Category Archives: Design

Manhattan Rooftop Terroir

Posted on March 25, 2016 by

Today I enjoyed the first rooftop asparagus of the season, which of course raised the knotty question of Manhattan rooftop terroir. Let’s start with the question of what terroir is: the unique, organoleptic qualities associated with food and drink from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking and Eating, Design, Soil, Urban Agriculture and Food Policy, Weather | 4 Comments

Tribute in Light

Posted on September 30, 2013 by

  It is rare for a memorial to be perfectly calibrated to the nature of the tragedy it marks.  The elegant Stone of Remembrance designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for the British World War I cemeteries is a notable example.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Photos, Seen From the Battery Rooftop Garden | 3 Comments

Allotments

Posted on November 27, 2012 by

In the UK in the years before Margaret Thatcher whipped things into shape, there was not very much that the Battery Rooftop Gardener, then an American graduate student first discovering England, found worthy of emulation.   But I remember being deeply … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Urban Agriculture and Food Policy | 3 Comments

Hic sunt dracones

Posted on July 11, 2012 by

Or, “Here be dragons,” for those readers whose Latin is a bit rusty.   Yes, right here at Battery Rooftop Garden, on the 35th floor in the heart of downtown Manhattan.  Spotted and photographed by Jeremy Law, this dragon is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Design, Wildlife | 1 Comment

Bugs on the Roof: Pollinator Diversity

Posted on May 31, 2012 by

Visitors to BRTG could be forgiven for thinking that some late-night fresh-mint-mojito-fueled madness had resulted in the plastic drinks cups scattered across the garden, curiously half-buried in the soil: But they would be wrong.  One of the arguments for urban green roofs is … Continue reading →

Posted in Biodiversity, Design, Soil, Urban Agriculture and Food Policy, Wildlife | 4 Comments

Contrast

Posted on April 25, 2012 by

We all know what a powerful thing it is to take man out of the city and into nature.   When an urban hipster – adapted to the ecological and cultural niche of Chelsea or Greenpoint – spends a week in … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Non-edible Bulbs, Ornamental Plants, Peaches, Photos, Rhubarb, Seen From the Battery Rooftop Garden | 1 Comment

Après le déluge

Posted on September 1, 2011 by

Plants on rooftop gardens are far more exposed to the elements than their ground-level cousins.   With Hurricane Irene heading directly for lower Manhattan, it was alarming to hear the experts explain that 75 mph winds at ground level translated to … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Failures, Malabar Spinach, Nectarines, Peaches, Photos, Roses, Structure, The Visionaire, Tomatoes, Weather | 4 Comments