If you'd like to grow your own food but don't think you have the space, look up! In urban and suburban areas across the country, farms and gardens are growing atop the rooftops of residential and commercial buildings. In this accessible guide, author Annie Novak's passion shines as she draws on her experience as a pioneering sky-high farmer to teach best practices for raising vegetables, herbs, flowers, and trees. The book also includes interviews, expert essays, and farm and garden profiles from across the country, so you'll find advice that works no matter where you live. Featuring the brass tacks on green roofs, container gardening, hydroponics, greenhouse growing, crop planning, pest management, harvesting tips, and more, The Rooftop Growing Guide will have you reimagining the possibilities of your own skyline.

Free space for the city gardener might be no more than a cramped patio, balcony, rooftop, windowsill, hanging rafter, dark cabinet, garage, or storage area, but no space is too small or too dark to raise food. With this book as a guide, people living in apartments, condominiums, townhouses, and single-family homes will be able to grow up to 20 percent of their own fresh food using a combination of traditional gardening methods and space-saving techniques such as reflected lighting and container "terracing." Those with access to yards can produce even more. Author R. J. Ruppenthal worked on an organic vegetable farm in his youth, but his expertise in urban and indoor gardening has been hard-won through years of trial-and-error experience. In the small city homes where he has lived, often with no more than a balcony, windowsill, and countertop for gardening, Ruppenthal and his family have been able to eat at least some homegrown food 365 days per year.

A guide for architects, landscape designers, engineers, environmentalists and eco-aware gardeners, this text contains photographs and information for more than 200 species and cultivars of plants, including data on moisture needs, heat tolerance, hardiness, bloom color, foliage characteristics, and height.

Green Roofs and Rooftop Gardens A detailed look at why and how urban rooftops are going green Living roofs cool the air, reduce water pollution, extend roof life, and cut energy costs. They also provide green space for city dwellers and habitat for birds and insects. Long popular in Europe, this building technique is now catching on in the U.S., most recently in New York City. Green Roofs and Rooftop Gardens tells the stories behind some of the city's most interesting living roofs and explains how such roofs are constructed, planted, and cared for. What's Inside Profiles of a wide range of NYC green roofs, including a rooftop farm in Queens, a high school classroom in the Bronx, and Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Visitor Center A history of how the technique evolved A detailed primer on construction methods Information on selecting, establishing, and caring for the special best-suited for living roofs Practical advice for creating a rooftop container garden or bringing a green roof to your school Book jacket.

"101 creative and inspiring ideas to grow edible and decorative plants in urban environments"--

From roof to table – urban food has reached new heights. Soaring prices and concerns about chemical-laden fruits and vegetables increasingly drive us to grow our own healthy food close to home. In cities, however, vanishing ground space and contaminated soils spur farmers, activists, and restaurateurs to look to the skyline for a solution. The hunger for local food has reached new heights, and rooftops can provide the space that cities need to bring fresh, organic produce to tables across North America. The first full-length book to focus entirely on rooftop agriculture, Eat Up views this growing movement through a practitioner's lens, explaining: Structural, access, and infrastructural considerations Zoning and building codes Proven growing techniques Business and marketing strategies This graphically rich guide provides inspiration and advice to aspiring growers through photographs of successful rooftop farms and gardens and interviews with industry professionals. Easy-to-use checklists and a decision tree are included to help gauge the viability of each unique rooftop opportunity. Essential reading for home gardeners, entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, policy makers, academics, and designers, Eat Up takes urban agriculture to a whole new level, proving that rooftop farming is not just pie in the sky—it is the future of urban food. Lauren Mandel holds a master's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of arts degree in environmental science. She is a project manager and rooftop agriculture specialist at Roofmeadow, where she designs green roofs and oversees green roof and rooftop agriculture projects around the country.

This is not your grandmother's gardening book. You Grow Girl is a hip, humorous how-to for crafty gals everywhere who are discovering a passion for gardening but lack the know-how to turn their dreams of homegrown tomatoes and fresh-cut flowers into a reality. Gayla Trail, creator of YouGrowGirl.com, provides guidance for both beginning and intermediate gardeners with engaging tips, projects, and recipes -- whether you have access to a small backyard or merely to a fire escape. You Grow Girl eliminates the intimidation factor and reveals how easy and enjoyable it can be to cultivate plants and flowers even when resources and space are limited. Divided into accessible sections like Plan, Plant, and Grow, You Grow Girl takes readers through the entire gardening experience: Preparing soil Nurturing seedlings Fending off critters Reaping the bounty Readying plants for winter Preparing for the seasons ahead Gayla also includes a wealth of ingenious and creative projects, such as: Transforming your garden's harvest into lush bath and beauty products Converting household junk into canny containers Growing and bagging herbal tea Concocting homemade pest repellents ...and much, much more. Witty, wise, and as practical as it is stylish, You Grow Girl is guaranteed to show you how to get your garden on. All you need is a windowsill and a dream!

The information published in this guide is provided by the Growing Green Guide partners (City of Melbourne, City of Stonnington, City of Yarra, City of Port Phillip, the State of Victoria and The University of Melbourne) to disseminate information in regards to the design, construction and maintenance of green roofs, walls and facades.

If you've ever wanted to grow your own food, but aren't quite sure how, this book is for you. It's designed for beginners, organized month-by-month, and gives specific advice for the Chicago growing region. Experienced food gardeners will benefit as well from the range of topics in this step-by-step guide.

This richly illustrated book provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary trends in rooftop garden design, and provides definitive theory and design industry knowledge. Green roofs - the ultimate in sustainable building practices - continue to generate enormous interest and enthusiasm among architects, landscape designers, and urban planners. This richly illustrated book provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary trends in rooftop garden design, and provides definitive theory and design industry knowledge. The designers of the project case studies are leaders in their fields, and are drawn from across Australia, Chile, China, Europe, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Scandinavia, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam. The designers provide details on the benefits of their rooftop gardens, offering readers profound inspiration and informative reviews of the work, design considerations, operation and maintenance. This book is essential for anyone working or studying in the rooftop construction, environmental landscape and design fields. AUTHOR: David Fletcher is an urban designer and landscape architect and the founding principal of Fletcher Studio, an innovative and award-winning collaborative practice based in San Francisco. Fletcher holds a Master of Landscape Architecture, with distinction, from the Harvard Design School. He also holds a Bachelor of Art in Studio Art and a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of California at Davis, both with honours. He has taught urban design and landscape architecture at Harvard Design School, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, the Centre d'Etude et diUrbanisme in France, Woodbury University, UCLA, Otis College, USC School of Architecture. He is presently an associate professor at the California College of the Arts in the Department of Architecture. He was also the assistant curator and exhibition designer of Inhabiting Infrastructure at the Harvard Design School. SELLING POINTS: - Outlines key trends and advanced design theory - Accompanied by numerous full-colour architectural illustrations and spectacular detailed photography - Will appeal to architects, urban planners (particularly those focusing on rooftop gardens in urban construction projects) and design students, and educators in the design fields 400 col. 50 b/w