The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Serves its First Harvest in the Metro Baptist Church Pantry

Built atop a church roof, the <a href="http://www.hellskitchenfarmproject.org/" target="_blank">Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project</a> has just celebrated their first home grown harvest. Situated on the edge of the western part of Hell’s Kitchen, <a href="http://www.mbcnyc.org" target="_blank">Metro Baptist Church</a> is located near the Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority, in a part of New York that's about as far removed from the farming life as possible. The kiddie-pool <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/photos-inhabitat-tours-riverparks-urban-farm-on-a-stalled-manhattan-construction-site/" target="_blank">rooftop farm</a> has grown fresh fruits and vegetables that supplies the busy food pantry within the church.

Set on West 40th Street, the rooftop garden was conceived this past June, in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.clintonhousing.org/" target="_blank">Clinton Housing Development Company</a> and the Metropolitan Church of New York.

The church, built in the late 1800s, features a 1,000 square foot rooftop space that was previously unused. The Hell’s Kitchen Project moved in 50 round plastic kiddie pools to the church’s roof, filled them with soil and let the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/brooklyn-grange-worlds-largest-rooftop-farm-kicks-off-second-growing-season/" target="_blank">urban farming flourish</a>!

Since the summer, the gardeners grew leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes and peppers, all of which were harvested by volunteers.

The fresh veggies were then passed onto the food pantry, letting the neighborhood’s needy enjoy <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/get-sustainable-eats-for-your-holiday-dinner-with-local-roots-pop-up-thanksgiving/" target="_blank">extremely local produce</a>!

Being in the thicket of Midtown, the farm faces issues that <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/manhattan-borough-president-wants-to-turn-stalled-construction-sites-into-sustainable-public-spaces/" target="_blank">rooftop farms</a> in Brooklyn do not. Increased pollution from the Lincoln Tunnel was a slight issue, but the real issue came with the hungry neighborhood pigeons. After many trials and tribulations, removable cages were placed over the kiddie pools to keep the pesky pigeons out.

The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project will be holding a fund raiser on November 10th in conjunction with the United Way, to raise funds to remain self sustainable. More information on the <a href="http://urbanharvest.charityhappenings.org/" target="_blank">Urban Harvest Benefit can be found here</a>.