Ben Flanner & Annie Novak: Rooftop Farmers

posted by brooklynfoodconference, on May 27, 2009

PASSING THE HOE WORKSHOP

Ben Flanner and Annie Novak have recently started farming on the roof of a 6,000-square-foot warehouse in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They spoke for a few minutes from the audience at the Passing the Hoe Workshop.

: Ben Flanner and young tomato plants on the warehouse rooftop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Photo by Annie Novak.

Ben Flanner: My name is Ben Flanner, and this is my partner Annie Novak. We put soil on a 6,000-square-foot warehouse roof in Greenpoint last Friday, and we’ve been cranking ever since. None too early, but it’s going pretty well so far. We’re basically trying to start a little urban farm. We didn’t have an architect. It’s not an ornamental garden, not a typical green roof you see in magazines. It’s just full-fledged productive vegetable cropping.

We’re really looking forward to summer. We’ve been talking to restaurants in Greenpoint and Williamsburg that are interested in purchasing our vegetables. It’s a bit of a trial—the green roof developer we’re working with has tested some of the crops on his roofs so we know certain ones will grow there. It’s going to get hot and there’s wind. But we’re testing a lot of different crops. If we can make this work, there’s plenty more roofs. We’d like to set an example across the city.

Annie Novak: It’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, so it’s a super urban environment, but we’re farming it. I’m sure it will be beautiful, but as Ben said it’s not ornamental—we’re trying to make it as functional and productive as possible.

We’re trying to organize a way for the Greenpoint neighborhood to contribute compost. So far we’ve been drawing compost from local restaurants and cafes, and bringing it up to the roof. We also just installed an apiary, which is part of the bee movement that’s sneaking into legal status. We’re proud to be ninja-ing (is that the word?). We’re proud to be subversive in that.

Ben Flanner: And there’s talk of some chickens, although that could be down the road because we have our hands full.

Annie Novak: We do have our hands full, but there’s been a call for chickens by one of our co-farmer dudes, but if he wants to do it, that’s [laughs].

Our plants are much more important to us right now than a Web site, so I can’t give you an address that’s worth looking at. But we need your hands, your help and your love, and we’d also love to tell you where you can go eat our stuff in a couple of months. You can reach us through rooftopfarmer [at] gmail.com.

We’d love to hear from you. I’m Annie and this is Ben. Our project is jamming. Really, it’s a good-looking place and hopefully you can come up and join us. We’d love to see you.

Q: Who is your green roof developer?

Ben Flanner: It was Chris and Lisa Goode of Goode Green NYC.

Annie Novak: Goode Green NYC is the really wonderful green roofing organization that Chris Goode and his wife co partner in. Ben, with the most daring I ever heard, emailed Chris after reading an article about him. Ben was like, “Yo, I’m interested. Can I get in?” [See NY Times story on the Goodes' own rooftop garden]

Ben Flanner: I’m at your disposal.

Annie Novak: Yeah, Chris immediately jumped on it and just happened to have this amazing rooftop space available. They got hold of me and since then we’ve been farming and planting. He’s awesome.

Workshop Description: Passing the Hoe. Our new farmers share stories and experiences. People all over the country are increasingly interested in agriculture, in particular young people. This workshop offers new and aspiring farmers the opportunity to learn, discuss and network with experience and established farmers.

Other Workshop Speakers: Michael Grady Robertson (Queens County Farm Museum), Severine von Tscharner Fleming (Greenhorns Project), Sara Franklin (World Hunger Year), KayCee Wimbish (Awesome Farm). Moderator: John Agostinho (Queens College)

Be One of Ben and Annie’s Farmhands: contact them at rooftopfarmer[at]gmail.com to get on their mailing list. They’ll tell you about open work days when you can come help plant or chase pigeons away from the delicious baby mesclun. The warehouse is on Eagle Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Related Links

Honey, It’s Time to Mow the Roof. New York Times story on Chris and Lisa Goode’s rooftop garden in Little Italy. “An urban farm on top of a Little Italy building, complete with chickens and vegetables, fruit trees and migrating butterflies.” more
Fairmont Hotel in Washington DC adds 105,000 honey bees to its roof. Mother Nature Network. more
Annex Organics’ Rooftop Farming Business. Farming on a warehouse roof in Toronto. Notes from Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture. more
Dragonfly Skyscraper Farm. An idea (and drawings) for a vertical metabolic farm in the shape of a dragonfly’s wing, in New York City, by Vincent Callebaut Architectures. more
City Farmer blog. more
Greenhorns. Severine von Tscharner’s great network and resources for young farmers. more
Window Farms. Start your own farm in your window. more

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