Rooftop farms

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Figure 7: Strawberries grown in a container on a rooftop at University of District of Columbia, Washington, DC. Photo by Neith Little, UMD Extension.

Rooftop farms are most common in cities with high land and real estate costs, like Washington, DC and New York City. Some rooftop farmers build growing containers from scratch, but this may be limited to the edges of roofs where the existing architecture is strongest. Other rooftop farmers retrofit existing green roofs to produce crops for sale. Common crops are strawberries (Figure 7), vegetables (Figure 8), and cut flowers (Figure 9).

Figure 8: Okra growing on a retro-fitted green roof at Up Top Acres, in Washington, DC (note the Washington Monument in the background). Photo by Neith Little, UMD Extension.

Figure 9: Flowers growing on a retro-fitted green roof at Up Top Acres in Washington, DC. Photo by Neith Little, UMD Extension

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