New York City Farming... say WHAT?

Annie White of Inside Grower wrote about a new innovative agriculture movement, farms sprouting up on rooftops in NYC!

She explains, "The New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) is currently undertaking a series of green initiatives to promote sustainable communities throughout the city. As part of this effort, DCP is proposing a citywide zoning text amendment to remove zoning impediments to the construction retrofitting of green buildings. More specifically, the proposal would allow for rooftop greenhouses on industrial, commercial and school buildings."

With this new ordinance, NYC will certainly become the leader of rooftop farming in the world.  There are currently three working rooftop farms in NYC:

• Brooklyn Grange is a one-acre commercial organic rooftop farm in New York with plans to double in size this year. 
• Gotham Greens sits atop a former bowling alley in Brooklyn and is the first urban rooftop greenhouse in the U.S. 
• Bell, Book and Candle is New York’s first rooftop-to-table restaurant, growing vegetables and herbs hydroponically for their upscale menu. 

I'd love to visit all of these, especially the restaurant! 

For more information read Inside Grower.
@KatieGMG Garden Media Group

GARDEN MEDIA GROUP HIRES NYC FASHION PR PROFESSIONAL

For years, one of our goals here at Garden Media Group has been to make gardening en vogue. We've gotten out clients in hip media like In-Style, Elle Decor and Apartment Therapy.

Today we are excited to let you in on our latest development to help take our clients and gardening to the next level.

We have expanded by strategically hiring New York City PR fashionista Katie Dubow, who most recently was marketing manager of Monet jewelry, a division of Liz Claiborne in Manhattan, where she was a member of the Liz Social Media Council.

And secondly, we’re adding a typical Gen X consumer who will guide our seasoned PR staff to better understand, tap into and converse with this growing consumer segment. She is our "new consumer". She and her husband are “apartment gardeners” and enjoy growing herbs, vegetables and flowers in containers on their “front steps”.

Katie has contacts with style influencers at People Magazine, O Magazine, Martha Stewart Weddings, Real Simple, and Lucky, to name just a few, and has interfaced with several New York fashion PR firms.

Prior to joining the Liz Claiborne organization, she worked at CBS Television in New York and The Boston Celtics organization in Boston. Katie has her degree in communications from Northeastern University, where she was a member of its Division I Crew Team. She is an avid runner, traveler and reader.

With her New York public relations experience, energy and youthfulness, Katie is ready to help grow our clients, gardening and our famous GMG Garden Trends Report© to new heights in 2012.

Suzi
Garden Media Group

Rachael Ray Plants Up Healthy Eating in CowPots

Mayor Bloomberg and Rachael Ray Announce New Programs To Promote Healthy Eating

Gardening, Cooking and Nutrition Instruction to Show City Youth How Food is Grown and How to Bring that Food from Garden to Table

Last week Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rachael Ray kicked off a series of initiatives to help New York's youth eat healthier and understand where their food comes from.

The new programs, supported by Rachael Ray and her Yum-o! organization, will help schools build a garden or connect them to an existing garden and provide cooking and nutrition instruction to young New Yorkers.

And they made the announcement in the vegetable garden at PS 29 in Brooklyn, which the school is using to teach students about healthy eating – and tying it into science and nature curriculums.

And what did Rachael plant her basil in? CowPots, naturally! These new manure-fiber growing pots from The Liquid Fence Company are made from – you guessed it – composted cow manure -- are 100% biodegradable. And as you can see from the photo, Rachael planted the pot directly in the ground. No pushing the plants out of a tight pot. No disturbing the tender shoots and leaves. No fuss. Just stronger, healthier plants off to a better start.

Racheal is passionate about SchoolFood - a program she create to offer exciting, delicious and nutritious lunch menus for 1,600 NYC public schools, serving 1.9 million students. On April 28 she launched her latest SchoolFood menu item called “Cheesy Mac and Trees,” a healthy take on traditional macaroni and cheese, filled with whole wheat pasta, real cheese, skim milk, red bell peppers and broccoli florets.


So teach your children well - and to eat well, too!
Suzi
Garden Media Group