Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm

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1. Creator comfortndrew (deleted) on August 27, 2010
  
  This comment has been removed by Kickstarter.
2. Creator Emile B Klein on August 18, 2010
  
  AWESOME. You guys are an inspiration!!! I look forward to munching on your produce on my return.
3. Creator Kim Lugsdin on July 9, 2010
  
  I Love your project!!! All the very best to you all on it!!! 100 Mile Diet concept at it's finest!!!
4. Creator Jan Johnsen on June 4, 2010
  
  Go Go Go - and please contact me re any horticultural inut - mucho experience in rooftop gardening ...1981 award from progressiv architecture for rootop garden on 519 east 11th street.
  I teach at Columbia as well....www.serenityinthegarden.blogspot.com
5. Creator Kashi Mai Somers on May 30, 2010
  
  CONGRATULATIONS!!
6. Creator Eric Booth on May 26, 2010
  
  Congratulations, Ben et al.! What an outstanding adventure you guys are embarking on.
  
  In reply to David White, there is actually quite a bit of research on green roofs that has showed building energy savings. Check out the work being done right in New York City by Columbia: http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/2006/2006_Rosenzweig_etal.pdf
  There has also been a lot of research coming out of Greece showing substantial energy savings.
  
  I'd be interested in knowing what paper you were referring to.
7. Creator Sheryl Orloff on May 26, 2010
  
  You did it. Congratulations.
8. Creator David White on May 25, 2010
  
  nice! super! full speed ahead. rock on.
  
  but i am pretty sure that claims about heating energy savings on green roofs are false. i've read one paper that proved this out and heard of many others. soil is about as conductive as concrete, not a great insulation. however, i wonder if the building occupants would see value in you adding insulation. you may be able to integrate a couple of inches of foam (which you can get cheap or free by salvaging), and turn around and charge the occupants below for the energy savings. it may also integrate well with the green roof system you use. feel free to contact me for further interest: my name is David and my company is Right Environments and there's a dot com at the end.
9. Creator Linda Hoy on May 25, 2010
  
  Congratulation!!!
10. Creator Bridget Kaminetsky on May 25, 2010
  
  Congratulations!
11. Creator David Chard on May 24, 2010
  
  Keep up the good work!
12. Creator Eliza Chard on May 24, 2010
  
  The idea of homeless rainbow kale is too sad to bear! Good luck Brooklyn Grange!
13. Creator Tim Pinel on May 17, 2010
  
  Loving this idea and want to learn more about it and find out how to contribute (apart from the obvious ... i.e. becoming a backer). Best of luck guys - we're really excited to learn that this is happening, and will check back soon with our pledge!
14. Creator Jan Johnsen on May 17, 2010
  
  Dear Grange,
  I won a Progressive Architecture award in 1981 for rooftop greenhouse on 11 street in NYC. Then went to Washington, D.C. and ran one for Institute for Local Self Reliance! Lots of experience and hail from Brooklyn to boot! ( PS 8 and Pershing Junior High School)...
  Please contact me re rooftop gardening info (important stuff) and I would like to contribute! www.serenityinthegarden.blogspot.com is my blog.
15. Creator Leslie on May 14, 2010
  
  It would be great if you could answer all these questions in this forum, rather than via email. Thanks.
16. Creator David Korman on May 14, 2010
  
  This is the future of farming, the future of healthy living and healthy eating in America. This is the future incarnation of your neighborhood mom 'n pop business. This is how we can reclaim our bodies and minds from corporate interests. It is absolutely necessary that this enterprise survives because we need to know what we are eating and who is growing it. From the bottom of my heart, please help Brooklyn Grange claim farming for the the city, for the people, for you. Please support this cause.
  
  Thank you Brooklyn Grange. Keep the love alive.
17. Creator Peter & Jude Kallok on May 13, 2010
  
  Yea!!! Half way and half way...
  Come on people -- home stretch time
18. Creator Koworld on May 10, 2010
  
  Unbelievably cool. Best of luck with the project.
19. Creator bob banner on May 9, 2010
  
  wow, love your project! Im an edible publisher in CA [edible San Luis Obispo (CA)] and just sent a note to ALL the 65+ edible publishers in the country to inform them not only about kickstarter.com but about you folks. Im so stoked that the average is $50+ that people have given you. so what happens if you dont get all the money? by May 28th? they get their money back? why does it say "at least $20,000" when the goal states $20,000. Am I missing something?
  
  woohooo good luck!!!!
20. Creator Dean and Kylie Rankine on May 6, 2010
  
  Great idea, Guys! We're a bit far to visit (as we're in Australia). But we wish you all the best.
21. Creator Brooklyn Grange on May 5, 2010
  
  Hey Josh - all good questions.
  
  Want to email us at brooklyngrangefarm@gmail.com? The answer is yes to pretty much all of your questions. We have a business plan that we can share with you, we have prior experience, and we know what our overhead (rent + seeds and supplies) will be. We'll grow almost everything vegetable-wise, and always experimenting! In terms of the finances, it will be tight. We're going to grow smart and take care of the soil, which will set us up for about a 6-yr payback on one roof.
  
  Let's speak further - be in touch!
22. Creator ImproveNYC on May 4, 2010
  
  Lana- I was referring to how the plants (future food) would absorb the pollutants in the air, transferring to humans in the food chain. Similar to how we should not eat fish from the east river. NYC air water is not clean or "organic".
23. Creator Lana Zellner on May 4, 2010
  
  I really love this project! I can't donate because I am out of a job and have sunk all my money into my own green projects lately. I would love to offer you my help if you ever need it. I have a strong architecture background and at my last job where I worked for 3 years I specialized in the building envelope.... so i know a LOT about roofs (including green roofs) so I am pretty handy for researching things of that matter. Just thought I would throw it out there :)
  
  I would imagine having rooftop farms would help the "polluted and soot filled air" and for the most part I really don't think that would be a problem, especially as things get greener and greener.
  
  Keep thinking about the future!
  Let me know if you need any help with your roof design.
  Lana
24. Creator ImproveNYC on May 4, 2010
  
  A living wage for four urban farmers in NYC is more than any profit you will ever earn from an un-sustainable roof farming project. There are MANY reasons farming is done on FARMS and not in cities. Cost of land and labor, for one. Polluted and soot filled air is another. Yes transportation to market is cheaper, but that is really the only good reason I could think of.
25. Creator Josh Nasalstine on May 3, 2010
  
  I am very interested in supporting rooftop farming, guys great to you getting involved. But before I pledge, I want to make sure the project is viable and will be effectively run...so its there for the long term. First, what is your business plan? Any idea of your overhead or what you will grow and how much you will charge? Also, you *will* donate a portion of this food to shelters or other community agencies that feed the poor, right? Lastly, what business experience do you have ?
  
  Thanks
26. Creator Brooklyn Grange on May 3, 2010
  
  Hi Christopher, thanks for your question. We are a for-profit business. We believe in adding fiscal sustainability to the sustainability rubric so that urban rooftop farms can expand across the city, the Northeast and even the world! Any profits we make will go towards paying our farmer a living wage and whatever remains will be reinvested in the business so we can keep growing.
27. Creator Christopher Papazoglou on April 30, 2010
  
  Do you guys make a profit? If so, what is done with it? Is it donated, do you guys keep it? Thanks.
28. Creator Brooklyn Grange on April 28, 2010
  
  Thanks Sheryl! Brian is coming to NYC this weekend. We will thank him for you in person!
29. Creator Sheryl Orloff on April 28, 2010
  
  My son ask me to back you> Its sounds like a great Idea .
30. Creator Wendy Culpepper Mondschein on April 27, 2010
  
  This sounds amazing! Can I ask what part of Brooklyn the project will be located in? and more importantly - where will the farmstand be?
  
  Thanks!
31. Creator Brooklyn Grange on April 27, 2010
  
  Hi Keehnan, thanks so much for your message! Please email us at brooklyngrangefarm@gmail.com, we would love to discuss!
  Best,
  the BG crew
32. Creator KEEHNAN on April 27, 2010
  
  Some friends and I would like to throw a fundraiser for this in the coming weeks. I'm wondering how money raised through that event could be properly donated?
33. Creator Brooklyn Grange on April 25, 2010
  
  Hey Chad,
  
  It's a light-weight soil green roof soil. Compost is blended with pumice, expanded shale, and calcine, which allow for air flow, strong drainage, and strong root growth.
  
  Of course the roof will be able to hold the weight - we wouldn't use a roof that isn't strong enough! We have a structural engineer certify the roof's ability to hold the weight load.
  
  The funds from Kickstarter will go into payments for the soil, the green roof membrane (drainage, water absorption, protection to the roof), summer seeds, bamboo stakes for tomatoes, and any other problem solving that comes up.
34. Creator Chad on April 25, 2010
  
  One million pounds? Can that roof safely hold that much weight? What kind of soil are you using--is there any way to reduce that footprint? Can you break down what the money goes towards a little more?
  Thanks, I love the idea and want to see it succeed!