When a chef and an engineer join forces, it can be a recipe for a rooftop garden. At least, this has been the case in one Bronx nursing home.

For about four years, several employees at St. Patrick’s Rehabilitation and Health Center, a skilled nursing facility in Van Cortlandt Village, have grown vegetables and spices out of buckets placed on the roof at 66 Van Cortlandt Park So.

The home was founded in 1931 by seven women who would eventually become sisters affiliated with the Carmelite Order. The facility provides 24-hour nursing care and religious support services regardless of a resident’s denomination.

The green roof at St. Patrick’s, a rare sight in the Bronx, was initially started for recreational use, but has now grown to accommodate the growth of scallions, mint, and lemongrass–just some of the ingredients the kitchen crew adds to some of their daily dishes. It’s also saved the home money.

In a borough where fresh options are scant, Frank LaFranco, director of engineering at St. Patrick’s, maintenance employee James Brady, and HVAC Supervisor Martin Feeney, have made it possible to access eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, and more via a quick elevator ride, as opposed to a trip to a produce market.

“The first year I got here I saw a couple of planters on the roof that weren’t being used and me and another maintenance guy, James Brady, put a couple of tomato plants in the planter,” said Feeney. “Then I got potato buckets and filled them with dirt from the woods near my house because I wanted to make a hot pepper sauce.”

Coincidentally, Cecilia Moy, dining services director at St. Patrick’s, had previously been enthralled with the idea of urban farming and self-sustainability after reading a New York Times article on the topic. The article had inspired her to grow her own garden out of her own balcony in her Westchester County home.

Moy spoke with LaFranco about the already existing garden and suggested purchasing more buckets, soil, and seeds to increase the yield of the garden to include herbs and vegetables that could be used in the kitchen’s dishes.

Feeney was keen on the idea. “She was like, she would like to grow her own herbs for the kitchen and I said that’s fine, you get the materials and we’ll take care of it. We’ll make sure it’s watered and everything.”

The rooftop garden at St. Patrick’s has become a communal effort. When Feeney, LaFranco, or Brady are not around to water the produce, mainly on weekends, security and cleaners have no problem taking on the job.

Moy hopes to see the garden grow, with more space and crops, and determine ways to include the residents in the gardening process.

“We want to do something to save the earth, to be more [environmentally]-friendly and this is something that we can do,” she said.

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.