Potatoes on Rooftops:

Farming in the City

By Hadley Dyer

Potatoes on Rooftops
Changing the Urban Landscape…

Cities are sometimes called “concrete jungles”. But imagine an

urban neighborhood so lush and leafy it Seems more like an
actual jungle. Picture your lunch growing on a vine just outside
your classroom window. In some cities, these imagines are
becoming real.

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About 800 million people grow food in urban areas, from humble
herb patches to state-of-the-art farms, and their numbers are
going up. These gardeners and farmers are leading the way
toward greener, healthier cities. They’re changing our urban
landscapes while planting the seeds for our future.

Urban something that is urban is related

to a city.

Humble if something humble, it is simple

and not impressive.

A taste of freedom…

Former outh African president Nelson Mandela spent 27 years

as a political prisoner on Robben island. He dug into the rock soil.

With his bare hands to create a vegetable patch that was just
one yard (9.0 m) wide and shared his harvest with fellow
prisoners. People visit his garden today as a monument of
kindness, perseverance, and hope. If Mandela´s humble garden
had the power to transform lives. What could we do with the
space, tools, and technology available in our cities?

“To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then harvest

it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction.

The sense of being the custodian of this small patch of

Earth offered a small teste of freedom.”

-NELSON MANDELA, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA

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 YE OLDE VICTORY GARDEN

During world war l (1914-18), cities around the world began

running out of food. Thousands of farmers served in the army
instead of tilling their fields. Fertile ground was destroy by
combat and bombs. International waters became very dangerous
for ships carrying food.

In 1917,a new organization in the United States called the

National War Garden commission decided the solution was to
grow food on a small scale closer to home. It encouraged
citizens to use all available growing spaces and Taught people
how to can and preserve food. Son after, the U.S. department of
agriculture (USDA) began its own Campaign to get people
growing. As a result, the number of garden plots rose from 3.5
million in 1917 to more than 5 Million in 1918.

Plots. Plots are small sections of land that are used

for a certain purpose.

“Everyone who creates or cultivates a garden helps…. This is the

time for America to correct her unpardonable fault of
wastefulness and extravagance”

- American president Woodrow Wilson, 1917 -

Another victory for gardens

During world war ll (1939-45), the war food administration in the

united states created the national victory garden program. Its
goal was to re-create the huge success of the gardening
movement during the previous war. This time, the results were

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even more astounding. The USDA estimated that more than 20
million plots were planted during the war.

By growing fruits and vegetables, people felt they were

contributing to the war effort. They were ensuring the country -
and its soldiers-had enough to eat, and freeing up resources
needed in wartime. For example, metals and others materials
normally used in food production could be put military used in
food productions could be put military used instead. Railroad
cars carried less food, allowing them to carry more munitions.

EVERY AVAILABLE INCH

What was old is new again: Those victory gardeners were ahead
of their time! Even in peacetime, there are plenty of reasons to
grow our own food in cities. But not everyone has a yard that can
be turned into a garden, and some neighborhoods have no green
spaces at all. How do you turn a concrete jungle into a source of
fresh, healthy food? Fortunately, there’s nothing engineers and
architects love better than a challenge!

Vertical Gardens.

When cities are too jam-packed to create wide growing spaces,

one alternative is to go up-and up! Also known as “living walls”,
vertical gardens can transform brick, concrete, and siding into
artistic and even edible walls.

The Urban Farming Food Chain Project in Los Angeles created

food- producing wall panels that are mounted on buildings. Those
who tend the walls reap the harvest, which is not sold
commercially. You can create your own wall panel by recycling
shelving units, adding hanging pots to wooden fences, ore even
hanging old shoe organizers.

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 Alternative An alternative is a choice or option that can
take place of something.
Transform. If you transform something, you change it from
one thing to another.

This vertical garden is planted with a pleasing variety of spices,

flowers, and fruits.

Towering Farms

Vertical farms take the concept of growing upward to the next

level – skyward! Designers have been imagining high-rise growing
spaces that aim to produce as much food as possible without
draining all of a city’s resources.

Creating a vertical farm is more complicated than just

converting office towers into farms. For example, if sunlight
can’t reach all of the plants, solar panels may need to be
installed to supply energy for artificial growing lights. Designs
also have to include ways to capture, recycle, and pump water
throughout the building.

Until someone constructs the first vertical farm, we won’t know

all the challenges of building one. We won’t know all the
advantages such a farm might bring to a community. But with sol
many people energized by the innovative plans, it’s only a matter
of time until we find out.

An architect named Gordon Graff designed a 58/story green

building, called Sky farm, for the city of Toronto. It has 8
million square feet (743,000 square meters) of growing space.
That’s enough to feed 35,000 people per year. Time will tell
whether a costly, untested project like this will come to be. But
it’s the right kind of dreaming.

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 Artificial. If something is artificial, it was created by humans
rather than nature.

“ vertical farms take the concept of growing upward to the

next level-skyward!”

Shaping Up.

Plants need sunlight to grow. In a vertical building, the upper

levels can cast a shadow over the lower levels. So designers are
experimenting with shapes that will allow light to reach all of the
growing spaces.

Natalie Jeremijenko, an engineer and artist, created pod-like

greenhouses.

Although they’re called Urban Space Stations, their job here on

Earth is to provide growing spaces.

Each structure’s clear, curved Surface absorbs light as the sun

moves across the building. The pod also recycles air and water
from the building below. Because it doesn’t need soil, the station
is light enough to be raised off the ground.

Burrowing underground.

What lies beneath our city streets? In Tokyo, an underground

bank vault was turned into a high-tech farm called Pasona 02.
The farm covers 10,000 square feet (1,000 square meters) and
grows more tan 100 types of produce. It uses a combination of
halide, LED, and fluorescent lights, as well as hydroponics –
raising crops without soil. With hydroponics, plants are grown in
water containing nutrient solutions or materials like gravel or

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 perlite. The Word “hydroponics” comes from the Greek words
for water (hidro) an labor (ponos).

In addition to growing food, Pasona 02 has a very important goal:

to create hobs for youth and older employees who need a second
career.

Rooftop Gardens

Hydroponics can also solve the problem of how to take advantage

of all that terrific unused space way up there – rooftops!

Not all rooftops can handle a heavy load of dense soil. But
hydroponics can lighten the load by using lighter material or
shallow water beds.

In Tokyo, two telecommunications companies sponsared the

planting of sweet potatoes in rooftop gardens. They clalled
this Project Green potato. The wide leaves of the plants were
so effective at transpiration that the leaf-covered áreas
were more tan 68 degrees Farenheit (20 drees Celsius) cooler
tan the áreas not covered by leaves.

Rooftops get screamingly hot in the summertime – up to 90

degrees Farenheit (32 degrees Celsius) warmer than the air.
That’s because plants do a “cool” thing called transpiration. They
take water in through their roots and then release it through
their leaves. The heat from the air is used to evaporate the
water, bringing temperatures down.

The idea is clearly catching on. A group called the Rooftop

Garden Project has greened roofs all over Montreal and has
begun sharing its techniques with people in other countries.

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 They’ve even taken their skills to Haiti to help establish urban
agriculture there in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

In Chicago, the Gary Comer Youth Center occupies a building

that used to be an abandoned warehouse. It’s a huge, reinforced
structure topped by a 906-square-yard (800 square meter)
rooftop garden. The soil for the garden is 18 inches (46
centimeters) Deep and grows an amazing 1,000 pounds (454
kilograms) of organic vegetables per year. The produce is
brought home by the volunteer gardeners and is used in the
center’s cooking classes.

“ Hydroponics can also solven the problema of how to take

advantage of all that terrific unused space way up there-on
rooftops!”

Digging In.

But what if you’re not an engineer or an architect? What if

you’re just, well, you? The good news is you don’t need an
underground bank vault or fancy

SPACE: Urban gardens tend to be smaller tan rural and

suburban gardens. So you may need to choose crops that take up
less space. Beans, for example, grow vertically (upward) and do
well in containers, which makes them great for narrow spaces.
With a big por and enough sunlight, you can choose a variety that
grows more tan 5 feet (1.05 meters) tall.

Watering system to star your own urban garden. but there are a
few things to consider before you dig in.

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 SUNLIGHT: Some plants, such as tomatoes and zucchini, need
lots of sun to produce their fruit, preferable six to eight hours
per day. So before you choose what to plant, make sure you know
how many hours of sunlight are available. Does your home or a
nearby building cast shadows?

TASTE: What do you like to eat? What would you like to try?
Arugula, an herb that’s used in Green salads, is much sweeter if
you harvest the leaves when they’re Young and small. Some
varieties of cherries are tart while others are sweet. The more
space you have to grow different plants, the more you can
experiment.

TIME: Some plants require more care tan others. Fruit crops,
like peppers, need fertilizer and a lot of water. On the other
hand, a container of lettuce is happiest in cooler temperatures,
and needs less watering and Little or no fertilizer.

Herbs and small plants like strawberries are easily grown in

Little containers that fi ton windowsills.

APPEARANCE: For many gardeners, how their garden looks

matters as much as the crops it produces. What kind of space
would you like to look at and enjoy spending time in? A carpet of
greens? A jungle of tall pea plants?

COST: The start-up cost for a big garden can be a Little

overwhelming. You may need to buy gardening tools, soil,
fertilizer, compost, seeds or seedlings, and containers. It really
adds up. But the money your family saves by growing some of

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 your own food instead of buying it can make up for this cost in
as Little as one harvest. In the meantime, you can save money by
borrowing tools and using household items like buckets for
containers, cut costs even more by choosing seeds over
seedlings, which are more expensive. You can also share seeds
and plant cuttings with other growers, some types of fruits and
vegetables will yield seeds that you can save for the next
planting season.

Yield. To yield means to produce or créate something.

PESTS: Cities are full of wildlife, and much of it will be

delighted by the buffet on your balcony. Birds may feast ton
your berries. Raccoons will run off with your harvest. And a
compost heap can attract mice and rats. If you’ve got critters in
your neighborhood- and your can bet you do- you’ll have to guard
your garden against them. One way to do this is by protecting
plants with chicken wire.

Pollution Solutions

Vegetables may be full of vitamins and other health-giving

goodies, but are city-grown veggies safe? What about all those
cars coughing on your lettuce?

Most airborne pollutants will come off your veggies with a good
washing. The more dangerous kinds are lurking underground.
Chemicals from nearby industrial sites can turn the earth toxic.

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One of the most common-and dangerous- contaminants is lead. It
can leach into the soil from Paint and lead plumbing pipes, among
other things.

Gardeners who have reason to believe their soil isn’t safe can
send a soil simple to lab for testing. Private companies, many city
health departments, and some universities also offer this
service.

If the soil is contaminated, it can often be fixed using lime and

organic matter, to be extra safe, concerned gardeners can stick
with fruiting crops, such as peppers. That’s because the edible
part grows above the soil and the part below the soil don’t
absorb a lot of chemicals. Or, they can grow plants in containers
or raised beds with fresh soil instead.

Testing can reveal other things about soil, such as the nutrients
it contains, which will influence the type of plants you can grow.
If it turns out the soil is safe but of por quality, you may be able
to improve it by adding compost.

Influence: if you influence something, you affect it or cause a

certain outcome.

Is it a fruit or a vegetable?

A botanist-someone who studies plants-would say that if it’s

fleshy, has seeds, and comes from a flowering plant, it’s a fruit.
If, however, you eat the root, leaves, or stem, it’s a vegetable.
So, an eggplant is a fruit and so is a walnut, but carrots, celery,
and potatoes are veggies.

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“Vegetables may be full of vitamins and other health-giving
goodies, but are city-grown veggies safe?”

The Community Garden

Another solution for city dwellers with limited space is to share.

Community gardens are places in a city where people can get
together to grow food and other plants. They add Green spaces
to neighborhoods and can make a world of difference in a food
desert, where fresh produce is hard to come by.

No two community gardens are exactly alike. Some are group

efforts, where all the work and the harvest are shared and
maybe even sold at a farmers market.

Others are divided into separate plots so each person or family

can have their own.

Most expect members to tend their gardens regularly and do

some communal work, such as cleaning out the common areas
before Winter.

Every dollar that’s spent on a community garden plot may

yield up to six dollars worth of veggies.

INGREDIENTS OF A GREAT COMMUNITY GARDEN

TOOLS: Many community gardeners share tolos that stay on-

site so people don’t have to lug their own and can Split the cost.
The tools are kept in a locked shed, and members have keys.

WÁTER: a long hose and a rain barrel are Handy when rainfall
alone isn’t enough to give the plants a good soaking.

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 REST SOPOTS: some community gardens include areas where
members can chill out and Little kids can play without trampling
the plants.

SHARED KNOWLEDGE: one of the best reasons to grow food

along side others is all the information and tips shared among
gardening Friends.

Good Eats.

Feeding hungry people is just one good reason to break out your
gardening gloves. You’ll discover another the first time you bite
into a carrot you’ve grown yourself: taste!

Why does home-and locally-grown produce taste so good? The

answer takes us back to the 1950s, when food growers started
focusing on hybrid varieties of fruits and vegetables. A hybrid is
a combination of two or more different types of the same plant.
The plants are cross-pollinated to get particular qualities from
each. For example, one type of tomato may be able to resist
diseases. Another might be big, colorful, or able to stand up to
traveling large distances. Factory farms tend to stick to a few
types of hybrids that are reliable for mass production.

The tomato you grow or buy from a local farmer may be a hybrid
variety where taste was made a priority. Or it could be an
heirloom variety. Like heirlooms, or antiques, an heirloom plant
was grown in an earlier era- usually in the time before hybrids
became popular. Heirlooms may not travel as well or produce as
much fruit as hybrids, but they can be absolutely delicious. And
they all look so different from one another in color, shape, and
size! Growing heirlooms is a nice way to feel connected with food
growers from the past and to ensure these varieties aren’t lost
forever.

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 GOING LOCO: Locavores are people who try to source all or
most of their food locally by growing or picking it, or by buying
from a local farmer. Unfortunately, because smaller farms
produce less food tan Factory farms, their prices are often
higher to cover costs.

Is it worth paying more for local food if you can afford to? The
locavore movement says “yes”. Just like the fruits and
vegetables you grow yourself, foods from small, local farms tend
to taste better and come in more varieties tan the mass-
produced King.

Because they don’t have to travel as for, local farmers can pick
their produce just before they bring it to market. That
preserves its nutritional value, freshness, and flavor.

Get Growing.

Still looking for a reason to get growing?. Chances are, farm

fashion isn’t going to convince you. And mucking around in the
garden isn’t pretty. You’ll get filthy. You’ll sweat. People may
smell you a mile away (and not because you’ve got basil in your
pocket).

The flip side of all that hard labor is that you can get super fit.
Studies show that being active throughout the day can burn way
more calories than just working out in the gym. All that bending,
lifting, and carrying is great strength training. It firms up the
major muscle groups in your chest, back, legs, and shoulders.
Chores like shoveling are cardiovascular exercise in disguise,
working your lungs and heart.

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Gardening is good for the mind and soul, too. The combination of
exercise, time in the sunshine, and fun muchking around in the
dirt can help boost your mood and make you feel full of energy.

And guess what? Research shows you’re more likely to eat fruits
and vegetables you’ve grown yourself. So you’ll also be getting
better nutrition. Those additional vitamins and minerals in your
diet will make your skin glow, your hair shine, and your nails
stronger (if somewhat dirtier).

Easy Does it

You can burn up to 300 calories an hour in the garden, about the
same as with very brisk walking. Follow these tips to have a safe
workout in the vegetable patch:

• Whenever possible, bend at the knees, not your waist, so

you don’t strain your lover back.
• Build up your stamina slowly starting with a short session in
the garden and gradually increasing the time. If you do too
much too son, you could wind up with an injury or become
overly sore.
• Always wear sunscreen to prevent burns and skin damage.
• Stretch, stretch, and stretch some more to help prevent
injuries.
• Drink lots of water.

Food for Thought

Horticulture therapy uses plant-related activities to help people

work thorough a whole bunch of physical and mental health
issues, from recovering from surgery to reducing depression.

Working with plants is soothing and improves motor skills and

concentration. And because it requires problem-solving and goal-
setting, self-confidence can go up as well.

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