Double-stacked, modified milk-crates as the basis for a large-scale vegetable growing system on a city rooftop. Yet another example of why rooftop farming is possible, even if you don’t have tonnes of infrastructure…
© Riverpark Farm
© Riverpark Farm
I’m not saying it’s regenerative agriculture gone urban, but it is on a rooftop and providing hyper-local food. And it may be a model that can be built apon in a sustainable fashion, and that is interesting. It’s called Riverpark Farms.
While we’re up here on the rooftops of NYC, there’s also Gotham Greens…
© Gotham Greens
© Gotham Greens
© Gotham Greens
Then there’s good ‘ol Brooklyn Grange, who are currently expanding to more rooftops across Brooklyn… not bad for something that started out as a kickstarter project…
© Brooklyn Grange
© Brooklyn Grange
And lastly, my fave small rooftop farming project, Eagle Street Farm in Brooklyn…
© Eagle Street Farm
© Eagle Street Farm
© Todd Selby
Can’t wait till someone steps up and does a similar project in Sydney. By the 3rd or 4th rendition, once the ‘omigod it’s a rooftop farm’ thing has calmed down a little, we might even be ready to talk about getting seriously sustainable up on the roof.
We’re seeing a lot of rooftop farms and vegie gardens conceived during the design projects on our Permaculture Design Courses in Sydney these days, and there’s some really excellent and plausible designs. Fingers crossed that one of them blooms sometime soon…
It makes such good common sense to utilise the rooftops to grow food. I asked an architect about it many years ago and he said the heavy weight of the soil, especially when wet, could be a problem….but then, that was back in the days when we laughed at the idea of solar panels and, you wont believe this, but I was actually FINED by my local council because I installed a rainwater tank in my suburban back yard. Shock Horror! Even though I assured them it was only for use on my garden I was ordered to remove it.… Read more »
I would be interested to know how the rooftops handle loading, especially during heavy rains. What happens to the excess water? Are the drains originally installed on the roof refitted to prevent soil clogs?
Verical floor greenhouse gardens in energy capture window solar glass powered sky scrapers to feed the cities with spiral slides to delver food grown to ground floor food nosh fest dining and sales. see -peter brooks mudgee-for more thoughts to fine tune the scene.
To add , lower buildings could directional reflective panels or surfaces to redirect sunlight onto the above t . peter brooks mudgee (google)
Reblogged this on Eremophila’s Musings and commented:
This goes to prove that city dwellers can be part of the food revolution as well.
Riverpark Farm isn’t on a rooftop though. It’s ground level.
Still awesome either way.
Really? Darn! Still a good concept, but no questions re loading… cheers for the info 🙂
Does anyone know how they modify the milk crates? I’m experimenting with growing potatoes in 30cm and 40 cm pots sitting on concrete this season, and I’m interested in this milk crate alternative for the concreted areas of my house in Sydney.
Another advantage of plant mobility is that if there is ever very wild weather (big hail storm or wind or heat-wave), I can load them up on my trolley and put them under the carport till things improve.
Well there is an impressive rooftop vegetable garden on top of Bing Lee in Marrickville. You can see it from the supermarket carpark for Banana Joes.
Cheers, will check it out!