Boswyck Farms » Brooklyn urban farming

Boswyck Farms Partners with Fountain House to Build a Grow Room

Joanna — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:06:10 +0000

November 10, 2010
By Joanna

It’s been quite a blast building the grow room at Fountain House, a NYC non-profit dedicated to helping adults with mental illnesses. We’re hoping that this room will supply most–if not all–the greens they need for their cafeteria. The size of the room we have to work in is 165 square feet. To date Lee, our volunteer carpenter Chris and some of the folks at Fountain House have built 4 flood & drain grow beds for greens. They’ve been seeded and we’re looking forward to the first sprouting!

All in all 16 tiered flood & drain systems will be built with a total of 128 square feet of growing space.

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Thanks for another fabulous workshop

Joanna — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:16:52 +0000

August 2, 2010

By Joanna

We just wanted to say many thanks to everyone who attended this past Sunday’s workshop, Getting Started With Hydroponics. We had people from all walks of life including teachers, architects and even a lactation specialist. Our participants asked great questions and were pros at building drip systems.

If you were at the workshop (or attended earlier ones), please take pictures of the plants growing in your systems and send them to us!

Farm report

Joanna — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:52:41 +0000

July 24, 2010

By Joanna

We’ve had a very busy week at the farm. The heat wave a few weeks back took its toll on our rooftop installation but thanks to Lee’s quick thinking and ability to lug pounds of ice up some steep stairs, everything is back on track. I’m loving the sunflowers which are now enormous. Our cumbers are kicking right along and the Fine Verde basil is busting up out of the NFT system. We also had our first lady bug sighting. Win!

New to the farm this week are our carrots which have just sprouted. Our pea shoots are back. There was a sad turn of events for the peas when it hit 103 degrees on the roof so we’re happy to see them again.

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Our habanero peppers are going to be famous

Joanna — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:21:55 +0000

July 20, 2010
by Joanna

We met husband and wife team Jason Hait and Ayelet Prizant a few weeks back at the Crown Heights Health Fair. Jason is the owner and Executive Chef at The Pour Gourmet. They were selling some of their amazingly hot sauces, marinades and mustards. Lee and Jason got to talking about peppers and viola! he offered to take the plethora of Habaneros we recently grew off our hands. Jason will be concocting something most delicious with them. We’re desperate for a taste and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s whiped it up. In the meantime, don’t miss out on other Pour Gourmet treats. I’ve got my eye on the Beer-B-Q sauce. I’m betting it’s fabulous on veggie burgers.

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All that is yummy

Joanna — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:56:44 +0000

6/20/10

About a month ago Lee built a vertical system which we planted with strawberries. They are happy in their new home and about 2 weeks ago began to flower. Even though they aren’t quite ready we did a small tasting this past Tuesday. The result? A little tart but a lot delicious. Our Caribbean Red Cabanero peppers have ripened and they are…hot. We’re looking forward to pickling! Our Red Zebra tomatoes were harvested and are pretty and delicious.

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Bushwick Open Studios a Resounding Success

Joanna — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:21:57 +0000

June 7, 2010

Bushwick Open Studios was this past weekend. Hot and humid as it was we threw open the doors to the farm, inviting people in to see our seven different hydroponic systems. Those who came got to eat a little of our arugula, watercress and lettuce, not to mention Lee’s homemade and perfectly salted popcorn. (Our peppers and tomatoes were not quite ripe enough to sample but should be there momentairly so make arrangements to visit if you want a taste.) The recently planted strawberries have taken to their new vertical system and we were happy so many people admired how pretty they looked. Several people made hydroponic planters out of recycled soda bottles, seeded them with the basil of their choice and took them home to start a windowsill garden.

A tip of our hat to the peeps over at Arts in Bushwick for organizing another fabulous event. We’re looking forward to next year’s open studios!