connecticut from almost three years of living on an organic farm in Puerto Rico. Since then and with limited availability to do so, I have begun to convert my backyard into an urban farm. Overall it has taken form and although I didn't get to implement everything I would have liked this time around, I have definitely set myself up to do so in the following year. Lets take a look at the conversion starting from almost nothing and turning it into something.

I began with a rough outline of the area I was literally going to tear up. Aside from expanding a few existing plots, I knew that the area I was going to work within was going to be a lot larger but preparing it all was going to take quite the effort. There was a lot of grass that needed to be removed and dirt that could use a good organic compost mix before planting to ensure a promising harvest in an area that for as long as I could remember produced nothing else but grass.

At first I have to say that I was somewhat fully invested in all of this and my expectations where rather high. At the time I had a part-time schedule of work as an independent interior and exterior home painter while at the same time I kept myself busy with other handyman projects that came along my way. I knew that I had to make the best use of my time and energy so one strategy I used to prepare the grounds involved using a heavy duty plastic tarp I had purchased at the hardware store. As the months continued to heat up early in the year into the late spring, the grass underneath soon died off due to the lack of sunlight and exposer to excessive heat. This was great because I could focus my attention on one area while the tarp did its job preparing another. I could then repeat the process when needed or use the tarp to cover an area to prevent the weeds from growing.

With the help of a newly purchased tiller I was able to thoroughly mix up the dirt underneath. This then followed by bringing in several loads of compost and mixing that in as well. Around this time I found myself with a new full time job and suddenly, as much as I didn't want to admit it, my hours dedicated to building the urban farm began to dwindle. But still, I pushed on and continued to prepare and plant.

Soon enough the backyard that was once filled with only grass began to take on a unique form. Red, yellow and green peppers began to grow along with cilantro, tomatoes, raspberries, pumpkins, lemongrass, marigolds and other vegetables and herbs.

Little by little results began to bear fruit...

and then came the harvests...

It's a rewarding feeling to be able to grow, harvest and eat your own organic non-GMO foods such as these beets (shown above) or this sweet corn (shown below).

While looking back, one of the greatest successes of this years harvest was the tomato harvest. I introduced three varieties of non-GMO tomatoes to be grown, Roma, cherry and beefsteak. Having dedicated a larger area to the beefsteak tomatoes, I did so not expecting them to produce as much as they did. The beefsteak tomatoes grew at an unexpected rate producing more tomatoes than I knew what to do with.

I could have surly done well selling them at the local farmers market, something I'd have to consider for next years grow season.

At the end of it all it was a worth wild experience. With most of the prep work already done and covered by tarp, next years grow season show move a little more swiftly as the weather begins to warm.

So thats it for this past year in review, if you got this far I really hoped you enjoyed!

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