Although Battery Rooftop Garden is located at the tip of Manhattan, its roots are in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, specifically at Annie Novak’s Eagle Street Rooftop Farm (see www.rooftopfarms.org ).  Monday night the Battery Rooftop Gardener, together with 30 friends, set out across the East River for Greenpoint.  The evening started with a visit to Eagle Street, where Annie explained the origins of the 6,000 square foot farm and partnership with Growing Chefs (www.growingchefs.org ):

Eagle Street also runs an on-site farm market and unique partnership between an urban and Hudson Valley CSA.  Unlike the Battery Rooftop Garden, Eagle Street ues a more conventionl green-roof soil mix (BRTG uses a mix with 50% pure compost), and relies on hand-watering.  2010 crops included cucumbers, hot peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, spinach, radishes, kale, swiss chard, carrots, peas, beans, salad greens and

herbs.   After the tour, the guests visited Jordan Colon’s ultra-locavore restaurant, EAT, at 124 Meserole Avenue(www.eatgreenpoint.com ).   Jordan and his brother prepared a meal of startlingly fresh and pure dishes, with ingredients sourced exclusively from North-East US sources, with an empahsis on New York State:

Sourdough Foccacia Bread with tomato and green garlic sauce

Spring Radishes

Adzuki Bean Soup with digitata (Maine seaweed) oyster mushroom, battery rooftop sorrel, and carrot

Baked Flounder topped with salsa verde (herbs from Eagle Street and BRTG), roasted potatos, sunchokes, and BRTG rosemary, and sauteed spinach and kale with wild chive

Pea Tendril Salad with apples and Consider Bardwell Farm aged “Manchester” goat cheese

Wines- Wolffer Estate Rosé table wine (Long Island), Paumonok Cabernet Franc (Long Island), Enlightenment Wine sparkling cider (Hudson Valley)