agricultural roofs in Gaza

Rooftop agriculture is taking root around the globe.  With its beginnings in 600 B.C.E. Babylon (present day Iraq), rooftop farming has arrived, full circle, back in the Middle East.  According to the online Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour, Gazan residents are installing aquaponic gardens on their roofs to meet local food demands.

Rooftop farming in Gaza ||  photo by Mohammad Abed (published in L’Orient-Le Jour)

The February 4th article, written by an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist, stated that, “Gaza has 1.7 million people crammed into an area of [139 square miles].”  As one of the most densely populated areas in the politically-unstable region, Gaza’s ability to grow its own food is critical.  The article points out that 35% of Gaza’s arable land, which could be used for farming,  is located in the “buffer zone” barrier, instituted by neighboring Israel in 1994.  Farming within 330 yards of the border can be deadly, so Gazan farmers operate within safer areas whenever possible.  A fact sheet released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) notes that the barrier additionally excludes 85% of Gaza’s fishing territories.  Combined, annual losses from restrictions on agricultural and fishing territories exceed US$50 million, according to the fact sheet.

Gaza Strip || image by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

In response to Gaza’s food insecurity- which the FAO has deemed a “humanitarian crisis” – the FAO took interest in teaching Gazans how to efficiently grow their own food at home, in confined spaces.  With funding from the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, the FAO established an emergency food production support project in 2010.  During the project’s first phase, deputy director Mohammad al-Chatali successfully facilitated the construction of 119 aquaponic gardens on the roofs of female-headed urban households.  Twenty-four additional gardens were installed in community and educational facilities.   In 2011, during phase two of the project, 100 more were constructed, for a total of 243 rooftop aquaponic gardens.

Aquaponic gardening consists of a closed-loop system that combines aquaculture (aquatic animal and plant cultivation) with hydroponics (soil-less plant propagation).  The technique simultaneously produces fish and vegetables, by re-circulating water through the troughs or barrels in which the fish and edible plants live.  In Gaza, tilapia is the fish of choice for these gardens.  Residents grow lettuces, peppers, broccoli, celery and herbs, among other edibles, which are all fertilized by the fish waste in the recirculating water.

One Gazan resident who received a home aquaponic system, Abu Ahmad, feeds his 13 member household with the vegetables and fish produced on his roof, thereby minimizing his need to buy groceries.  With additional rooftop gardens in the pipeline, Gaza is able to feed itself, one bite at a time.

Read Full Post »

sky-high winter greens

While rooftop farms around the country lay fallow for winter, one skyline gem continues to churn out greens.  Noble Rot, a restaurant and wine bar in Portland, OR, supports a 3,000 square foot (0.07 acre) farm that fuels the kitchen below.  The upscale restaurant occupies the sixth floor of a LEED Platinum building, providing a panoramic view of the city.

Noble Rot’s rooftop farm in winter || photo by Jake Stein Greenberg

I travelled from snowy Philadelphia to the City of Roses last week, and saw for myself how crops continue to grow – albeit slowly – in Portland’s mild winter climate.  Kale, lettuce, endive, cabbage, arugula, parsley, thyme, and garlic sprouted from the roof’s raised beds and steel containers.  A fig tree with small buds stood near the roof’s bee hive and compost bins, and to my surprise, restaurant co-owner and manager Kimberly Bernosky explained that the tree remains uncovered year-round.

Insulated planters || photo by Lauren Mandel

How do the growers at Noble Rot keep their crops warm in winter?  Fig tree aside, they elicit the help of insulated containers.  The steel containers were wrapped in a thin layer of insulation, which helps to moderate soil temperature fluctuations.  Several of the steel containers were additionally retrofit with opaque lids – resulting in vessels known as cold frames - in order to retain heat from the sun.  By trapping solar radiation, cold frames act like miniature greenhouses and moderate or warm both soil and air temperatures.

Hoop house greens || photo by Jake Stein Greenberg

A handful of the farm’s raised beds were covered with plastic to keep the greens inside toasty.  Ground-level farmers and gardeners often use plastic or garden fabric to cover crop rows or raised beds, but on a roof, the wind may blow the covers off your crops!  Noble Rot keeps their plastic in place with the help of wire framing, attached the the wooden raised beds.  These low-stature “hoop houses“ prevent air temperatures above the greens from swinging down to uncomfortably chilly levels at night.  A rather clever approach to crop warming.

Of course, Portland is blessed with a relatively mild climate that allows for year-round production.  Farmers in less utopic regions (like the Northeastern US or Canada) may not be able to grow throughout the whole year, but they sure can extend their growing seasons by expanding upon Noble Rot’s clever innovations.  What tricks do you use to keep your crops warm?

Read Full Post »

get ready, windy city!

Chicago‘s rooftop community will beam from October 17th to 20th, as the City of Chicago and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities host this year’s international green roof conference.  Cities Alive is poised to attract design, policy, green roof, and agricultural professionals from around the globe, in celebration of the conference’s 10th anniversary.

Uncommon Ground rooftop farm || photo by Lauren Mandel

With a hunger for rooftop agricultural knowledge, several food-related technical sessions and site visits are on the docket.  If you’re able to attend, be sure to stop by Session 2 on the 18th: Emerging Design and Technology Trends in Rooftop Urban Agriculture.  This hot button panel will feature Helen Cameron, co-founder of Uncommon Ground (America’s first certified organic rooftop farm and winner of numerous restaurant and sustainability awards); Bradley Roback, Coordinator of Economic Development for Chicago’s Department of Housing and Economic Development (Brad focuses on food policy and land use planning); Mark K. Morrison, President + CEO of MKM Landscape Architecture PC (a New York-based landscape firm with a history of green roof design); and Lauren Mandel (yours truly).  Sky Vegetables, Inc. founder Keth Agoada will moderate the session, and the conversation is sure to stimulate your imagination.

Rooftop agriculture is gaining steam at conferences like Cities Alive, and August’s Urban Agriculture Summit in Toronto.  Sessions on the topic are routinely packed with curious, energized attendees.  Will this trend continue as entrepreneurs, the media, and academia continue to explore the potential of rooftop food production?  You betchya.

Check out the rest of the 2012 Cities Alive program, and stop by our panel to ask the experts your toughest questions!

Read Full Post »

collective brain power

From August 15-18, urban agricultural enthusiasts from around the world gathered in Toronto for the very first Urban Agriculture Summit.  The international conference, hosted by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and FoodShare, attracted over 500 farmers, activists, educators, CEOs, design professionals, developers, and other industry leaders to discuss current initiatives and explore the future of urban agriculture.

Seated tightly in a lecture hall at Toronto’s Reyerson University, we listened to the conference’s opening remarks while fidgeting in anticipation of the lectures, panel discussions, and brain mingling to come.  Topics would range from social issues (food security and community building), to the sciences (urban ecology and technology), to implementation (planning, design, financing, and policy).  An astounding assortment of industry leaders were in attendance – all the hot shots were there.  Will Allen, Founder and CEO of the Milwaukee-based agricultural organization Growing Power, kick-started the conference with an inspiring keynote address.  Brightfarms CEO Paul Lightfoot maintained the conference’s momentum with an eye-opening talk about his greenhouse hydroponic company’s innovative business model.  High-profile rooftop farmers, like Ben Flanner from Brooklyn Grange, led workshops and sat on informative panels.  Architects and landscape architects offered insight on the practicalities of designing urban agricultural spaces, and community gardeners discussed best practices for maintaining them.

The conference’s emphasis on rooftop agriculture attracted quite a crowd.  I presented on rooftop production techniques to a room of 60 or so attendees, and the rooftop buzz hummed throughout the rest of the conference.  One of the most fascinating panel discussions I attended paired rooftop row farmer Ben Flanner with Kurt D. Lynn, co-founder of the Montreal-based rooftop hydroponic greenhouse company, Lufa Farms.  The two experts discussed differences in their company’s approaches to financing, business development, production, and sales outlets.  When viewed side-by-side, the contrasting business models revealed unique opportunities and challenges, specific to each approach.  The contrast was fascinating.

After the conference, attendees returned to Cuba, Germany, India, the U.S., and other home countries, to disseminate their freshly cultivated knowledge and excitement.  I hope, as do countless others, for a second Urban Agriculture Conference in 2013.

Read Full Post »

the groundhog done it

It finally happened.  While harvesting cherry tomatoes from my backyard garden earlier this week, a patch of topless broccoli plants caught the corner of my eye.  Slowly turning to assess the damage – brow low, fists clenched – the reality became strikingly clear: my broccoli plants were completely decimated.  Taking a step farther, I noticed that my beet greens were shorn to nibbly stumps as well.

How could this be?!  Who was the culprit?  One more step provided the answer: a groundhog done it.  Marmota monax, little bugger.  With a complete and utter lack of courtesy, this groundhog had made its home directly in the center of my peri-urban vegetable garden.  There was nothing discreet about it.  Main hole, back hole, emergency exit hole, all plain as day.  Apparently in the eyes of a hungry rodent, it’s never too “city” for groundhogs.

After the initial shock and desire for revenge faded, I paused to consider the threat, or lack thereof, of rooftop vermin.  Ground-level farms and gardens are often plagued by groundhogs, rabbits, and other fuzzy creatures looking for an easy meal.  Growers spend time and money on poison, traps, fences, chemical deterrents, guard dogs, and even guns!  But rather than removing the vermin from the garden, what if you were to remove the garden from the vermin?  Rooftops offer a unique setting that is out of reach from groundhogs and rabbits.  The occasional squirrel may wander up a downspout, but this can be easily prevented by installing metal collars at potential access points.  As for mice and rats?  Well, in the green roof industry we only really see these animals when the green roof is at-grade with the surrounding landscape.  Elevate the roof, and 99 times out of 100, you’re safe.

Are your garden pests driving you crazy enough to try rooftop gardening?

Read Full Post »

“Daddy, I want a cucumberrrr!”

Jay Sand, a home gardener in West Philadelphia, feeds his kids the freshest veggies on the block. The source? His own roof.

Sand Family with a freshly-picked rooftop cucumber || photo by Lauren Mandel

Sand and his wife decided to renovate their spacious Victorian fixer-upper from bottom to top, with one key addition: a rooftop vegetable garden. “We wanted the fun of the house to extend up to the roof,” explains Sand. Now the whole family can spend time together outside, while working the soil and experiencing the joys of fresh food.

I had the pleasure of visiting the Sand Family Rooftop Garden yesterday, where I saw for myself what joy the space brings to the family. Sand’s three girls (eight, five, and three years old) frolicked around the garden as they described their favorite use for mint and explained the importance of a self-watering planter system.

Molly Sand, 8, harvesting mint ||  photo by Lauren Mandel

Sand had never heard of rooftop vegetable gardening when he first conceived of the project. He bought a book on container gardening, did some online research, and developed a rooftop prototype. The container design utilizes two plastic bins, one nested inside of the other. Overflow holes are drilled into both bins, and a flexible pipe leads from the surface of the soil to the base of the inner bin. The pipe is used to water the bins – at the base of the system. This type of container provides a reservoir for the growing vegetables, and Sand refills each reservoir once per week with a garden hose.

With 12 self-watering bins, Sand and his kids grow enough vegetables to snack on throughout the summer. Tomatoes, cucumbers, Brussel sprouts, and mint currently dominate the garden, and each year the family experiments with new crops.

Adaline Sand, 3, enjoying a freshly picked cucumber || photo by Lauren Mandel

Toward the end of my visit the girls shared a freshly-picked rooftop cucumber. They passed around the snack, each taking a bite, until the veggie was demolished. With the realization that the cucumber was gone, little Adaline, three, burst into tears screaming “Daddy, I want a cucumber!” The tot had developed such a deep connection to fresh vegetables that only the promise of more cucumbers could console her.

With a crop of young vegetable-loving kids, Sand certainly walks the talk of local, organic eating. What foods do your kids crave?

Read Full Post »

West Philadelphia pilot garden

Elderly residents sit on their front stoops watching tattooed hipsters peddle by on fixed-gear bikes.  This cultural juxtaposition runs rampant throughout West Philadelphia’s Cedar Park neighborhood, while grit and urban decay provide a strange sense of continuity form one block to the next.

Lightweight soil mixing || photo by Lauren Mandel

One row house is different from the rest, although you would never guess it when looking from the street.  This two-story building is home to a rooftop gardening pilot project, built by a local group called the Philadelphia Rooftop Farm (PRooF).  PRooF volunteers gathered on the roof this past Sunday to bring a spark of green to the neighborhood.

The goal: to build two vegetable planters (out of a series of four), each measuring 3′ x 3′.  The volunteers first inserted corrugated plastic foundation containers into a wood frame, which they had previously built.  Next, they installed a plastic drainage layer, two layers of separation fabric, and planting soil.  One volunteer looked up several soil recipes on her iPhone, and the group decided to vary the mix in each planter in order to see which blend yields the healthiest crops.  After laying the soil, the volunteers covered the planters with black plastic, in order slow desiccation (soil drying) and stifle weed growth.  They slit the plastic and planted a variety of seedlings, including lettuces, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, and herbs.

Separation fabric installation || photo by Lauren Mandel

The planter design was a long time in the making.  Back in 2010, PRooF worked with a team of volunteer design and engineering professionals from the Community Design Collaborative (CDC) to further the group’s rooftop planter vision.  The final CDC design combined base irrigation techniques that are common in Canadian rooftop planting bins, with wood framing construction, which is more typical of raised beds.  The hybrid proved easy to install, and was made, in part, of salvaged materials.

Soil installation || photo by Lauren Mandel

PRooF’s plans for rooftop greening extend beyond this first installation.  The active group intends on evaluating the performance of the West Philadelphia pilot project, and then building more planters around the city.  Home owners are welcome to volunteer their roofs to the group, along with a commitment to water and occasionally tend to the crops.  It is important that each roof is structurally sound enough to bear the weight of the planter, although the CDC design included a strategy for distributing the planter’s weight across a row home’s party walls.

This is an exciting time for rooftop gardening in Philadelphia.  Thanks to organizations like PRooF, we finally have the “proof” that rooftop gardening on Philly row homes is easy!

Read Full Post »

harden off those youngins

Greenhouse seedlings at SHARE Food Program || photo by Lauren Mandel

With spring upon us, greenhouses across the country are full of eager seedlings.  Sheltered greenhouse environments are ideal for sprouting seeds and providing a head start for young veggies, but the real growing occurs outdoors.

Before transplanting seedlings to nearby raised beds and agricultural plots, the youngins need to be “hardened off.”  This involves acclimatising the seedlings to the sun, wind, and variable temperatures they will experience outside.  Farmers have different strategies for hardening off their plants, which usually involves introducing seedlings to the elements gradually.  Farmers may move young plants in and out of a greenhouse, leaving the seedlings outdoors for longer periods each day.  This gradual introduction often lasts for one to two weeks.

When moving seedlings to rooftops, extra care must be taken in hardening off the plants.  As discussed in earlier posts, rooftop environments are much more extreme than their ground-level counterparts.  Skyline farms and gardens are prone to high winds, desiccation (soil drying), and fluctuating temperatures.  So what does this mean for the hardening off process?  Well, the plants should probably be exposed to stronger elements.  This could mean leaving them outside on a particularly cold and windy night, or even bringing them up to the roof for short periods before transplanting.

Anticipating scenarios such as hardening off can help to inform the design of a rooftop farm or garden.  Enough foresight could lead to the construction of a sheltered rooftop area, designed specifically for acclimatizing seedlings.

What techniques do you use to harden off your youngins?

Read Full Post »

the hottest of hotspots

If the U.S. were a cupcake, and the rooftop farms and gardens dotted around the country were the sprinkles, then Brooklyn would be the cherry on top.  Thank you for bearing with me on that analogy.

Greenpoint, Brooklyn || Image by Google Earth

It’s true, though.  Brooklyn currently houses several of the country’s most innovative and inspiring rooftop farms.  Gotham Greens, a 15,000 square foot (0.3 acre) commercial greenhouse operation in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, leads New York City in rooftop yields.  With high-end distribution channels and a solid business model, the success of this rooftop pioneer may be inspiring other entrepreneurs to follow suit.  Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is another critical piece of the cherry.  As the country’s first rooftop row farm, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm plays an important role in building community and demonstrating farming techniques.  With a picturesque backdrop, this farm is arguably Brooklyn’s “greenest” icon.  Brooklyn Grange, while not actually located in Brooklyn, contributes to the local skyline network as well.  Ben Flanner, founder of Brooklyn Grange, co-founded Eagle Street and then spread his seeds of knowledge to the Grange’s rooftop in Queens.

It is with this proliferation and contagious behavior that Brooklyn is booming – I mean, blooming!  The New York Times reports that Gotham Greens is scheduled to open three new rooftop greenhouse operations in 2013, totalling 180,000 square feet (4.1 acres).  Brooklyn Grange is also expanding, and construction of the farm’s new 45,000 square foot (1 acre) location could begin as early as spring of 2012.

Then there’s the Sunset Park Greenhouse.  Brooklyn residents should expect to see this 100,000 square foot (2.3 acre) hydroponic operation atop a former Naval warehouse in the not-too-distant future.  According to the New York Times, the project’s greenhouse development company, BrightFarms, anticipates that the farm will produce 1 million pounds of food per year.

With agro-icons and big projects in the pipeline, Brooklyn is hot hot hot.

Read Full Post »

fishy business

Aquaponics || photo by Lauren Mandel

Does all this talk about lettuce and broccoli make you hungry for some real meat? Let’s talk aquaponics.

For centuries, people around the world have raised fish as a food crop. This cultivation occurs in ocean pens, large outdoor tanks, or sometimes in small tanks within greenhouses, in basements, and on roofs. A variant of the latter practice is called aquaponics.

Aquaponics is the symbiotic production of plants and aquatic animals in a closed-loop environment. This means that vegetables and herbs are grown hydroponically, while fish or other sea creatures occupy the water that fuels the hydroponic system. The symbiotic part of the relationship comes into play when the animal waste (fecal matter, excess food, etc.) is used as the sole nutrient source for the food crops, and in exchange, the plants filter the water for the fish. The clean water is pumped back into the hydroponic system, and the cycle continues – what a beautiful thing.

Bony fish (such as Tilapia and Perch), molluscs, and crustaceans are the most common aquatic animals cultivated in these systems. Variations in organism growth rates, compounded by the need for equipment adjustments, means that it can take up to six months for an aquaponics system to become fully operational. The Milwaukee-based agricultural organization Growing Power experiments extensively with aquaponics. Growing Power’s fish are sold to restaurants, direct customers, and ethnic markets.

While aquaponics is relatively new to the U.S., the technique has been practiced in Asia for many years. The concept of integrating farming with fish production is rooted in Asian tradition, and historic evidence suggests that this type of integrated farming may have existed 3,000 years ago in China.

Read Full Post »