On a recent breezy and fresh Saturday morning, I met with some of my other CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)  members outside of our CSA pickup in the Project Harmony community garden in Harlem. When everyone arrived, we walked to the Metro North for our trip to Yonker, not the typical Saturday get-away.  

But we were going to see the Science Barge, a prototype sustainable urban farm and environmental education center.  First a project of New York Sun Works, the Science Barge began in 2007 as it toured New York City's waterfront parks, hosting children from NYC public schools.  Today ownership has shifted to Groundwork Hudson Valley and the Science Barge has found a permanent home docked in the Hudson off of Yonkers, New York, a twenty minute ride north of Harlem.  Its goal is to educate and to show that urban agriculture is possible, healthy and necessary.  In New York City, they say, there is enough rooftop space to supply all of our fresh fruits and veggies, especially using more efficient methods such as hydroponics and vertigrow systems (that both make use of vertical space and avoid soil, two necessary urban adjustments.)

Naturally, this Science Barge interested a bunch of urbanites who are concerned enough about their food to join a CSA.  Our visit could not have fallen upon a more lovely day, and we could not have had a more passionate volunteer show us around.  We learned that the Science Barge is 100% carbon neutral and of its many projects that allow it to be so.  

- Reusable energy.  The Science Barge has solar, wind turbines, and uses biodeisel.  

- Recycled materials.  The office on the barge is constructed from an old shipping container, the deck, counters, sinks, and the picnic tables from recycled plastics.  He addressed that for the average person, the cost of a picnic table from plastic may be higher than that of a wooden one.  However, just like when installing solar panels, when you assess the long-term, a wooden picnic table will be rotting in five years while in twenty-five the recycled plastic one will look as good as new.  

- A green house.  A green house extends the growing season or even allows the possibility of cultivating year round.

- Hydroponic growing system.  A hydroponic system allows plants to grow in cycling water, any substrate* (such as volcanic rock, rock bed or clay) and added nutrients without the need for soil .  Either you add the necessary nutrients to the water regularly or, more sustainably, you integrate fish** and their waste water becomes the nutrient rich water that plants grow crazy over.  

     *The Science Barge uses a substrate made from volcanic rock called Rodan for their hydroponic system, only produced in Canada.  It has an endless life (sustainable) if you continuously send it back to the company in Canada to be reformed (unsustainable).  However, there is no reason that someone could not open a Rodan facility in New York, Detroit, New Delhi or Bhutan...

    - Another challenge is how you feed the fish.  What do you feed them?  Where does it come from?  How do you make sure it is sustainable?

- Vertical Growth System.  Instead of letting cucumber and zucchini vines snake around on the ground, they allow them to grow up with strings and clips, making much more efficient use of space. You can also stack plant boxes above each other (such as in a Hydro-stacker or a Vertigro system) like building blocks that progressively become smaller, let the water drip irrigate and filter down to be collected at the bottom for reuse.  

- Ladybugs.  Every year, the Science Barge releases 10,000 lady bugs inside the greenhouse to help keep away unwanted bug pests.  They also release a certain type of wasp which is a great natural aid to pest removal!  

- Verticle growth.  

- Compost.  They have a composting bin and use the final compost in the garden.

- Compot Toilet.  They are currently installing a compost toilet.  This is illegal in New York, but ancored fifteen feet off the shore, they answer to the US Coast Guard rather than New York State!  

The Science Barge, again, is a prototype.  It in and of itself will not change the world, but the example it sets can.  Why is any building constructed in Manhattan today without making use of vertical growth space?  Why is any building letting a good roof go to waste?  Or not composting?  By setting the example, and perhaps more importantly by focusing on educating children, The Science Barge can start the change.  

I just joined NYC's Urban Beekeepers!

This summer I am learning about NYC's thriving beekeeping community, which has grown rapidly in recent years as the modern threats to honey bees and understanding of the risks they face become more mainstream.  It has also grown now that it is legal to have honey bees!  While it had been illegal to keep bees in NYC--thanks to legislation put in place by Giuliani calling bees pests (apparently he never took a science class)--in March of 2010, the law was changed, legalizing the guerrilla beekeeping of roughly 500 New Yorkers.  Now apis mellifera, the common, non aggressive honeybee, is legal to keep within city limits.  



I wanted to learn more, although my current living situation (with a landlord who won't tolerate tomatoes on his roof and roommates who won't tolerate my watering can in the hallway) certainly does not open itself up to beekeeping yet.  That doesn't stifle my interest!  I joined the Meetup Group, NYC Beekeeping, and attended the first event I could, a book signing by a beekeeper turned author for the book Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper.

It was lovely!  but not as expected.  I expected way more beards and sandals than I saw; instead there were many middle aged and middle class beekeepers who had come straight from work, in appearance fitting in with any other business-minding New Yorker.  I suppose it makes sense:  a certain age and income are necessary to have a permanent enough home and lifestyle to allow for something like beekeeping:  you wouldn't build a chicken hen in your backyard if you knew you may move in nine months, for example, so nor would you insert a beehive.

So much here to learn!  The next event will be a hive inspection on Randall's Island to see where the Beekeeping group is keeping their collective hives.  My Italian beekeeping mentors would be so proud to see me now!