FarmingUp: Sky-Farming in Brooklyn

Alec Baxt and Lise Serrell make me love Brooklyn even more. Look at what these two are up to. They’re building farms on rooftops, with a plan to distribute locally grown, nutrient-rich crops to our farmers markets.

Here they are in action:

This is not some green-washing, fake corporate social responsibility sham. It’s just two real urban farmers sky-farming on the rooftops of Brooklyn brownstones. (I’d give them mine if we weren’t assholes with a hulking air-conditioner unit up there, polluting the Brooklyn we say we love so much.)

Anyway, reading their blog, you can chart their progress, you can volunteer, and you can learn all about “nutrient density.” Pretty fascinating stuff, actually. (I never knew two carrots could be so different.)

Here’s FarmingUp’s mission. Check them out:

Mission

FarmingUp aims to create a large-scale rooftop farm that grows great food, primarily for neighbors within walking distance of the farm. Key elements include:

– Growing food as nutritious foods found at farmers’ markets

– Maximizing the use of environmentally friendly materials in both the growing medium and infrastructure

– Economic self-sufficiency

– Increasing awareness about the concept and importance of nutrient density

– Finding creative financing options to make our produce available to those with poor food access

– Creating an inspiring and accessible outdoor space with opportunities for community involvement

– Providing information for both growers and building owners to facilitate new rooftop farming ventures and the growth higher quality foods

– Exploring ways for municipalities to support rooftop farming

(Thanks to Jennifer Jones for inviting me to FarmingUp’s OPEN HOUSE tomorrow night.)


Posted

in

by

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *