“the city’s first rooftop community garden”

300 Evarts Street, NE courtesy DPR

From the Department of Parks & Recreation:

“The Bowser Administration and the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) will host its weekly produce giveaway at the city’s first rooftop community garden on Tuesday, September 1 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Edgewood Recreation Center in Ward 5.

The rooftop farm is the first of its kind at a DPR facility and is classified as a green roof. The farm is 55′ X 48′ (2640 square feet) with five raised beds to assist seniors and people with disabilities. There is special soil used to reduce the weight of the roof and the farm is designed to grow a large amount of food in a small space.

When Edgewood Recreation Center opened in December 2019, Mayor Muriel Bowser said it would be “a place to play, learn, and even grow fresh produce.” The facility’s rooftop farm opened as an education garden to teach the community how to grow and process their own food. The space was also designed to be an intergenerational learning hub for a farm-to-table programmatic experience.

The plants continue to grow, even as recreation centers and DPR programming have been closed in response to coronavirus (COVID-19). Crops started in DPR’s greenhouse were placed in the ground in May. DPR was able to host the farm’s first produce giveaway on June 30 and over 608 pounds of fresh produce has been shared with the community so far.

DPR plans to have the rooftop farm in production for three seasons, with the winter being the time it is dormant for production and preparation for the spring. DPR garden specialists estimate the farm will produce and give away, at minimum, one metric ton of produce this year.”