Imagine that an area the size of a football field has been planted as a garden smack in the middle of a town along its main street. Imagine that it is more than just a garden. It is an organic farm, jammed row after row with 50 raised beds, 12-by-4-feet each, and lush with produce, herbs and flowers. The skyline behind this farm is dominated by a working steel mill.

Is it a dream? Actually, it is. But in Braddock, the dream is becoming reality.

Braddock Farms is a large-scale demonstration farm on Braddock Avenue, across the street from Good Shepherd School. The mill behind it is U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Plant. On a series of adjoining abandoned lots in the borough, the farm is in its first full growing season.

		How you can help Volunteers from the Sierra Club, Sustainable Steel City, Carnegie Mellon University, East End Food Co-op and many other groups also work at Braddock Farms. Groups or individuals who would like to volunteer at any of the gardens may contact Miriam Manion at 412-473-2542 or e-mail to info@growpittsburgh.org.

It is a dream come true for Grow Pittsburgh, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and modeling urban farming and sustainable agriculture. With a twinkle in her eye at the intended pun, Miriam Manion, Grow Pittsburgh's executive director, says, "Urban farming is really taking root in the Pittsburgh region."

The farm is well on its way to a dream fulfilled for Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, too. As he explains, at its peak in the 1950s and '60s, his town boomed with businesses and 20,000-plus residents. "Today, it is almost a ghost town with about 2,800. Because many buildings had to be torn down, we have an abundance of vacant land in the borough and not much use for it. We also have young people here who need employment. We've taken a situation that could be considered blight and turned it around. The net result is, we have job opportunities for our young people, we are transforming vacant land into attractive green space and we are increasing local access to fresh, nutritious foods."

Remember the Victory Gardens our parents and grandparents planted in their back yards during and after World War II? The Braddock garden isn't about a war, but it's just as important. The creation of the garden is a response to a growing interest nationwide in urban agriculture and an increased focus on local, sustainable foods.

Braddock Farms' vegetable garden relies on raised-bed construction, intensive planting techniques and organic methods of growing. The farmer in the dell is a young professional, project manager Jeff Jaeger. He studied sustainable systems at Slippery Rock University, where his emphasis was on agroecology. After a stint in Colorado, he moved back when he heard about the many greening projects in Pittsburgh. Urban gardening appealed to him, with the bonus of being near family and friends while applying his skills. He plans the strategy for planting, assigns tasks and oversees building projects.

Mr. Jaeger, in wide-brimmed hat, walks a visitor through the rows of what will be 100 raised beds, pointing out the plants: Onions, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant and garlic. Tomatoes, peppers, leeks, beets and scallions. Brussels sprouts, turnips, kale and collards. Snapdragons and zinnias, planted in with the vegetables, add sparks of color in the beds and will be cut and sold as bouquets. Many plantings of marigolds and onions take care of most of the rabbit issues. Mr. Jaeger plans to rotate the crops from bed to bed.

		Meet and eat at Braddock Farms Meet Braddock Farms and try some of its veggies, as well as other tasty local fare, at "Braddock Organick," an organic pig and lamb roast in Braddock from 4 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 10. Slow Food Pittsburgh, which is organizing the event with Grow Pittsburgh and Mayor John Fetterman, will be setting tables under trees to serve spit-roasted meats as well as roast corn, East End Brewing Co. beers (cash bar), even organic ice cream sandwiches. Braddock Farms will serve aperitifs -- a glass of white organic wine and a skewer of cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Attendees also can tour the mayor's unusual house and the 1889 Carnegie Free Library. Cost is $50, or $45 for Slow Food members; reserve by e-mailing vredpath@aol.com or call 412-343-7354. -- Bob Batz Jr.

Calling attention to several beds of plants being allowed to go to seed, Mr. Jaeger says, "These leeks and tomatoes are direct descendants of vegetables grown for generations in back yards in Braddock. Many former or current residents are seed savers. When they heard about the farm, they brought me seeds from their gardens. When these plants mature, we'll dry their seeds to use next season."

Toward the back of the lot is a high tunnel, sort of a greenhouse covered with plastic sheeting. Heat is regulated by raising and lowering the side flaps and opening and closing doors. This summer, sweet potatoes, okra, watermelon and tomatoes are loving the heat. But next February, the high tunnel will house cold-hardy baby plants.

A small shed in one corner of the farm houses tools and equipment and doubles as a source of shade and a meeting room for local young people, who are the paid muscle.

The Braddock Youth Program has 75 members, and eight of them work at the farm. Their bright purple T-shirts and hats stand out against the green crops. One day a week, they go on field trips to local farms and environmental program sites, which introduce the interns to career possibilities.

On a Wednesday in early July, a tent was erected in the middle of the property, and the Braddock farm stand began selling just-picked produce, still warm from the sun. Anyone passing by could stop and shop. Ms. Manion says, "Customers wandered around the raised beds and admired vegetables still in the ground. We pulled them out and sold them on the spot."

The closest business to the farm is the historic Edgar Thomson works. "You'd think there might be an air-quality problem, being adjacent to the blast furnaces of a working steel mill," Ms. Manion says. "But the smoke usually goes over and away from us. They made a significant contribution to the project. The mill is a good neighbor."

Many hands were involved in the farm. "A friend working in Braddock arranged a meeting between Mayor Fetterman and me in May 2006," says Ms. Manion. "John was supportive from the very beginning. He and I talked about building a farm on the bare lots, and we drove around looking for the best site. We picked this one for its visibility right on the main street in Braddock."

Then came the red tape. Applications were made to the planning commission, borough council and Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County, which owns the property and rents it to Grow Pittsburgh. Meanwhile Ms. Manion recruited generous sponsors, partners and supporters.

Braddock Farms got off the ground -- no, make that in the ground -- in mid-June 2007.

While funding and other official business was worked out, Mr. Jaeger was hired as project manager and interns were recruited. "Until the property was available, we worked out of a church on Library Street," he says. "We had some plant starts and began building the raised beds. The go-ahead came in August, and we loaded the bed forms onto a truck and shlepped them over to the garden. While we were laying out the garden, 30,000 pounds of mixed soil and compost was delivered and dumped in a pile. We just wheelbarrowed it right into the beds."

The garden has a strong farm-chef relationship, especially with restaurants in the East End. Bona Terra, Dozen Bakery and Cafe, East End Food Co-op, Frick Cafe, Legume Bistro and Point Brugge all buy produce from the farm. Special requests are taken, too. One raised bed was planted with salsify at the request of Legume Chef Trevett Hooper. Mr. Jaeger says salsify looks like an ugly carrot and tastes like a good potato.

Braddock Farms is a year-round operation. "We'll sell until Thanksgiving, then clean up the spaces," Ms. Manion says. "Our official vacation begins Dec. 15 until the end of the year. January is the time for poring over catalogs, ordering seeds and getting the year planned out. By February, cold-hardy plants can go into the high tunnel."

To grasp the scope of Grow Pittsburgh, it helps to see the begats. The nonprofit was formed in 2005 by the owner-operators of two urban farms: Mildred's Daughters Urban Farm in Stanton Heights run by Barbara Kline and Randa Shannon, and Garden Dreams, an urban farm and nursery in Wilkinsburg owned by Mindy Schwartz. Overwhelmed with workshops, an adult intern program and tours at the two demonstration farms, Grow Pittsburgh needed more hands.

Marion Manion, easygoing and soft-spoken, was hired as its executive director in 2006. She'd been associate director at the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. The founders have turned their attention back to their farms but continue to serve Grow Pittsburgh as board members.

Under Ms. Manion's leadership, expansion came quickly as Grow Pittsburgh established the following innovative programs.

• Its Internship Program is a paid summer apprenticeship program for area teenagers.

• The Edible Schoolyard is a collaborative effort with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, modeled after the program developed by Alice Waters in Berkeley, Calif. The program teaches elementary school children how to grow and eat healthy, sustainably raised food. This past year, gardens were in Pittsburgh Montessori, Faison and Dilworth schools. This fall, Colfax will join the program.

• The Frick Greenhouse Project, based at the Frick Art and Historical Center in Point Breeze, grows seedlings and plant starts for Grow Pittsburgh and also sells to the public.

The creation of Braddock Farms was a natural next step.

But why stop there? The latest program, community gardens in city neighborhoods, will plant gardens on vacant lots in East Liberty, Friendship, Garfield, Larimer and Bloomfield.

For its slogan, it took a cue from the popular refrain at sports events around town: "Here we grow Pittsburgh, here we grow."