Day 4: Brooklyn Grange

Today we went to the Brooklyn Grange, which just happens to be in Queens. It’s a garden on a rooftop of a building which is really cool. They made an ugly rooftop into something useful. The women who showed us around said that the garden acted like an insulator and also helped lower the heating and AC cost for the building. It’s amazing to see that this space which wasn’t used for anything before is now being used for a garden. I’ve always wanted a garden and it really makes me want to start one on my roof. Unfortunatley I dont think I have a green thumb for it.

Roof Farmer

Kaome: Today DDC went to a farm on a roof in queens. Initially I thought that the farm would have cows and other live stock but what was grown on the roof was mostly vegetables. The vegetables they grow they make money off of so it was cool to know money can be made in a farm in the city. There was also artificial beehives. I was very scared because I have a phobia of flying insects I think. They was also a super large take in the middle of the roof where we ate snacks. It was a knew experience so I enjoyed the field trip.

Brooklyn Grange, LLC.

Visiting Brooklyn Grange, LLC in Queens was a really interesting experience. This business is currently striving because of all the volunteer work that they receive. At least one of the three partners of the profit business is not getting paid, even a year after being apart of the business. Starting up a small business seems full of setbacks and disappointments, but it seems that’s a small price to pay to see one’s vision come to life. Brooklyn Grange, LLC is thriving and I’m glad I got to see what it was like at its early stages as it continues to grow. 

Eyebeam DDC Day 4 was a visit to the Brooklyn Grange in Long Island City. The Grange is a rooftop for-profit farm and our guide Gwen showed us around to the many workings of the farm. They laid a special mat onto the roof to protect it from the plants and to give the plants a way to store moisture. The Grange also kept bees to help pollinate the plants on the farm as well as to collect honey from along with some novelty chickens that laid eggs 6 days of the week. We were shown around what crops they were growing and learned how pollution could easily get into our food and how the Grange prevented this from happening. It was a fun day overall and definitely worth the trip.
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Eyebeam DDC Day 4 was a visit to the Brooklyn Grange in Long Island City. The Grange is a rooftop for-profit farm and our guide Gwen showed us around to the many workings of the farm. They laid a special mat onto the roof to protect it from the plants and to give the plants a way to store moisture. The Grange also kept bees to help pollinate the plants on the farm as well as to collect honey from along with some novelty chickens that laid eggs 6 days of the week. We were shown around what crops they were growing and learned how pollution could easily get into our food and how the Grange prevented this from happening. It was a fun day overall and definitely worth the trip.

Brooklyn Grange

On Day 4 at DDC we visited the Brooklyn Grange, which is located in Queens. It was interesting because it was my first time being in a farm on a roof. I learned that there are many advantages and disadvantages to having a farm on the roof. Overall I gained a lot from my experience at the Brooklyn Grange.

My Day At The Rooftop Garden

At the Brooklyn Grange was amazing, I had so much fun. We learned about the all the different types of vegetables and roots and such. we also saw that they keep bee hives on the roof and produce their own honey, because the bees help the plants stay very healthy and happy because they constantly get pollinated and the bees make a good amount of honey which they profit off of by selling the honey.

          We also learned a good amount f information about chickens. Such as how they take days off from laying eggs. Also how we can find out if the chicken that laid the egg was in good health, is by looking at the yok of the egg if it a light yellowish colour it’s not all that good for you, protein wise. If an egg is a deep orange colour that means that the chicken that it came from was very healthy and feed well.

        We also learned about how they water their plants, and that the try there best not to use sprinkler because they heat and the wind evaporate a larger portion of the water before it reaches the plants

Source: odeemadmuch

Brooklyn Grange

Today we went to the Brooklyn Grange in Queens. It’s a rooftop garden/vegetable farm and a very efficient use of otherwise neglected space. What struck me, while touring the roof, was that the whole project was so productive. The space was already there for use, the environmental impact is positive, the neighborhood benefits from the fresh produce that is sold, and the business profits from the sale of their products.

More than anything else, what impresses me about the whole endeavor is its impromptu nature. While there was probably a lot of planning behind it, the random use of a rooftop in a remote location has a very spontaneous quality. The Brooklyn Grange proves that something CAN be made from nothing!

My thoughts on the Brooklyn Grange

What really interested me about the Brooklyn Grange was how economically efficient the space was being used; Gwen explained to us how there was lettuce planted under the tomatoes, because the lettuce would be harvested first, so that they could use the space more effectively while the tomatoes were still growing. I can see how it’s a thriving business, as well as good for the environment. I didn’t know anything about all those sewage flooding issues she described, and the list of all the various ways the green roof was indeed ‘green’ seemed endless. Like I heard other people say, it makes me want to go home and start a garden on my house. (Maybe I could use some composting tips from the Green Maps pamphlet?)