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Upper East Side Co-op Builds Rooftop Garden for Children

By Amy Zimmer | July 7, 2011 5:59pm | Updated on July 8, 2011 10:58pm

MANHATTAN — Eli Zabar's rooftop greenhouse on top of his Vinegar Factory market on East 91st Street was the inspiration for a nearby co-op board to build its own garden in the sky.

But, instead of using it's rooftop garden to sell high-priced produce,  co-op resident  Sheila Tendy, whose 8-year-old son is a budding gourmand and who pushed for the green space's creation, had another vision.

She saw it as an opportunity for children of Plymouth Tower on East 93rd Street to get their hands dirty learning about food, and a way for the residents to fill their meals with fresh herbs, hot peppers, eggplants, zucchini, squash, cucumbers and strawberries — even if they're not helping out with the plantings.

"Everyone talks about the farm-to-table movement," Tendy said. "It gives local a whole new meaning if you grow it on your roof.

"It's just a matter of realizing you can grow things in small quantities and grow food for yourself. It's not that difficult. A 'farm' could be a 6-inch pot on your windowsill."

Tendy, a lawyer with a penchant for gardening, found like-minded parents in the 340-unit building at 340 East 93rd St. as well as an ally in the board's secretary, Tara Reddi, who runs several Plymouth Tower kids events including a movie night and Halloween party.

Reddi had long dreamed of doing a garden for the co-op's children.

"The best thing has been planting with the kids and having them discover how wonderful it is to put their hands in the earth and plant something and watch it grow," Reddi said.

"These kids [were] growing up not seeing the process of how plants grow," Tendy added.

Her son, Sam, has recently been getting some experience with cooking classes and farming through his school, Claremont Prep in Lower Manhattan, which is partnering with the new Battery Park Farm — another model for the co-op's garden.

Sam has been planning his family's meals around the rooftop bounty of mint and basil. "He's a little foodie," Tendy said.

Many New Yorkers are going back to the land — or rather bringing the dirt to the sky. Plymouth Tower residents researched other models, including an affordable apartment complex rising in East Harlem by the Bluestone Organization, which will have a rooftop garden where each family will have a plot of land.

Bluestone's building at 1885 Lexington Ave. at East 117th Street will have an elevator that rises to the roof where each co-op apartment will get two planters, or roughly 30 square feet, where they can plant things.

The building will provide the soil and the $75 planting modules from GreenTech, but will let the residents take charge of the planting, Steven Bluestone said.

"If I were moving back to the city," the Westchester resident said, "I'd love to have somewhere to pick my own tomatoes. I'd like to think I'd give what I want for myself to others."

The building's landscape designer for its outdoor plazas, Natalie Cushman, came up with the idea of using planters on wheels made from recycled milk jugs and designed for a child's height by Food Map Design in Los Angeles, Reddi said.

"Everything is light and portable," Reddi said. "We planted strawberries in the new green planting sacks. We also have a rain barrel that doubles as an herb planter, and everything is hooked up to a drip irrigation system."

Residents would not disclose the cost of the project, supported by building families.

"Costs were kept low," Reddi said. "A number of families donated money and time and volunteered to help with the preparation of the planters and setting up the planting party."

Last month's planting party was a big hit, attracting roughly 20 kids to the project from the age of 4, she said. The building will host a harvest party in August.

Tendy wants other apartment houses to follow its lead and turn their rooftops into community garden-like mini-farms.

"We're hoping it becomes a trend," Tendy said. "Once you give somebody your tomato right off the vine, they will love you."