Congratulations to our friends at Recover Green Roofs for winning the Health and Wellness Award for their work on the rooftop farm at Boston Medical Center from Built Environment Plus during the 2021 Green Building Showcase! Recover Green Roofs designed and installed the 7,000 square foot rooftop farm using aerated media modules that contain the planting soil, irrigation system and a roof protection membrane. The project was installed in 2017.
Operated by Higher Ground Farm, the farm grows more than 5,000 pounds of food annually from more than two dozen crops. The produce is used at the hospital’s kitchen and food pantry, supporting patients, staff, and the community at large. According to David Maffeo, the Senior Director of Support Services at BMC, the project also serves as a model for other organizations:
“I believe this can be duplicated in any size hospital, you just need to identify the space (and) understand the impact to the community at large is much greater than any potential cost savings.”
In 2021, Naturcycle provided 10 yards of our urban agriculture soil blend to the farm to sustain their continued success (picture below). Our growing media has been used at several rooftop farms, including at the Javits Center and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York City.
We look forward to supplying soil media to many more rooftop farms in the years to come as we continue to support urban agriculture!
