Annie Novak
Annie Novak’s roots in agriculture could win the “humbler than thou” contest at the Grange Hall – planting bulbs in the family’s suburban Chicago yard before shipping off to Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, where the furrows are on studious brows and not on the lower 40.
At Sarah Lawrence, Novak majored in chocolate, but perish any thoughts of never-ending s’mores in the dorm. Her studies included a year in West Africa, learning the intricacies of fair trade, and that made all the difference. If at that same imaginary Grange Hall they held an agriculture-themed “more clever than thou” contest, the smart money would bet on Novak. She has mastered the trick of farming on the tar beach of urban rooftops.
Three stories up overlooking the East River in Brooklyn, Novak’s Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is growing multiple crops on 6,000 square feet. This is the farm’s third year and, Novak said, word is spreading among individuals and local eateries alike.
“We’re getting a lot of return customers,” she said of this year’s early harvests. “One of the great strengths of urban farming is that people are already interested in eating healthy, fresh food and in supporting the local economy. Creating an educated consumer base is one of our challenges. When they can engage the growing process and what we’re doing, we’re hoping they will take that knowledge to their next purchase.”
This year’s crop includes several hundred cherry tomato plants of the Isis variety. Novak said she is growing the cherry tomatoes specifically because they do not ship well, and the demand is there for cherry tomatoes that do not require crating and long journeys. Fifteen different types of lettuce also populate the rows, along with various herbs, cucumbers, kale and peppers.
Novak credits Gina and Tony Argento with making the farm possible. It’s on the roof of their theatrical stage warehouse in Greenpoint.
The roof was installed by New York City-based Goode Green: Green Roof Design + Installation. Some 200,000 pounds of a special mix makes up the soil. Novak said that when it comes to rooftop farming, most modern commercial construction with a flat roof will do the job. But those interested should talk with an engineer.
Novak’s work has already caught the attention of her alma mater, from which she graduated in 2005. Besides being co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, she is also executive director of Growing Chefs, an educational service for gardening, farming and food preparation that operates under the banner “Broccoli is not boring!”
In January, she delivered the keynote address at the college’s farm-and-food symposium, held in conjunction with the Westchester Land Trust. Her topic: “I spoke about connecting urban eaters to upstate growers.”
With the Eagle Street farm, Novak is connecting urban eaters to herself.
For more on Annie Novak, visit growingchefs.org.
