Rooftop Gardens are Part of the Solution
Last night I had the fortune of being part of a Chefs for Change dinner hosted by People Serving People with delicious food served by Brenda Langton and Tim Kane at Spoonriver in Minneapolis. This month’s dinner proceeds are going directly to the new rooftop garden project that Ecological Gardens is part of. My post today is some of what I presented on last night.
Why are rooftop gardens part of the solution? I take into account the massive city infrastructure we currently have and the fact that for the first time in world history more people live in city centers than the country. This means we must grow more food in our cities and work with the existing infrastructure. As people come to the cities they become disconnected from the land and from knowing where our food comes from. Even the smallest of gardens in the city makes a difference because it could teach someone how a carrot is grown, knowledge that needs to be passed down to our children. These massive buildings aren’t going anywhere soon, so why not try making them work for our human needs. Some of the many other “parts” of urban agriculture solutions include: backyard gardens, CSAs, community gardens, container gardening, greenhouses/hoophouses, urban orchards, yardsharing, food not lawns, guerilla gardening, aquaculture, bee keeping and small animal production.
Lindsay with freshly harvested Paris Market Carrots 7/10
At Ecological Gardens we design ecological systems that mimic nature, this is called permaculture design. Permaculture is based on a set of design principles and ethics. One of my favorite permaculture principles is “the problem is the solution”. A simple design example of this would be the concrete jungle & buildings in inner cities are a hindrance to growing fresh food – growing food on the roof and walls of these buildings is a solution.
Cornerstone Rooftop Farm 
Partnering with The Cornerstone Group in 2010 Ecological Gardens designed and implemented MN’s first rooftop farm. Cornerstone Rooftop Farms is a small-scale farm at 76th and Lyndale in Richfield MN in a mixed use property that houses condos, businesses and restaurants. All of the fresh organic heirloom vegetables, herbs and edible flowers are sold to Lucia’s Restaurant in Minneapolis.
People Serving People Rooftop Garden
This year we are working with People Serving People on a rooftop garden. It is an incredible, first of its kind in the state, rooftop garden that will serve the largest family homeless shelter in Minnesota. I can’t say enough good things about this project. 60% of PSP guests are children and they will be able to see where their food comes from and be exposed to healthy eating habits. There is even a culinary arts program for adults that will be able to utilize the garden for teaching fresh food cooking skills!
Paula monitoring soil temps in newly installed SIPs
As you might imagine, there are a few design hurdles for a rooftop garden – the roof is harsh and sterile environment with full wind, sun and temperature extremes. It is also a place where we try to minimize our weight of pressure on the roof as much as possible. In our rooftop permaculture design we have a number of special design features including;
- ultra light soil mixes
- a design that maximizes angles of the sun and allows wind patterns to flow through the garden
- season extension using coldframes – enclosed raised beds with a hinged lid and plexiglass window protect plants from extreme cold, wind and heat.
- self watering containers called earthboxes and SIPs (sub-irrigated planters)
- light weight, high value compost tea for natural fertilization
- planting vegetables in polycultures – self supporting plant communities
- Insectary islands – perennial flowers that increase biodiversity on the roof, attract beneficial insects and keep pests away.
The People Serving People rooftop garden is making ripples in the system far beyond their walls and in many areas:
Health and Nutrition: Sustainable farming practices, chemical free, healthy soil and plants.
Decreases Fossil Fuel Use: Decreases food miles, all food on site will be eaten on site.
Building Community: Small scale farming by its nature creates community, green jobs and strengthens the local economy.
Education: The value of teaching how to prepare fresh foods and eating fresh foods to a population of people who might not have had this opportunity otherwise is priceless.
Food Security: Increases food security by making fresh food available in the inner city.
Leadership: People Serving People is leading by doing, setting a positive example for the city of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
I look forward to giving you more updates on this project!
Rooftop videos I like:
Noble Rot restaurant rooftop garden in Portland Oregon.
Rooftop CSA garden, Community Growers, in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
Resources:
- Roots Around the World, .pdf of educational activities that reflect on urban agriculture. From the Rooftop Agriculture Project
- Urban Planning Master’s Thesis on rooftop greening. From the Rooftop Agriculture Project.
A quote from Dayna Conner Executive Director of Food Works in IL: This is, in a nutshell, the reason for urban (or community-based) agriculture: to bring farming back within everyone’s daily view so that we can be reminded that farming is one of the most unpredictable jobs in the world. By seeing food production on a daily basis and knowing that some of our neighbors are farmers, we will then know through our daily lives that everything is connected to food and the land — health, natural resources, taste, economic self-determination, emergency preparedness and community resiliency.
