foodie-ism at its finest

Philadelphians are hot for local food.  This week in particular highlights the extent to which urbanites from the City of Brotherly Love are invested in furthering local food production through action, purchasing power, and dialogue.  I often refrain from writing myself into blog posts, but this activity-filled week happens to be that of my 30th birthday, so please pardon my indulgence as I reveal the top three events of the week in the following urban agricultural categories:

3|  ACTION  

After a season of snow and frigid nights, spring cleanup has begun for growers across the city.  Local DIY excitement mixed with an abundance of vacant lots and a hunger for local food has encouraged a diversity of residents – from laborers to lawyers – to roll up their sleeves and reach into the soil.  Peas will soon creep up the sides of buildings, leading the gaze of many upward to contemplate the prime, underutilized skyline acreage.  The cleanup buzz has overwhelmed me this week, as friends gear up for the season and chat about what vegetables they’ll plant and which would be appropriate for rooftops.

2 |  PURCHASING POWER  

What better way to support local farmers than by indulging in one (or two) of Philadelphia’s premier farm-to-table restaurants?  The city’s strong farm-fresh cuisine culture makes it difficult to choose where to eat on a special occasion, so I chose two of my favorites.  Farmicia, in Philly’s Old City neighborhood, features local, organic ingredients produced with sustainable practices.  Barbuzzo, a hip Mediterranean restaurant in Center City, sources its meets, cheeses and vegetables from local artisanal farmers as well.  Knowing that the positively sumptuous food at these restaurants was produced sustainably satisfies your soul in addition to your stomach.

3 |  DIALOGUE  (two-way tie)

The week kicked off with a thrilling Mark Bittman lecture in North Philadelphia at Congregation Rodeph Shalom.  The synagogue hosted this seasoned New York Times columnist and award winning author, who spoke about “the future of food” with eloquence and humor.  I was delighted to meet Mr. Bittman after the  talk, where he signed my freshly purchased copy of “How to Cook Everything: The Basics.”   Several days later I attended an international conference called “Feeding Cities: Food Security in a Rapidly Urbanizing World,” hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and the Rockefeller Foundation.  The Feeding Cities conference attracted urban agriculturalists and food security experts from around the globe.  The invigorating two-day affair succeeded in spurring conversation between everyone from small-scale growers to Sri Lanka’s Agriculture Minister.

As I enter into my 30s I feel exceedingly lucky to live in a city with such diversified urban agricultural interests.  This is a city where residents are empowered to grow food in sidewalk strips and on roofs.  This is a city with a  burgeoning reputation as a foodie hotspot.  This is a city where civic dialogue attracts global leaders.  Outdoing this inspirational week will be difficult, but I’m up for the challenge.

 

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TED knows best

From a self-sustaining Lebanese town to Montreal’s urban center, Lufa Farms‘ founder and president Mohamed Hage pushes the limits of rooftop agriculture.  In his 2012 TEDx Talk, Mohamed discusses how rooftop agriculture will change the way we eat.

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sunny-side up with a pinch of lead

Hen at Eagle Street Rooftop Farm || photo by Lauren Mandel

On October 8th the New York Times published an article by columnist Julie Scelfo, revealing detectable levels of lead in the eggs of city-raised chickens. The article discussed a recent New York City Health Department study, in which researchers found lead in amounts of 10 to 100 parts per billion in roughly half the eggs tested. The other half of the sample was free of lead, as is typically the case with a grocery-bought dozen. The sample eggs were laid by chickens occupying neighborhood gardens in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, which presumably browse on ground-level plants and insects. The article ignited conversation about free-range fowl among urban agriculturalists.

Lead consumption is a serious concern, particularly for young eaters, whose small bodies are more sensitive to contaminants. While Scelfo notes that the Food and Drug Administration has not designated acceptable levels of lead contamination in foods, chicken owners and urban farm supporters alike are undeniably nervous about lead consumption at any level.

How do we prevent lead contamination in urban eggs? Bring your feathered friends to the roof. Grazing rooftop chickens will pick through the soil that you provide, rather than the who knows what down below. By bringing in and building your own soil, you have control over what enters their beaks, and your breakfast. What’s more, is that the chickens will pluck pesky pests from the soil, while fertilizing your rooftop crops! It’s a win-win situation.

Notable rooftop farms like Brooklyn Grange and Eagle Street Rooftop Farm boast resident chickens. These lead-free birds help the farmers, while laying healthy eggs in their rooftop coops. As with many ground-level farms, chickens play an important role in agrarian rooftop ecosystems.

I’ll take my eggs with a sprinkle of salt and a side of potatoes; no lead for me please.  

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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!

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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.

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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?

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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!

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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?

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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.

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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.

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