Brooklyn Grange

The Grange also operates New York City's largest apiary, with over 40 naturally managed beehives, which yields approximately 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of honey annually. The Grange was co-founded in April 2010 by Ben Flanner (President), Anastasia Plakias (Vice President), and Gwen Schantz (COO). The group took out loans, contributed their own savings, and found initial investors to fund the project. The Brooklyn Navy Yard farm was financed in part by a US$592,730 grant from the NYCDEP's Green Infrastructure Grant Program. Brooklyn Grange provides urban farming, green roof consulting, and installation services to clients worldwide as well as partner with numerous non-profit organizations throughout New York.

Background

All three farms consist of green roof systems laid down before the soil. For the first farm off of Northern Blvd, the construction took six days of craning 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of soil sacks, seven building stories up to the roof. Brooklyn Grange laid down a series of drainage plates distributed by Conservation Technologies. The system is as follows: a layer of root-barrier, which prevents the plants’ roots from penetrating the surface of the roof; a thick layer of felt; drainage mats with small cups to hold excess water from heavy rainstorms (the soil and plants wick this stored water up in dry conditions to keep water use down), and finally, a thin layer of felt to prevent the drainage mats from filling up with soil.

At the Brooklyn Navy Yard location the farm has a green roof system which consists of a lightweight drainage aggregate, with a layer of similar felt above to filter the solid particles and keep the system together.

The soil is sourced from Skyland, Pennsylvania, a green roof media supplier. Almost a million pounds of the blend made up of Rooflite, an engineered soil mix that contains no actual soil, has been used. The stones from the Rooflite material make the soil lighter in weight and also slowly break down to add trace minerals needed for plant nutrition. The beds are about 8 feet (2.4 m) to 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and include shallow walkways.