If you live in or near Philadelphia, or just care about progressive urban food production, this is a very worthwhile civic endeavor.
Much will be learned from this project that will benefit all citizens of the region as well as virtual urbanites online everywhere.
It is good to see that they are not simply craning a load of dirt on the roof and calling it a farm. There is no future in doing that.
In addition to seeds and farming tools, our $5,000 budget includes building sub-irrigated rooftop farming planters that will allow us to test several combinations of planter design, growing media (soil) and crops suitable for rooftop cultivation. We are partnering with PRooF (Philadelphia Rooftop Farm) to test their rooftop planter prototype and encourage city-wide rooftop gardening.
Pledge some financial support here: www.kickstarter.com
Cloud 9 Farm is a burgeoning rooftop farm in Philadelphia. In addition to growing and selling organically grown produce locally, we aim to improve food security in the city by conducting research and providing educational programming on urban rooftop agriculture. We are thrilled to be the first rooftop farm in the city of Philadelphia, but are even more excited to pave the way for others to follow!
Located on a warehouse roof in Southwest Philadelphia, Cloud Nine Farm will be a research site for innovative ways to grow food in an urban environment. Rooftop farming is one way urban spaces can be used creatively to produce food for personal and commercial consumption. We wish to serve as an example of how a little bit of creative planting could significantly increase the food production potential of densely-populated older cities such as Philadelphia.
Our goal is to start building infrastructure this fall and winter in order to be ready for planting the spring of 2012. In addition to seeds and farming tools, our $5,000 budget includes building sub-irrigated rooftop farming planters that will allow us to test several combinations of planter design, growing media (soil) and crops suitable for rooftop cultivation. We are partnering with PRooF (Philadelphia Rooftop Farm) to test their rooftop planter prototype and encourage city-wide rooftop gardening. The initial start up costs for the farm are much higher but we will gain additional funding with community partnerships, other forms of grassroots fundraising, and grants.
We will use all organic/pesticide free practices to intensively grow produce for sale to local retailers and consumers. We aim to permanently enhance the quality of life for ourselves and our community by growing vegetables in a sustainable and economically viable way. We hope to take a formerly blighted and unused area and address issues of food justice while creating an environmentally sound system for using solar energy and for preventing water run-off. We see this farm as a potential instigator for other rooftop farms!
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