major league crops

The Kansas City Royals may have won this year’s World Series, but the Boston Red Sox were the real 2015 winners.  While this American League team’s game may not have been up to snuff, it’s historic stadium…

rooftop rice paddy

Two hectares of rooftop in South Central China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region stand a cut above the rest.  The Liuzhou Chenfeng Brewing Factory, founded in 1954, supports one of China’s only rooftop rice paddies.  Tan Zhaohan,…

learning from Cuba

Let’s face it, we’re all a little obsessed with our own garden.  I spend time with my rooftop vegetables like any good gardener and talk to friends about their latest gardening fads and experiments.  But what if…

EAT UP on You Bet Your Garden… again!

As a self-proclaimed Class 1 NPR geek I live for public radio.  You can imagine my excitement when gardening celebrity Mike McGrath interviewed me on his nationally syndicated radio show, You Bet Your Garden, this past September….

gaga for greenhouses!

Confession: I’ve always been a soil lovin’ gal.  I never gave much mind to high-yield greenhouses nor year-round production, but recently, I’ve turned positively gaga for greenhouses!  I don’t know what’s come over me.  Maybe it’s the…

skyline vegetable convention

Overlooking the Windy City’s articulated skyline a handful of urban farmers has climbed up to the convention center‘s roof to cultivate 1/4 acre of prime real estate. McCormick Place West, as its known by locals, was…

the inside scoop with Lauren Rathmell

Lufa Farms Greenhouse Director and Founding Member Lauren Rathmell knows how to grow an abundance of food in a limited space.  The farm’s 31,000 square foot flagship location in Montreal provides roof-fresh produce to 2,000 urbanites every…

the inside scoop with Dave Snyder

Let’s hear what the experts have learned up on the roof.  This post is the first in a series where I pose the same two questions to various leaders in the rooftop agriculture movement.  First we…

skyline cornucopia

Executive Chef Dana Hauser knows fresh food, and is committed to growing it as close to her kitchen as possible.  When Hauser gained her prestigious culinary appointment at The Fairmont Waterfront hotel in 2012, she decided to convert…

goat à la roof

While some skyline growers tinker with beets and collard greens, others push the limits of hoofed farm hands.  Rooftop goats are all the rage in Sister Bay, WI, where a small herd has grazed the grassy…