Out standing in their field
Marathon's urban farm yields its first radishes.
Back on March 21, Mayor Nutter planted seeds at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Marathon Farm, a 15,750-square-foot takeover of vacant lots at 27th and Master Streets in the Brewerytown section by the Marathon Grill people.
On May 3, Marathon owner Cary Borish and farm engineer Mike Parcel picked the first of the crop: radishes. Borish ate the first ones.
They will do the main harvesting at the farm on Monday, May 9, and they expect to have several hundred radishes -- half going to the community around the farm and the other half used in salads at the Marathon restaurants.
Marathon has a two-year lease, with the option to renew for a longer term. The farm includes a small orchard and raised beds for herbs, berries, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, zucchini, squash, kale, collard greens, peppers, cucumbers, beets, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. The raised beds are necessary, he says, because urban soil is often contaminated and therefore unsuitable for growing edibles.