Urban Farm Sprouts in Lower Manhattan

Students and community leaders began planting crops in the first farm located in downtown Manhattan since New Amsterdam was founded on Monday.

The city's parks department teamed up with the Battery Conservancy and students to begin planting crops in the 80-plot urban farm in Battery Park, which will eventually have broccoli, snap peas, lettuce and other vegetables.

Sylvie Edman, a student at Millennium High School who helped found the project, said it's important to teach city students about the merits of gardening.

"We only see one aspect of how to live in a city, a huge city," Edman said. "It's such an amazing opportunity ... to really experience and get knowledge of how food is really grown."

Some of the produce grown in the park will also go to two concession stands in the park.

"It doesn't get much more local than that," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said.

The garden will be in operation until the end of summer 2012 when construction begins on a bike path in Battery Garden.

"We probably have the largest urban gardening network in the country," said the commissioner. "What's great about this is that tourists will see it. Most tourists don't get out to the neighborhoods to see community gardens, but they'll see this and see New York City is doing something along this lines."