Eagle St Farm in Greenpoint, is a green roof on top of a film production warehouse.
Annie is an amazing personality, who has a fascinating background in chocolate agriculture. She noted her early interest in tropic plants that are greatly consumed here –cocoa, bananas and coffee. I had never really thought of that before, and that these industries are often impacting the developing countries they mostly come from. She manages the space in the warmer months, works in NY Botanic Gardens, and touched on setting up garden on a medical/hospital barge in Tanzania – what a life! She was actually part of an Earth Day event I went to at Anthropologie, and got an oregano plant which is still going well in my window sill. She mentioned how when her dad passed, her and her sisters talked about professions that could help them “provide” – and it was nice to be reminded how being able to grow food seems vital in that. It made me question “Am I equipped to provide?” Likely, no.
Key Lessons-
- Soil ecology and nutrients is fascinating and critical exploration, and is a significant challenge to green roofs. Nutrient loss is an issue with lightweight soils that do not contain certain bacteria
- Use of legumes, crop rotation and chicken coup rotation helps build better soil
- Bees mostly pollinate from the neighbourhood, and as bee keeping becomes legal again public green space and flowering trees become more important
City Love 