amber waves of grain

In Chicago, green roof designer and Omni Ecosystems CEO, Molly Meyer, selected an unlikely plant species for atop Studio Gang’s office: hardy winter wheat. A wildflower meadow mix was originally slated for the 5,000-square-foot roof, but…

more rooftop farming, s’il vous plaît

Through innovative policy and dedication, Paris has kickstarted a rooftop revolution that’s improving Parisians’ work experience, one office building at a time. In January 2016, city legislators and 33 companies pledged to plant 100 hectares (247 acres) of…

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,…

hot tamale

Since The New Yorker’s first publication in 1925 the magazine’s cover has served as a visual sounding board for New York culture.  This month’s issue will make any rooftop agricultural enthusiast beam with pride as artist…

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 Lara Mrosovsky

A 6,500 square foot rooftop garden atop Toronto’s Access Alliance provides the community health center’s visitors with opportunities for community development, environmental education, and social health activities.  Lara Mrosovsky, the organization’s Green Access Community Animator, engages primarily…

the root of it

This year’s Thanksgiving dinner was something to write home about.  A menagerie of vegetable dishes flanked my mother’s heavenly, rosemary-infused turkey: roasted bliss potatoes, braised fennel, sautéed Brussels sprouts, butternut squash soufflé.  But the one side that got me…

that is one hot potato.

To the newbie, designing and building a rooftop farm may seem like a cakewalk.  What’s the big deal?  You just plop a regular farm on top of a building and it’s business as usual, right?  Wrong….

a financial giant and a pitchfork

While young metro-agrarian trend setters around the country dive elbow deep into compost, one financial giant wants to get its hands dirty too.  This multinational investment banking and securities firm (that prefers to remain anonymous), is constructing…

standing room only

The packed audience sat in anticipation as I introduced three panelists at the international CitiesAlive  conference on Friday. The conference, held this year in Philadelphia,  is organized annually by the Toronto-based Green Roof Professional (GRP) accreditation organization Green Roofs for…