Posts Tagged ‘greenhouse’

New York’s First Hydroponic Rooftop Farm

Saturday, March 13th, 2010


Virag Puri from Gotham Greens

Gotham Greens plans to produce 30 tons of produce annually with the first hydroponic rooftop farm in New York. Constructed on a church rooftop in Jamaica, Queens, at an estimated cost of $1.4 million, the 12,000 square foot greenhouse is powered by 2,000 square feet of solar panels and captures rainwater for irrigation.

They intend to create a model of sustainable urban agriculture. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority awarded a $400,000 grant to the project based on their energy savings plan. They’ll even use a biodiesel van to deliver produce to customers throughout the city, including Whole Foods and local farmers markets.

Gotham Greens is already planning their next project, a 20,000 square foot hydroponic rooftop greenhouse atop a manufacturing plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. With hopes of ultimately building 100,000 square feet of hydroponic greenhouses throughout the five boroughs by 2030, this will be an interesting group to watch!
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Communities Embrace School Gardens

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Inspired by Michelle Obama’s White House garden and Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard, communities across the country are embracing the value of school gardens. The Seedlings Project in Springs, NY was started by two parents who happened to be chefs. With the help of organizations like Project MOST, they were able to secure enough funding to expand the project by adding a greenhouse and employing a full-time gardener who also assists teachers in utilizing the garden in their lesson plans.
Parents and teachers are particularly interested in the nutritional education that their children are receiving. With obesity hitting epidemic proportions in the U.S., connecting kids with the food that they eat is well worth the effort. But their education extends beyond nutrition. One instructor at the Bridgehampton School has her high school design students use 3D animation software to design their landscape projects, then they head to the garden to build them.
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