Rooftop Farm

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No work on this as of yet, but we are thinking of locating it on the front part of the roof of the new building.

GG Rooftop Crops--Initial design ideas July 2012

Soap bubble greenhouse -Design and engineering are well-documented, seem reliable -Need to hear grower's perspective -Shades the interior in summer -Insulates interior in winter -Still need a heat source? (Depends on what is grown) -Doesn't sound complicated or expensive -Need to know what is to be grown/produced first, in order to determine size, heating/cooling needs -How tall is it and how might that impact both historic appearance and crop production needs? -How much weight does the soap reservoir entail? -How much space does the reservoir require, and can that be used for anything else? (Plantings hanging above it, for instance) -How is a soap bubble greenhouse ventilated?

Water -Need to harvest more rainwater from roof -Could catch in livestock troughs arranged along parapet wall -Set growing "benches" on top of the troughs to retain production space and make it convenient for watering -How to address watering in the winter? -Can we keep the water clean enough for food crop production?

Growing media -This is really a large container garden, not a farm -Soil-less mixes are better for this situation because they are not as heavy and offer a better root environment in containers -Soil-less mixes are very light (as little as 35 lbs. per cubic foot or even less after fully wetting and draining of free water) -Should include at least 30% compost for microbial activity, disease resistance, and nutrient content -Can mix your own or purchase pre-mixed, I have done both

Food Crops -No matter how intensive you grow, it's still a very small production area -Choose crops that are very high value for the amount of production space and time they require -Edible flowers, specialty greens and herbs could be grown in this small of a space -Could be sold to MCBW (Dan likes this idea)

Ornamental Crops -Cut flowers may be possible, further research needed -Ground covers are small plants with high yields and high values, and we have some "free" starter stock in alley -We also have a "free" source of native plant seeds and divisions -Transplants could be grown from these and sold -I have been unable to find anyone in the city, for that matter in metro Detroit, focused on producing urban native plants, ground covers, or cut flowers -We (the Green Garage) are quickly gaining the knowledge and experience to fill this need -Ornamental crops are some of the most profitable, but have been largely ignored by the urban ag movement -This could be because ornamental crops do not address food justice issues (nor would edible flowers and herbs, probably) -Ornamental crops can sometimes be grown on land that is not suitable for food crops -Could these sorts of crops be grown at El Moore?

Economic -You have to pick one customer and go for it -Make one idea profitable -Use what is learned to start or expand other profitable ventures -Profit goals and crops should determine how growing operations are designed -SPIN farming may provide some insights but is structured around growing and selling a diversity of vegetable crops in the ground, without greenhouses

Social -Growing up on a roof offers control, sanitation and security advantages -Growing up on a roof also physically separates the operation from the building and street-level communities -Tours offer one way of re-connecting the growing operation with the community -Involve building occupants in the growing operations? Are they even interested? Do they have time? -Attract others to the GG because we are growing things here -It may be difficult to incorporate or address food justice issues

Environmental -Environmental goals are in our DNA, these may be the easiest for us to incorporate