Photo by Rachel Clift
On Sunday, Sweet Joy and I made the slow G-train journey to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to check out this crazy 6,000 square foot organic rooftop farm that loads of people have been raving about. Unlike the photo above, Sunday was the farm’s swansong….a few stalks of chard and kale clung to soil and the very last baby beets and carrots had been tugged and were offered up for visitors’ Thanksgiving feasts. Yet, despite the fact that it’s the end of the growing the season and we’re all looking down the barrel of long, cold winter, the farm was buzzing…and for good reason.
The farm’s gotten a lot of press in past several months, and I don’t want to belabor the point, so here are few interesting facts: the farm is located on the roof of an industrial warehouse on Eagle Street in Greenpoint. It’s the brainchild of Ben Flanner who connected with Broadway Stages, a production company that wanted a green roof on one of its warehouses in Brooklyn. Broadway Stages footed the billed to prepare the roof for planting and agreed to let Ben grow food on it. Ben and his partner, Annie Novak (check her out on the Huffington Post’s Hottest Organic Farmers slide show), did the planting and were able to keep all of the profits from their organic vegetables (sweet!). They sold the produce to local restaurants and other community organizations, but only to very local ones because everything was transported by bike (rad!). They also operated a farm stand on some weekends during the growing season (check out the photo below). I chatted with Annie briefly the other day and she told me told me the farm was really a community effort and none of it would be possible without all the volunteers who offer free farm labor. I immediately signed up to volunteer next summer and look forward to working on my tan while taking in some of the best views in the city.
Urban Farmer Annie Novak. Photo by Rachel Clift
Produce for sale at the rooftop farm. Photo by Rachel Clift
After leaving the Rooftop Farm, Sweet and I had a quick cup of coffee at the über-hipstery Greenpoint Coffeehouse and hopped the train to Bushwick to meet the rest of the gals at Roberta’s for our monthly ladies’ brunch. Roberta’s has quickly become one of New York’s storied “pilgrimage” pizza joints – a place people travel from far and wide to savor. As much as I adore pizza (and it is delicious) I was more interested in seeing the elevated garden sponsored by none other than Alice Waters and the studio in the back garden that hosts the Heritage Radio Network, which programs shows about urban foragers and first-time farmers, like Annie and Ben. Like I said, the pizza was delicious, particularly the Beastmaster (berkshire pork sausage, capers, jalapeño and just a touch of blue cheese), but the fried chicken and homemade biscuit won best of show. Definitely worth the trip.
Elevated garden at Roberta's in Bushwick. Photo by Aimee Quick
Photo by Aimee Quick
Pizza oven imported from Italy. Photo by Miss Quick
