The trend toward urban agriculture seems to be accelerating in the Boston area, as it now appears that a commercial rooftop farm is coming to the city.
According to The Boston Herald, Courtney Bissonnette (Toro, Coppa) and John Stoddard are currently looking to set up the city's first farm of its type in Boston, with rooftops being looked at in the Newmarket Square section of the city and in Charlestown. The article mentions that Higher Ground Farm would cover at least one acre of space (with roofs between 40,000 and 80,000 square feet being looked at), and that the farm would be used to grow herbs and vegetables, with the raising of bees, rabbits, and laying hens being possible options as well.
The plan would be for Higher Ground Farm to ultimately sell products from the rooftop to area stores and through subsidized community-supported agricultural programs.
[November 14 update: A post on their Facebook page indicates that Higher Ground Farm will be opening at the Boston Design Center in the Seaport District of South Boston. The rooftop farm, which should be open by next spring, will be 55,000 square feet, making it the second largest roof farm in the world.]
[February 5, 2013 update: Higher Ground has set up a Kickstarter campaign to acquire funding for their "green" roof, with a $20,000 goal set (the deadline is March 3). More information--including a rendering of their rooftop farm--can be found at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/highergroundfarm/lets-raise-the-roof-farm. Thanks to Susan Holaday of Foodservice East for bringing this to our attention.]
[February 27 update: A check on their Kickstarter page indicates that Higher Ground has reached their funding goal of $20,000.]
[May 2 update: The Boston Globe states that the Higher Ground rooftop farm is hoping to be up and running around the middle of this month.]
For more information on this story, please go to the Boston Herald link below.
Planting seeds for rooftop farming in Hub
Thanks to Eater Boston for bringing this to our attention.
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