The Rooftop Gardening Source

Dissapointed with the local produce offerings, cooking enthusiast, Peter Bergold took the farm to his townhouse rooftop. Peter grows peppers, tomatoes, a variety of herbs, beans, lettuce, spinach and kale. What is truly fantastic is that Peter’s growing season lasts from April to Thanksgiving; almost nine months!

Peter has encountered two major problems with his rooftop garden, both of which he has been able to overcome. The first, was troubles with watering the plants. To solve this he began using Self Watering Planters. Peter’s second problem was squirrels. The squirrels seemed to know just when the tomatoes were ripe. They would jump from local tree branches on to his rooftop and swipe them. To solve this, he pruned the trees. The squirrels are no longer a problem.

We encourage you to find out more about Peter’s garden by clicking on the link below.

http://www.gardeners.com/Success%20Story

An urban farmer from Park Slope, New York (Jeff Hens) wanted to grow vegetables on his roof. While many individuals use round containers and pots to do so, Jeff felt this wasn’t sufficient from an environmental standpoint. He wanted to create a system which retained the benefits of a standard green roof. Thus, he used the special Green Grid containers and created a rooftop vegetable “carpet.” Jeff has had great success thus far with his gardening system. You can find out more by clicking the link below.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/gardening

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Are you a rooftop farming guru interested in spreading the love of growing veggies on the roof? Well now is your chance! We don’t care what your technique is, we just want to hear from you.

Email Keith@skyvegetables.com

Photo from Sidewalk Sprout article about Victory Gardens

As a response to food and morale problems caused by the World Wars, the US government started a major campaign encouraging its citizens to create “Victory Gardens“. Above is a photo from the rooftop of the Children’s Aid Society in New York, New York. It’s time to bring back the Victory Gardens!

On top of the biology building at Columbia’s Barnard College in Manhattan is a greenhouse. This botany greenhouse, donated by Arthur Ross and Family features a diverse collection of plants from all over the world. While produce cultivation isn’t its primary concern, there are several species being grown at this greenhouse. The garden has several varieties of hot peppers, Mexican avocado and the exotic Buddhas Hand Citron seen below.

Find Out more at the Barnard Website

“The Locavore Fantasia” by: Work Architecture Company

From: New York Real Estate Magazine

It would be a total departure if Work AC’s utopian vision were ever to bear fruit—and we do mean fruit, because it’s an apartment building topped with a working farm. “We thought we’d bring the farm back to the city and stretch it vertically,” says Work AC co-principal Dan Wood. “We are interested in urban farming and the notion of trying to make our cities more sustainable by cutting the miles [food travels],” adds his co-principal (and wife) Amale Andraos. The cheerful if slightly mad design, riffing on a concept they came up with to win the P.S. 1 Young Architects Program, would have different crops on each floor; land laying fallow would be used for play (putting greens, say). Four large water tanks would collect rainwater for irrigation. “Sculpture structures” commissioned from artists would act as columns supporting the building, which leans back to face the crops toward the sun. “We show a Brancusi, but it could be anyone,” says Wood.

http://nymag.com/realestate/vu/2008/04/45963/index1.html

Eli Zabar’s grocery store and restaurant in Manhattan is a prime example of using urban rooftop space for agriculture. This roof has commercial-size production greenhouses filled with raised beds planted in greens and herbs and tomatoes. Fig trees in planters are lined up sporadically along the edge of one rooftop. All vegetables and fruits produced in these greenhouses are sold in the grocery store and restaurant below.

http://www.elizabar.com/vinegar.html

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Want to learn more about this project?

http://www.zeek.net/612ableman/

The Garden of Happiness, located in NY, NY is a sunny community garden with vegetable plots, a chicken coop, a corrugated-tin shed, and a few chairs beneath a grape arbor, where the chicken committee is meeting. The chicken committee is a lot more committee than chicken, its deliberations filled with references to “existing chicken situations” and “pursuit of newer egg opportunities,” and the slightly skeptical neighborhood people have to be gently won over by the carefully beaming professionals. They provide the nudging, let’s-get-back-on-track counsel that chicken-caring community organizers have to give potentially disorganized community chicken-carers.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/09/03/070903fa_fact_gopnik