Green on High

Being a suburban girl who has enough of a yard to plant most anything, I really admire those who have no access to soil in the earth, but still manage to garden, grow vegetables and flowers and have enough left over to sell at the Farmers' Market. On a rooftop, no less! 

Meet Eagle Street Rooftop Farm.

Founded in 2009 by Annie Novak and Ben Flanner, the farm is a 6,000 square foot organic farm situated on top of a Greenpoint, Brooklyn warehouse that overlooks the East River. Goode Green, the green roof design firm, installed the garden system and growing medium. Annie Novak is now the chief farmer and is assisted by a team of volunteers, and interns who tend to the crops daily. They are also partnering with Growing Chefs, who provide internships through schools and organizations to assist with the chores.

The beds are watered via the environmentally respectful drip system. Plants need to be chosen carefully to withstand the hot NYC summers. The Farm also grows chickens (and sells the eggs), raises honey bees and is a home to bunny rabbits who provide the manure for the beds. Here volunteers are installing the 25 foot long chicken run.

 This year's offerings will also include their own Rooftop pickles, grown with their organic cucumbers.

In 2010, Eagle Street Rooftop farm proudly became the first rooftop garden to participate in the Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA), that originally began in the U.S. in 1984. For more information on the program and to join, read about it here and here. Its very reasonable price makes it a no-brainer to join!

Visit the farm market on the rooftop this Sunday, May 15th from 9am to 4 pm. Jenny Blackwell, from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, will present Composting 101: The Dirt on Good Soil at 2 pm.

Do you belong to a Community Supported Agriculture program? Please tell us how you liked it!

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