Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Michelle Knapik, Environment Program Director

Once inside the unassuming entrance of Roberta’s, if you can cast your gaze past the wood fired stove and pizza gurus, let your olfactory senses take in something beyond the sweet aroma of ricotta pancakes sopping up maple syrup, and put down your mason jar of local beer, you will see, hear and experience the backyard urban oasis – a farming oasis that is. But don’t look out, look up. There is where you will find the first of the rooftop greenhouses.

The hoop greenhouse is built on top of a shipping container that is fitted out as a radio station (more on that later). Another captures waste heat from the condenser unit for the walk-in refrigerator.

(more…)

Molly de Aguiar, Program Associate

Did you see the recent article in the New York Times about rooftop gardening and the movement to replace traditional roofs with green roofs? Not only does a green roof offer many environmental benefits, it also provides an opportunity, especially for people in urban areas, to grow their own food on a larger scale.

Paula Crossfield (pictured above) persuaded the board members of her co-op in New York City to put a 400 square-foot garden on the building’s recently renovated roof.

Crossfield says that the rooftop garden helps inform her work: she writes a sustainable food blog, Civil Eats, for the Times. See this interesting and useful post about sustainable food blogs she published on Mark Bittman’s “Bitten” blog. (more…)

Molly de Aguiar, Program Associate

We’ve talked a lot about our three-story biowall on this blog and on our website – that it is a central aesthetic feature of our new office space, and how it embodies the connection between human health and the natural world.

It’s quite a privilege to walk past it each day and to hear the sound of the water trickling down the wall. We marvel at its beauty and its clever design, as it efficiently and naturally filters the air we breathe.

In fact, some visitors come to our office just to see the wall and learn how it works.

Lately, I’ve seen some other interesting examples of bringing nature indoors.

If you are interested in your own vertical garden, for example, ELT Living Walls sells kits that you can install in your home. How about one for your home office or kitchen, like these?

Check out ELT’s terrific photo gallery here.

Greenworks, based in Stockholm, recently exhibited their concept for a self-watering, mobile plantwall at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. How would you like one of these for your home?

Also a prototype, this bathmat designed by Nguyen La Chanh of Switzerland is made of a variety of mosses planted in a type of foam called plastazote. The mosses get watered as you towel off from your shower or bath.

(more…)

Molly de Aguiar, Program Associate

Here’s an extra-curricular project we’re excited about at Dodge: our rooftop garden.

We planted our containers two weeks ago. We filled them with herbs (sage, rosemary, dill, parsley, cilantro, basil), flowers (zinnias, dahlias, sunflowers), strawberries, squash, and several kinds of tomatoes, including the Ramapo – the famous Jersey tomato that time almost forgot. Many of the plants came directly from Rutgers’ own greenhouses.

Two weeks later, our plants are growing like mad (note how the grass in the background has grown too).

(more…)

Molly de Aguiar, Program Associate

Last week, the tenants of 14 Maple Avenue proudly celebrated the grand opening of the building alongside its owner, the Morristown Parking Authority, with all of our friends, grantees, supporters, and the public.

For those of you who weren’t able to join us, we’d like to extend an invitation to come visit us and take a tour of the building. In the meantime, have a look at some pictures from the day.

As you can see, we couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather, as we gathered for the start of the day-long festivities.

Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello and the tenants of 14 Maple Avenue participated in a “vine-cutting” ceremony.

Organizations at 14 Maple Avenue include:

(more…)