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In addition to growing dozens of vegetables and fruits for years, the Hattie Carthan Community Garden now features 22 hens that produce fresh eggs.

Organizers say the eggs are higher-quality, and there's already a growing waiting list for them.

"The eggs are sold out before they are made, so in other words, people are signing up on a list and our lists are so long that now we are considering expanding our chicken coops so that we can at least supply more of our residents with fresh food,” said Yonnette Fleming, vice president of the Hattie Carthan Community Garden.

"It's a good thing to add that to what we are doing here,” said garden president Emmanuel Kolajo.

The garden teamed up with the organization Just Food to build the chicken coop as part of a community project last September 11th.

"This is a success story, seeing that all the eggs are gone before they are hatched and that's actually a similar story to most of the projects that we work with,” said Owen Taylor of Just Food. “The eggs go faster than the chickens can lay them."

JustFood goes around the city teaching urban farmers how to raise chickens for fresh eggs. Chickens are considered pets under city law, but they cannot just be raised in an apartment. Those who have some outdoor space, and don't plan to use the chickens themselves for food, can raise them for their eggs –provided they don't create a nuisance for neighbors.

"When you do it yourself, you know exactly what's in those eggs,” Taylor said. “So in the last few years, chicken coops have been popping up all over New York City. People are trying to take back their food system."

Along with laying eggs, the hens contribute to the overall health of the garden.

"We definitely need their manure,” Fleming said. “Our plants love them, the earth loves them, so it's the natural thing to do."

All the work at the garden is done in the spirit of its namesake, the late Hattie Carthan, who was a well-known environmental activist in Brooklyn.

"We are here on this land because of her dreams,” said Fleming.

Fleming encouraged other urban gardeners and farmers to make their dreams count, because what they are doing will affect future generations.

If you'd like to learn more about how to bring the program into your community garden, go to JustFood.org.