Rooftop Farms

Rooftop farming is an innovative way to farm in the city, giving life to an otherwise unused space. We design to your needs including small fruits, vegetables, greens, herbs and flowers. Growing crops on a roof extends a short growing season, provides the ultimate local food source, enhances property value and takes your dedication to sustainability up a level.

Ecological Gardens offers a variety of rooftop services: Consultation, Design and Installation, Training, Project Management and Maintenance.

Rooftop gardens are an excellent way to increase urban greenspace and local foods. Growing crops on a roof extends the growing season due to the hot and sunny microclimate. An irrigation system helps maintain a constant water supply for the crops and shade cloths are used for some plants to cool the soil. Our designs include a variety of perennials and flowers to ensure beneficial insects are attracted to what was a previously barren landscape.

Rooftop design features can include earthboxes, SIPs (sub-irrigated planters), raised beds, light weight soil mixes, trellising, shade and hail netting, polycultures of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, insectary islands, season extension, intensive crop rotation, compost, compost tea application and integrated pest management.

Our most recent rooftop farm installation was in 2011, for The Bachelor Farmer in Minneapolis, MN. The urban farm produces over 40 vegetables and herbs for the restaurant, located in a historic downtown warehouse building.

Our first rooftop farm was in 2010, Cornerstone Rooftop Farms, a project of The Cornerstone Group in Richfield MN and Lucia's Restaurant in Minneapolis MN. The objective of the rooftop farm is to create a productive and ecologically healthy urban landscape. The goal is to demonstrate urban rooftop farming on a micro-scale.