Up on the Garage Roof

 

How many sunny garage roofs are there in cities across the country. Bruce in Chicago has converted his to an abundant vegetable garden using sub-irrigated veggie boxes. What a great example of individual initiative he is.

Once again it raises the question of why the USDA Cooperative Extension Program, botanic gardens, gardening organizations and publications in the U.S. are not yet on board with this urban green method. Fresh food can't be any more local than this. No locobuzz words here...just a guy named Bruce up on the roof.

Bruce is obviously handy as you can see by the trellis stands he built. What a functional product he has created. You can see the rest of his photos here on Flickr. While you're on Flickr, have a look at Heidi and Art's rooftop garden. They're friends and neighbors of Bruce.

Comments

[Bruce F]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for writing about our little project.

We put plenty of instructions on our flickr page showing people how they can do this themselves. It doesn't require any specialized knowledge or tools, just curiosity. And because they can be made out of different sized containers, these boxes work just as well on a balcony, deck, or windowsill.

Maybe more importantly, our experience has shown that this process has other benefits, namely that it builds connections in a fragmented social/political landscape. If you're trying to organize people, it's got a lot of potential. A big selling point is that it is something that can be done by individuals. You don't need to appeal for funding, attend planning meetings, or hire a budget busting number of "professionals".

Thanks again for posting this.

[Greenscaper Bob]

Well said Bruce. It was my pleasure to post about what you guys are doing. When the content is this good it's easy to write about it. It's really good that you've documented everything with so many good photos. I'll post more about the information you've posted on the web in the next day or so.

[Bruce F]

Michael Pollan thinks that, for now, gardens are the only effective individual response to climate change. He's got a platform, any ideas on how to get him to look at what we're doing?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-lede-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

[Greenscaper Bob]

Bruce...thanks for the link. I've been knee deep in other stuff this morning. Maybe a small step, but I'm starting a Meetup.com group here in NYC on the subject of Urban Greenscaping/Urban Agriculture. I've been dealing with our horticultural flat earth society members for over 30 years. The time has come to outflank the Maginot Line of horticultural ignorance in this country. It can be done! More later...