My Empire of Dirt. How One Man Turned His Big-city Backyard into a Farm

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For seven months, Manny Howard, a lifelong urbanite, transformed his eight-hundred-square-foot backyard into the first farm in Flatbush, Brooklyn, in generations. His goal was to subsist solely on what he could produce for at least a month. This endeavor came at a crucial time in his life, even as his family, particularly his wife, seemed unsupportive. Manny quickly learned that farming is fraught with challenges, including a tornado, numerous animal deaths, and even a severed finger, all of which tested not only his resolve but also his relationships. His project originated from a James Beard Foundation Award-winning New York magazine cover story that began as an exploration of the locavore movement. In an era when people are increasingly conscious of their food choices—favoring organic for health and local for environmental reasons—Manny’s journey is a candid examination of the cultural impulse to control our food sources. Unlike many food enthusiasts, he approached farming without a grand philosophy, driven instead by a desire to understand the difficulty of this radical challenge. This chronicle of his extreme slow-food experiment reveals the chaos of environmental, familial, and agricultural struggles, prompting reflection on what it truly means to produce our own food. For most, farming is about food; for the farmer and his family, it’s about hard work.