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If all goes according to BrightFarms‘ ambitious new plan, Brooklyn, New York will soon be the home to the world’s largest rooftop farm. The hydroponic greenhouse company announced last week that Sunset Park was chosen as the location for the future 100,000 square ft., multi-acre farm rooftop farm, which would be able to grow enough food to meet the fresh produce needs of 5,000 New Yorkers. Up until now, trying to find produce grown in Brooklyn yielded slim pickins’ (though we know a few great spots). The new facility will create 25 new full-time jobs and could change the business models of many local merchants by providing them with a producer that’s just a few miles, or even a few blocks, away.

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For the latest film in the Made by Hand series, the filmmakers pointed their cameras at a NYC-based urban rooftop beekeeper. Megan Paska is a beekeeper, backyard farmer and educator — she gets stuff done. She’s doing a lot of exciting work in the city: consulting for Mario Batali, starting a farm pop-up store and workshop, as well as collaborating on the city’s first bee breeding program.

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Throughout New York City’s five boroughs, there are thousands of acres of city land sitting completely empty. One such lot sits across the street from P.S. 323 in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Once filled with weeds and trash, the 8,000-square-foot lot is currently being transformed into a lush educational student farm by teacher Nora Painten. Painten successfully raised more than $24,000 through Kickstarter to help fund the farm, which will have a chicken coop, bee hive, outdoor classroom, and dozens of vegetables and herbs. Over the next month, Painten is hosting volunteer days to help bring the farm to life.

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More photos: New York Botanic Garden Flickr

With temperatures barely dipping below freezing and a near non-existent snowfall, New York City, along with most of the country, has been experiencing one of the warmest winters on record. Just last week, temperatures neared 60, and throughout the city, early signs of spring — buds on trees, crocuses in full bloom — are popping up. Flowers and warm weather are certainly nicer than piles of snow and slush, but what does this mean for the health of our gardens and farms? Horticulturists at the city’s botanical gardens, as well as farmers in the Hudson Valley, are concerned about harsh frosts and possible snowfall, which can end a plant’s bloom for the season, or worse, throw off its life cycle and pollination.

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As the world’s largest rooftop farm, Brooklyn Grange has been super busy for the last three years providing the local community with delicious fresh vegetables. While their 40,000 square foot space atop a warehouse in Long Island City has been enough to grow more than 40 different types of vegetables each year, Brooklyn Grange is in the process of expanding to a rooftop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The new food-producing plot is larger than their current farm, and it is expected to be up and running by this summer. Hit the jump for a look at the space!

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Not far from the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point, Christopher Toole is doing a little fishing of his own. Leaving behind a life of financial planning, Toole and his girlfriend Anya Pozdeeva have set up shop as urban fish farmers. Dozens of 50-gallon plastic recycling bins make up the couple’s fish farm, where they are raising tilapia and other fish. The fish are part of a small urban farm at a Bronx Community Center, where an herb garden is fertilized by the fish’s waste.

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Non-profit Just Food encompasses all that is farm fresh in New York City. Since 1995, the organization has been connecting sustainable food farms, markets, pantry programs and gardens to one another through an ever-growing network. Their Farm School NYC program is a two year course that provides professional training in urban agriculture, and enables New Yorkers to further inspire local action toward sustainable living.

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A new pop-up greenhouse could make its way to the Cypress Hills neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn. As part of an effort to battle the trend of obesity and diabetes in the low-income neighborhood, the conceptual Greenhouse Project will offer the community healthy foods in an otherwise nutrition wasteland. The hydroponic hub by New York Sun Works is a collaboration with desigNYC and could provide the area with 8,000 pounds of produce every three months.

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Domestic Construction design studio recently signed a lease on the abandoned lot next to their Greenpoint space when they heard the grassy knoll was going to be turned into a concrete parking lot.  Using Kickstarter they hope to hold onto their lease, but still have a ways to go to reach the necessary amount they need to secure the space. If funded, the lot will be transformed into a community garden called design.plot, complete with lush lounging hills, a mini forest and geodesic greenhouses!  With time running out, they are offering the incentive of being able to win the green space for one night for the ultimate outdoor barbeque!

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Trish Andersen and Maureen Walsh of Domestic Construction have combined their creative forces to bring a new community design space to Greenpoint Brooklyn. This recent artistic endeavor “design.plot” aims to blur the boundaries between sustainability, urban design, and food production. The designers plan to deck out the lot with geodesic greenhouses, a viewing hill, a birdhouse village, vertical gardens, vegetable beds, and of course, a “mini-forest world.” With so many dead spaces dotting the Brooklyn landscape, this little ray of green design has the potential to set a precedent for sustainable development and community within the area. If you’re as passionate about positive grassroots change as we are, jump ahead and learn how you can help Domestic Construction raise some funds to make their project a reality – they’re even giving away some sweet prizes on their Kickstarter page!

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New Yorkers have been growing urban farms for quite some time, but it finally looks like the city government is officially supporting urban farming efforts. City Council passed two bills last week in an effort to support consumption and production of local foods and farming. The first bill supports and encourages the construction of  rooftop greenhouses, while the second aims to free up land for urban farm use.

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Our favorite turkey-shaped farm is bursting with fresh produce! This week, the student gardeners at the Battery Park Urban Farm reaped the “vegetables of their labor” after two months of tending to lettuce, radishes, peas, kale, collard greens, and other delicious herbs and veggies. The one acre farm is sponsored by the Battery Park Conservancy, and over the last few months, it has brought together hundreds of downtown students and residents who planted and cared for the crops.

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