A couple of nights ago we planted about 5,000 seeds (tomatoes, eggplant, onions, herbs, etc) so that we’ve got an army of seedlings ready to transplant on the roof once the last frost is passed in mid-April. Thanks to the dozen or so volunteers who came out to help get the little guys in soil, and to Roberta’s for letting us use the army tent.
Go Seeds!
Posted in Farm Progress | 1 Comment »
That’s right, give us your shirt.
We’re having a T-shirt drive to raise money for our farm. Send us your old, light-colored, unprinted tees, and we will make them look awesome and then sell them.
Drop off your T-Shirts at Roberta’s or mail them to:
Roberta’s
ATTN: T-SHIRT DRIVE
261 Moore St
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Or drop them off in person with Chris, Gwen, Ben, Brandon or Anastasia.
Posted in Events | Tagged brooklyn grange, drive, t shirt drive, t-shirt, tshirt | Leave a Comment »
Thanks to everyone who came out for our big Meatball Slapdown fundraiser last night. We raised a bunch of money for the farm, had a great time, and most importantly ate a whole lot of meatballs.
Congratulations to Frankie’s Spuntino, whose meatballs were elected best in the house by the judges and guests alike.
Special thanks to all of our contestants, including Frankie’s Spuntino, Bamonte’s, Roebling Tea Room, The Meat Hook and Roberta’s. All of the meatballs were amazingly delicious, and we can’t wait to bring out everybody again next year for the Second Annual Slapdown!
Finally, we need to extend a big thank you to our judges, Gina DePalma, Valentina Angeloni, Josh Ozersky, Eric Sherman, Jessica Amason and Patrick LaFrieda, our generous sponsors at Dairyland, Bacardi, and Union Beer, all of our volunteers, and especially our gracious hosts at Brooklyn Kitchen.
Posted in Events | Tagged bamontes, brooklyn kitchen, frankies, meat hook, meatball slapdown, robertas, roebling tea room | Leave a Comment »
First Annual Brooklyn Grange Meatball Slapdown
Friday, January 15th at 8pm
The Meat Hook – 100 Frost Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (map)
Join hosts Brooklyn Grange and The Meat Hook for the First Annual Meatball Slapdown! We’re bringing out five of New York’s top Restaurants to compete in the ultimate culinary contest. The contenders include Chefs from Frankie’s Spuntino, Bamonte’s, Roebling Tea Room, The Meat Hook and Roberta’s.
Sample New York’s best Meatballs (served with pasta), vote for your favorite, and take advantage of the open bar! Plus it’s all to support our farm, so you can get stuffed and tipsy without the guilt.
SOLD OUT!!
Posted in Events | Tagged brooklyn grange, meatball, meatball contest, meatball slapdown, spaghetti and meatballs | 3 Comments »
The future is here! It’s 2010, and even though we’re all a little disappointed that we didn’t get a hover-board for Christmas (especially Brandon), this year promises to yield good progress and great food. It might seem counter-intuitive to use terms like “progress” and “future” considering we at Brooklyn Grange are determined to bring back a century-dead agricultural economy, but we like to think of ourselves as a forward-thinking bunch. Plus, we plan to employ jet packs for getting up and down from the roof, and robots will supply 92% of our farm labor*.
And now that we’ve shaken off the holidays like snow from our boots, it’s time to get down to business put all our ducks in a row before planting time rolls around in March. On his way back from Wisconsin the other day Ben wrote up a to-do list for us. It’s a wee bit long, but luckily there are six of us and we’re up for the challenge. Here’s where we’re at: Continue Reading »
Posted in Farm Progress | Tagged brooklyn, brooklyn grange, city, green roof, new york, roof farm, roof garden, rooftop farm, urban, urban agriculture, urban farming | 2 Comments »
Today is the winter solstice, and a snowy one at that. Brooklyn is blanketed in about 10″ of powder, the kind that finds apartment dwellers staying inside and huddling around whistling radiators. You might think this weather would bum out an urban farmer, remind her of how long it’ll be before the last frost and first seedlings of Spring, but in fact the snow is a farmer’s ally. In rural areas, snowfall is crucial to healthy water levels in rivers, lakes and acquifers, and without sufficient precipitation agrarians would be faced with their worst enemy: drought. Snow plays another crucial role in our world of urban agriculture: snow makes rooftop farming possible. The propensity for big blizzards like the one we experienced this weekend are exactly why structures in the Northeast were built to withstand loads as heavy as a couple tons of wet soil and row upon row of ripe, juicy heirloom tomatoes.
So today, on this white winter solstice, we’re optimistic as we look ahead. We still have a couple punishing months before winter abates, but the days only get longer from here.
Posted in Inspiration | 1 Comment »
Lots going on in the journey for the new farm! Thanks again to everyone who came out for the party at bobo. The energy came out in full force, which made for an excellent night.
Never a dull moment, this morning Shamus stopped by with about 15 empty bushels from his pickling – so our crate collection has begun! Let’s hope City Winery gets their big shipment of grapes again this Spring – those famous white bins are so rad.
Get ready, Summer!
And the soil hunt continues. We know what worked at Eagle St. It’s a good light compost, however it’s not cheap and has to be shipped a couple of states. I met Paul Mankiewicz last night, the very intelligent and knowledgeable inventor of the light-weight rooftop Gaia Soil. I can’t wait to get my hands on it, blend with some Hudson Valley compost, and start some testing with Brandon. I still can’t help but wonder – can we create our own compost blend?
Next stop: Crane! Would anyone want to take a guess at how many pizzas = a free crane to lift a million pounds of soil onto a roof? Just kidding, sort of.
Coming soon… plant selection updates. What does everyone want to see us grow? What do you want to eat?
And… we have some cool t-shirt plans in the works! Save your old shirts (old, stained, holed – no worry!). We’ll have a plan for them very soon.
Talk to y’all soon.
Ben
Posted in Farm Progress | Tagged ben flanner, brooklyn, brooklyn grange, city, green roof, roof farm, roof garden, rooftop farm, urban, urban agriculture | Leave a Comment »
Top Left:Dan,Aaron,Phoebe. Top Right:Free Advice. Bottom Right: Sarah and Katie
Thanks to bobo, our sponsors, and everyone who came out Monday night in support of the farm!
Posted in Events | Leave a Comment »
A holiday cocktail party and fundraiser for our one-acre rooftop farm!
Join Brooklyn Grange and friends—chefs, restaurateurs, food enthusiasts, and farmers—for cocktails, snacks, and bluegrass at bobo.
Monday, December 14
7-10PM
180 West 10th St. at 7th Ave (map)
Tickets: $50
Tickets are limited, so please order now at our Events Page.
Posted in Events | Tagged bobo, brooklyn, brooklyn grange, city, cocktail, event, green roof, holiday, new york, party, roof farm, roof garden, rooftop farm, urban agriculture, urban farming | Leave a Comment »
This Thanksgiving I went upstate for a traditional family feast at my uncle’s farm. He lives outside of Cooperstown on several dozen acres complete with hay fields and pasture and woods and a creek. I always assumed that some day I would move out to the country and buy a farm like his to satisfy my unrelenting craving to be a farmer, but these days that bucolic destiny is fading fast as I come to terms with the reality that there’s just too much farming to be done here in Brooklyn.
There aren’t too many things that my uncle grows on his land that I can’t grow on a roof. Except perhaps sheep. A small herd of heritage breed grazers is likely too much for our roof farm to handle – although we could certainly set up a confined feeding system in somebody’s basement, it would be better to leave the sheep upstate in their vastly more humane pasture.
But if sheep are out of the question, that doesn’t mean we can’t raise something smaller. Brandon and Ben have been rearing bees, and we’re currently drafting plans for a fifty-bird chicken coop at Roberta’s, which will provide the restaurant with all its eggs starting next spring. Why not put some chickens on the roof, too? Or maybe some rabbits? Continue Reading »
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged bees, brooklyn, brooklyn grange, chicken, city, green roof, livestock, new york, roof farm, roof garden, rooftop farm, sheep, urban, urban agriculture, urban farm, urban farming | Leave a Comment »
