Building Owners, Check out our Call For Rooftops;
An invitation for those interested in hosting rooftop farms

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Where We’re Headed

FarmingUp is an urban agriculture project committed to turning NYC into farm country. We do this by converting NYC’s underutilized and environmentally hostile rooftops into thriving and financially self-sufficient rooftop farms. While growing stellar food, our farms will create new opportunities for people to connect with each other and with issues relating to food, agriculture and nutrition.

Since 2010 we have been pioneering research in this new agricultural arena – check out the update and trial pages for the latest developments. We have completed comprehensive business planning and are meeting with property owners. The FarmingUp team includes a range of professionals, from farmers to LEEDS Certified Landscape Architects to Engineers. We are well-positioned to take advantage of grants to help buildings owners offset the cost of their infrastructure upgrade.

From Whence We Came

Inspired by existing rooftop farms, we started investigating that production model in late 2010. Given that green roofs rarely use natural soil, we were surprised to discover that no research existed regarding the nutritional quality of roof-farmed foods.

Can we expect food coming out of these systems to be as nutritious as their field-grown counterparts?

To answer that question – and to make sure that our full-scale operation grows the best veggies possible – we tested a range of growing media that are light enough for rooftop applications while also suporting high ‘nutrient density’. Our first trial crop was tested by the USDA lab at Cornell Agricultural extension and showed that our roof-grown crops tended to beat USDA averages for nutrient density while exhibiting less toxicity.

A key feature of our growing media is organic material already collected in large quantities in urban areas. This represents a great opportunity for municipalities to help urban farms proliferate.

Thanks to all those who have already contributed to this endeavor. If you’re interested in supporting FarmingUp, get involved.

Feel free to contact us for any reason. Thanks!