A Farm Grows in the Northeast

Neighbors living around this tiny, fenced-in plot of vegetables call it a victory garden. And though it may be too soon to pop corks, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate the first anniversary of the Somerton Tanks Farm.

In its first year of operation, the half-acre plot put $27,000 into the pockets of the young couple who worked this farm — mostly by hand. And while 27 grand may not sound like a whole lot of lettuce for eight months of hard work, based on their experience to date, organizers of this organic urban farm now estimate that a farmer in the City of Philadelphia could gross about $54,000 on a half-acre of land. (Sure, they made half of that figure during their first year, but they envision brighter days on the horizon.)

The land in this operation belongs to the Philadelphia Water Department. Until last year, it was a grass lawn dwarfed by a pair of towering red-and-white checkered water tanks that supply fresh water to homes in the Far Northeast. Now, this pair of 5-million-gallon tanks also supplies the irrigation water to grow Somerton's 50 varieties of produce — much of which is sold to upscale restaurants in Center City at a premium.

Somerton Tank Farms' best sellers are fancy salad greens and baby vegetables, but Center City chefs are also requesting more Asian and arcane produce such as Siberian kale, komatsuna, pea shoots and Tokyo bekana.

The water department is backing the microfarm because it has about 100 acres of grass lawns that it says it'd be delighted to see transformed into farmland. Converting lawns into gardens would transform the utility's liabilities into money-making assets. There would be less grass to care for, less storm water runoff to worry about and the department could add a couple of hundred new large-scale customers.

Somerton's other big sponsor is the Institute for Innovations in Local Farming, a new nonprofit. Its goals are to reintroduce agriculture to the city, train farmers in sustainable methods and increase the number of restaurants and food processors that use high-quality. But beyond these economic and ecological goals are the human benefits of more green space. Roxanne Christensen, head of the Institute, says that a working farm in urban neighborhood serves to connect people to their evolutionary roots.

As Christensen puts it, "We need to be reminded that we are carbon-based."

Somerton Tanks Farm is located at 201 Tomlinson Rd. Consumers may purchase directly from the farm during the summer on Wednesday afternoons. For more information, check out www.somertontanksfarm.org.

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