Urban Farming before it was cool

You heard it here first!* I just got an email from my favorite pick your own farm in the Baltimore area, Larriland Farms, that they have strawberries for picking! If you dont know already, I love to pick my own fruit and vegetables. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my mom would take us to go strawberry, apple and/or peach picking.

Growing up in Chicago, my mom really wanted to let us know that there was more than just concrete and trees confined to grated piles of dirt. When we moved into our first house she decided that she was going to have her own urban farm before it was the hipster thing to do. In her small yard on the southwest side of Chicago she grew huge sunflowers and dreid the seeds, corn, strawberries, broccoli (which she rotated with spinach the following season**), all kinds of peppers***, peaches. potatoes, tomatoes and every herb imaginable. She canned all kinds of foods and stored them in our unfinished basement all winter. She would make salsas, canned peaches, spaghetti sauces and all kinds of other things. I don't remember seeing her do it, but I do remember having to carry all the jars up and down the rickety stair case that led to the basement. Being so far from home, I had to rediscover the joys of fresh picked foods and canning on my own, with the occasional call back to Chicago to ask my mom for tips.

So here is to my mom, for being green before it was cool, teaching me about being self sustainable and for looking awesome in this sombrero with my nephew!

*Ok, maybe you heard it somewhere else first...
** This is what I remember, but I was young and could be wrong
***She is a short mexican lady that loves spicy stuff