Not only is the new Riverpark farm one of the largest urban farms in New York, it is the city’s most urban farm, which is to say, it is the only one which functions (and thrives) in the throes of a truly urban environment. Developed through a partnership between the Riverpark restaurant and the Alexandria Center for Life Science, the farm covers 15,000 square feet of a suspended construction site at 430 East 29th Street near the East River.

Riverpark employs two full-time farmers to tend the farm’s 6,000 plants, which include 85 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, growing in movable planters (milk crates). The modular system of planting in milk crates allows the farmers, as well as assistants from the kitchen, to easily move and arrange the produce according to favorable conditions, such as sunlight and wind, and even aesthetic considerations, given that dining tables will soon sit in the midst of the farm to take advantage of the site’s views to the river and the city. The system also makes the entire farm easily portable, which it will have to be when construction work on the Alexandria Center’s west tower resumes. When that happens, the farm will relocate to another part of the center’s grounds.

(via Architizer Blog » Blog Archive » Riverpark, New York’s Most Urban Farm)

I am most fascinated with the the modular planters made from repurposed milk crates, which is a great example of low foodtech: small innovations taking advantage of materials or techniques that are new to the world of food production. Here, a specially formulated growing medium, composed of top soil, peat moss, and perlite, is placed in 1 feet square milk crates, and lined with a landscaper’s fabric to keep dirt in and let water drain. This means the farm is portable, since the many crates can be tracked to a new site if needed, or moved around on site to take advantage of conditions.

Every city and town has lots available for this sort of farming, and it need not involve ‘improving’ the land, or tearing up parking lots. All that is needed is a water source, which could be arranged in a variety of ways.