Huffpost ran a really
interesting little piece about Ben Flanner, a New York resident working on establishing urban gardens on rooftops around the city. Motives behind the rooftop gardens, aside from being a great use of space, include growing organic crops locally and selling them to residents and restaurants, reducing carbon footprints by having a local source of vegetation instead of relying on vegetation being trucked in, and keeping the agricultural tradition alive in places you'd least expect. Here's a link to Flanner's site, it's got all kinds of cool stuff. And here's a quick little video showcasing some of Flanner's work in preparation for the 2011 growing year.
This is such a cool fusion of urban and rural life. I'm seriously tempted to hit up my landlord and see if they'll let me start looking in to planting a garden on top of the apartments.
Locally, the new Lightcatcher Museum features a green roof. Although it's more an experiment in ecology than in agriculture,
according to a post on the Herald's Politics Blog. Still, it's pretty damn cool.
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| Picture from the Bellingham Herald's politics blog. |
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| Picture from the Bellingham Herald's politics blog. |
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| Picture from the Bellingham Herald's politics blog. |
A rooftop garden is perfect for urban homes, but is very much advisable for suburban homes as well. It not only adds to aesthetics, but can also reduce your use of air conditioners, since the plants on your roof will give a cooling effect to the interior of a your house. Anyway, what Ben Flanner is promoting is a great thing! More power to PostOklahoman!
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