Bruce F. left a comment on our Alemany Farm video last week and pointed us to a pretty amazing rooftop garden that he and his friends have built. After seeing the pictures, I think you’ll agree he’s being too modest. He says:

A few of us who live in the city of Chicago are trying to grow heirloom vegetables on our rooftops in cheap homemade earthboxes. It sounds more than a little preposterous to suggest that what we’re doing is a real solution to the huge environmental problems we’re facing, but it might be a tiny piece. We think they’re a great way to build connections in a fragmented social/political landscape. Not selling anything, I’m giving “it” away.

Here’s the Flickr link, along side the pics is a little how-to guide with plenty of relevant links.

We really love to see smart people start taking advantage of resources around them. Americans currently live in such abundance that making a rooftop garden, at first thought, might not make much sense. However, growing food is a great skill to learn and a valuable way to spend your time. Bruce has plenty of good info on his designs and links to online support.

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The Green City Gallery is an eco-demonstration site/art gallery/community meeting and event space in downtown Berkeley, CA. A collaboration between Bay Localize, an Oakland based non-profit focused on post petroleum community empowerment, and Dig Cooperative, an eco-design crew helping to re-invent urban environments to be more sustainable. The Green City Gallery was established to showcase to the public, as well as local politicians and business folk, that green does not have to be hippy-fringe but practical, clean and smart. Some of our favorite demonstrations are the roof top garden (keeps buildings naturally insulated, provides green space and food to occupants), the constructed wetland/greywater filtration (filters all your household water naturally through gravel and plants right back out to your garden) and last but not least, the composting toilet and urinal (fertilize your plants every time you go!). Thanks to Ingrid from Bay Localize for touring us around! If you’re in Berkeley, head over to the space, it’s at 1950 Shattuck Avenue, Downtown Berkeley.

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Jason Harvey, director of The Oakland Food Connection, has an exciting vision for bringing real examples of practical gardening, food security and nutrition to urban schools. By partnering with the Bay Localize Rooftop Resources Project and community leaders like Lisa Blair, principal of EC Reems Academy, an elementary charter school in East Oakland, Jason has been able to create projects like this rooftop vegetable garden. Utilizing a valuable, unused space on the roof of EC Reems Academy, Jason’s crew of local high school gardeners get down to business and build a half dozen garden boxes soon to be filled with plant and vegetable seeds. These vegetables will serve as more than just a healthy meal, they’ll help educate kids and their parents about the possibilities that exist beyond processed, packaged foods and the often limited variety of produce sold in stores.

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[tags]rooftop garden, urban garden, permaculture, green, sustainablility, gardening, vegetables, oakland food connection, ec reems, jason harvey, lisa blair, ryanishungry, oakland[/tags]

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