From Rooftop To Fork: Downtown L.A. Club Grows Its Own Greens

Farmscape, California's largest urban farming operation, recently wrapped a first-of-its-kind project in Downtown Los Angeles, one that (literally) takes urban agriculture to new heights. Atop The Jonathan Club now sits a large rooftop garden installation designed to grow fresh, organic greens. Plucked by the hands of the private social club's chefs, the produce will grace the plates of lucky club members.

Using a system of raised bed planters, the 200-square-foot custom organic garden will sprout the following tasty greens during the winter growing season: snap peas, snow peas, broccolini, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, romaine lettuce, buttercrunch lettuce, red and yellow beets, baby carrots and a large variety of herbs. Fully completed in December, the garden has already produced romaine and buttercrunch lettuce, mesclun mix, Swiss chard and bok choy. What about fruit, you ask? They've got that covered, too. Farmscape is also maintaining a variety of fruit trees, including lemon, lime, orange and fig.

Cultivating and harvesting the garden is a collaborative effort, with Farmscape handling most of the weekly maintenance and chefs harvesting the food. Farmer Lowell visits the garden on a weekly basis to plant, weed, inspect for pests and diseases and ensure irrigation is working properly. At the beginning of each growing season, Executive Chef Jason McClain hands Lowell a list detailing his menu preferences for specialty and local options, putting Lowell's green thumb to work.

Farmscape and the club are both smitten by the project. "We're excited to be able to grow the freshest produce possible for the The Jonathan Club's new head chef," says Farmscape CEO, Jesse DuBois. "We hope that building this rooftop garden right in the middle of Los Angeles demonstrates that food cultivation can happen almost anywhere. Now members of the club can enjoy fresh and artisanal ingredients without traveling out to a distant farm field." Matthew Allnatt, the club's general manager, says of the project, "I wanted to do something unique for our members while also encouraging a healthy and sustainable lifestyle."

However, with organic gardening comes pests, and Lowell works hard to control the pesky produce lovers. "Since there is not a lot of surrounding greenery, the garden seems to be an oasis for insect pests, especially aphids," says Lowell. "We are working hard to keep the population under control and are so far winning, but the aphids definitely like that the vegetables are in the middle of an otherwise hardscape environment."

While the new rooftop garden is enjoyed exclusively by the club's members, Farmscape aims to "help more individuals and organizations take their sun-drenched urban spaces and turn them into thriving organic gardens," says Farmscape Chief Marketing Officer Rachel Bailin. "We want to work with other restaurants, schools and institutions because it's been our goal to provide access to quality food across Los Angeles and encourage the city to a more sustainable future," adds Bailin.

Angelenos, any suggestions for their next urban garden mission?