Gardening & Agriculture: New York City Gardening and Agriculture

The Battery Urban Farm is an educational farm where New York City’s students, residents, and visitors experience sustainable farming, enjoy tasting organic fresh foods, and learn environmental stewardship. They currently engage over 5000 students from over 100 schools and community volunteers who annually grow thousands of pounds of vegetables, fruits, herbs, grains, and flowers.

Brooklyn Grange is the leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the US. They operate the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located on three roofs in New York City, and grow over 80,000 lbs of organically-cultivated produce per year.

Located on Governors Island gives participants the opportunity to plan, water, harvest, and cook the garden's vegetables, herbs, and fruits. It is open to the public during the Governors Island Open Season.

Harlem Grown is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire youth to lead healthy and ambitious lives through mentorship and hands-on education in urban farming, sustainability, and nutrition. Founded in 2011, they operate local urban farms, increase access to and knowledge of healthy food for Harlem residents, and provide garden-based development programs to Harlem youth.

The Randall’s Island Park Alliance’s Urban Farm is a 40,000 SF environmentally-sustainable garden and outdoor classroom at Randall’s Island Park. The garden is composed of 100 raised beds, two greenhouses, and four rice paddies. The Farm’s berry patch is composed of high bush and low bush blueberries, raspberries that fruit both in the summer and fall, cranberries, two pear trees and numerous grape vines.

Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is a 6,000 square foot green roof organic vegetable farm located atop a warehouse rooftop owned by Broadway Stages in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They sell their produce on-site.

The Heritage Farm has grown an average of 15,000 pounds of produce each season over the past six seasons for a total 45 tons. More than 10% of the produce is contributed to soup kitchens and food pantries, and to our education programs.

Free and open to the public, the Battery Gardens have 195,000 square feet of perennial gardens. There is the Bosque Garden, with over 100 London Plane trees, and the Gardens of Remembrance, with over 100 types of perennials.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in Brooklyn, New York City, and has 52 acres with over 14,000 different varieties of plants. This includes a Water Garden, the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, and a Native Flora Garden.

A 6-acre formal garden, located at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. Home to the Untermyer Fountain, featuring the Three Dancing Maidens by German sculptor Walter Schott.

The Heather and Alpine Gardens were part of the original Olmsted Brothers design. Each area showcases flowers and plants that are well adapted to the unique and varied terrain of Fort Tryon Park. The garden includes 46 American elms, many of which predate the park, and more than 550 varieties of plants, trees, and shrubs.

Located in Bay Ridge, this garden is one of New York City’s largest and longest lasting all-volunteer gardening initiatives. The Gardens are situated on four and a half acres of parkland along Shore Road with a view of the Narrows waterway. Among the many exhibits to be seen are the Native Plant Sanctuary, Lily Pond, Zen Garden, and the Old and Modern Rose Gardens.

Located in the Bronx, the New York Botanical Garden covers 250-acres, the largest in any city in the United States, and is a National Historic Landmark. NYBG encompasses 50 specialty gardens and collections comprising more than one million plants, the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, the nation’s preeminent Victorian-style glasshouse.

A Bronx public garden, Wave Hill covers 28 acres and is curated as a "living museum". Exhibits include the Flower Garden, the Herb and Dry Garden, the T. H. Everett Alpine House, and the Aquatic & Monocot Gardens.

The NYC Urban Agriculture website will connect you with opportunities to become a part of the agricultural community in the city, serving as a one-stop shop for resources, programs, and regulations that help grow agriculture in New York City.

GreenThumb provides programming and material support to over 550 community gardens in New York City. Workshops, which are the access point for supplies, are held every month of the year, covering gardening basics to more advanced farming and community organizing topics.

GrowNYC runs the Greenmarkets in New York, along with recycling, conservation, gardening, and education programs.

A guide from the New York City Department of Design & Construction on environmental roof construction.