H Street Farms’ rooftop garden (Niraj Ray)
On average, our food travels 1,500 miles from source to plate, making food production and transport one of the major contributors to greenhouse-gas emissions. By eating locally, we can reduce our carbon footprint and fuel local businesses and communities at the same time. But with space at a premium in urban areas, farmers and food producers are charged with finding creative solutions in close quarters.
Niraj Ray is the founder and CEO of Cultivate the City, a District-based organization of urban farmers who work with community gardens, local schools, restaurants, families, and businesses dedicated to locally produced food by planting in schoolyards, empty lots, and even rooftops, often growing crops vertically.
To get a closer look at creative solutions to growing your own food or beautifying your small space, Niraj leads a tour of H Street Farms in Northeast, an impressively innovative rooftop garden center. After a view of the facility, learn how to plan and plant decorative and edible gardens, and enjoy smoothies made from H Street Farms’ freshly grown produce in the roof garden. Participants bring home herbs they’ve planted in a root pouch—a sustainable growing container made from recycled materials.
Participants provide their own transportation to H Street Farms. Ticket price includes project supplies.
