Easy transport
Gotham Greens recently started harvesting from its greenhouse located directly on top of Whole Foods Market's store in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The supplier can send product by elevator right down to Whole Foods.
The fruits and vegetables are pesticide free, grown using Integrated Pest Management methods such as introducing insects that keep predatory insects out.
Big yields
“This greenhouse is 20,000 square feet, which is about a half of an acre, but our yields are equivalent to a nine-acre farm. So it’s actually very, very productive,” Viraj Puri, co-founder of Gotham Greens, told SN.
Herb harvest
The smell of basil wafted through the greenhouse when SN visited the facility.
A green view
The greenhouse has a view of the New York City skyline and the Freedom Tower.
Set apart
The farm produces seven different types of tomatoes, which are grown in a separate area of the greenhouse because they need different growing conditions.
Buzz about
Bees are used to pollinate the tomato plants. They use a box as a hive.
Impact reduction
The farm’s hydroponic setup reuses water.
“We dissolve our organic nutrients in the water to provide nutrition for the crops. But then we actually collect all that irrigation water and then recycle it so it’s very water efficient,” said Puri.
View gallery: Urban farming from great heights