Montreal awaits crop from 3,000 square meter greenhouse rooftop farm

The 3,000 square meter greenhouse atop the roof of Lufa Farms.

Lufa Farms is already set to open another greenhouse on a city rooftop, five times larger than the original.

Excerpt:

By Geraldine Woessner (AFP)
RTE News
April 6, 2011

MONTREAL — A Montreal company is eagerly awaiting a crop of tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs grown in a vast greenhouse perched on top of an office building, and billed as the world’s first rooftop garden farm.

“Our vision is a city of rooftop farms,” says the Lufa Farms website of the gardens nestled above the Canadian metropolis, as it mourns the loss of good farm land due to commercial development and urban sprawl.

With the world’s population continuing to grow while available arable land falls, the young duo behind Lufa Farms believes greenhouses in the sky could be the way forward to providing fresh food for hungry urban dwellers.

Designed by Mohamed Hage and his partner Kurt Lynn, the greenhouse spreads across 3,000 square metres (32,300 square feet) above Montreal’s north end, wafting the scent of fresh thyme and coriander onto streets below.
Lettuce, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, bok choy, celery, or fine herbs such as rosemary, basil and parsley — the choice of produce is varied and plentiful enough to fill 2,000 grocery carts each week.

Read the complete article here.

Lufa Farm website here.