Big City Farms’ proof-of-concept organic lettuce and “leafy green” farm, aptly named Big City Greens. Photo Credit: Big City Farms.

Big City Farms, of Baltimore, Maryland, has high ambitions for urban agriculture

By Missy Smith
Seedstock
December 18, 2012

Excerpt:

In February 2011, Big City Farms established its proof-of-concept organic lettuce and “leafy green” farm, aptly named Big City Greens. The almost two-year-old farm is the first in the country to be built on top of an asphalt parking lot. “Asphalt is a little easier than dirt, because dirt requires leveling,” says Persful, who explains that the most difficult part of the process was drilling through the asphalt to put in the beams for their six hoop-houses.

From October 2011 to September 2012, Big City Greens grew 52,000 pounds of food and grossed $118,000 using six hoop houses on a half-acre crop square.

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The kitchen garden where much of the produce for the menu will be grown

Excerpt from restaurant’s website:

Chiswick’s’s unique 150 square metre kitchen garden links the kitchen to its beautiful garden surrounds and provides fresh, home-grown produce. With plantings rotated by season, the garden has a trellised section, potted herbs and garden beds created from natural timber sleepers. Chiswick has a dedicated gardener who tends the garden and works with the chefs to decide on the best seasonal plantings.

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