Brooklyn Atlas

Earlier I shared a post on Battery Urban Farm in lower Manhattan, where I went as part of last week’s Urban Agriculture Conference. One of our other visits that day was Riverpark Farm, overlooking the East River.

Granted, the East River and the FDR aren’t the first locations that come to mind when you think of farms and fresh produce. But Riverpark, opened in 2011 as part of Tom Colicchio’s Craft Restaurants group, somehow makes it all work.

What’s most impressive about this farm is that it’s completely modular, with vegetables and herbs growing inside 7,000 milk crates, all of which can be easily transported. For two years farm was located on a stalled construction site at the Alexandria Center, before finally being able to settle into their new home at the riverfront plaza earlier this month.

The farm grows a lot of produce  that the restaurant can’t source regularly in large quantities from the farmer’s markets, such as alpine strawberries, lemon verbena, and pea shoots. The restaurant then supplements the produce grown onsite with other food from the Greenmarket and local farms, to serve about 200 diners a night on average. This coming summer, there are plans to have family-style suppers right on the terrace overlooking both the river and the modular farm. (more…)

Although this blog is dedicated to mapping Brooklyn, occasionally I’ll venture across the bridges to report on noteworthy places on the isle of Manhattan (and further afield.) Last week, I attended the Urban Agriculture Conference, which focuses on sustainable farming in urban environments. As part of the 2 1/2-day event, conference goers got a chance to visit some of the farms that are sprouting up around Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. The Brooklyn tour was full by the time I registered, but as it turned out, the Manhattan trip was wildly interesting from beginning to end, starting with at 10am visit to Battery Urban Farm.

Until last week, I had no idea there was a 1-acre farm that sat on the edge of the financial district. It’s mainly an educational farm, with site-sponsored programs and plots of land for schools to teach kids about where their food comes from. In addition to the neat rows of lettuces, kale, and radishes for food production, there’s also a fun teepee area where kids can play with seeds and plant vegetables of their own choosing. In the spring and fall, the food goes toward school lunches, while in the summer the crops are sold through a farm share.

Fun fact: the farm is shaped like a turkey, as a tribute to Zelda (named after Zelda Fitzgerald), the wild turkey that has been roaming Battery Park for the last decade.

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