Karen Miltner

Staff writer

Farmers have generally been thought of as down-to-earth people. But the people behind Southern Exposure City Farms are challenging that notion, claiming to be Rochester's first-ever rooftop farming operation. The new venture is led by urban planner Laura Fox, 28, and her boyfriend, Marty O'Sullivan, 29, the Marty's Meats food truck operator. They're growing heirloom tomatoes, peppers, salad greens, herbs and other specialty produce several stories above street level on top of a parking garage off Monroe Avenue near the Inner Loop. For security purposes, Southern Exposure is not identifying the exact location publicly. Marty's Meats employees Andre Linares and Paul Koecheler are also partners.

The vegetables are being sold to Marty's Meats, Aunt Rosie's and a few other restaurants, with plans to expand into retail sales via pop-up farm stand events, says O'Sullivan. He also sold Southern Exposure produce at Wednesday's Food Truck Rodeo at the Rochester Public Market.

Fox, whose day job at Bergmann Associates explains the high-heeled shoes and mini-skirt she wore to Southern Exposure's private reception earlier this week, volunteered on organic farms in Hawaii and Serbia through WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) programs, and she worked at Wegmans Organic Farm in Canandaigua before getting a master's degree in urban planning at Tufts University. She masterminds the gardening aspects of the business while O'Sullivan handles sales and logistics.

The idea for the business started when O'Sullivan realized he wanted more locally sourced ingredients for his sandwich-based food truck.

The couple knew from the start they wanted an urban farming operation in the city. They initially looked into empty lots around Rochester, but concerns about soil contamination made them redirect their efforts.

Fox was familiar with other rooftop gardens and urban agriculture projects in Boston, Montreal and Chicago, so the two approached Buckingham Properties about possible rooftop venues in the city.

Buckingham was very receptive to the idea and suggested a few other buildings before they all settled on the underused parking garage, which is ideal for several reasons.

First, a site must have the load capacity to support the weight of soil and plants that grow heavier after watering.

Second, the site must be accessible. Third, a rooftop garden must have good drainage and water.

"You see these projects in Brooklyn or Detroit or Montreal that repurpose buildings not being used. The load capacity is often poor," says O'Sullivan. "With the parking garage, it holds cars, so no worries with load capacity."

The parking garage also has drainage and a water line to the top floor.

A structural engineer signed off on the garage before any planting began.

Fox started all the vegetables by seed in a greenhouse before transplanting them into used food-service buckets and kiddie pools with organic soil from Lighthouse Gardens in Honeoye Falls and organic fertilizer from Worm Power in Avon. Many plantings sit on plastic bakery racks to allow for drainage, while some herbs and edible flowers grow vertically from pallets leaning against a wall.

While urban gardening seven stories up bypasses some challenges of conventional growing, it brings on others, notes O'Sullivan. For example, even with walls surrounding the garage, the wind is much fiercer, and Southern Exposure's tomato plants need firm stakes to keep from toppling over.

The concrete surroundings absorb a lot more heat and reflect a lot of light, which is great for certain plants such as tomatoes, not so good for others, such as greens and lettuces. And because evaporation is greater in containers, and with more wind, watering is a daily requirement — unless Mother Nature fills in.

Despite the wind, the tomatoes are doing extremely well, while the kale is not as robust as it could be, notes Fox.

Pollinating bees have already scouted out the farm. To date, Fox has seen just one lady bug.

"The goal this year is to really figure out if we can do this, and to learn about varieties," Fox says.

She deliberately selected crops that have a high market value and low weight. Cabbage, which does not bring in a lot of revenue, and watermelon, which takes up a lot of space and is heavy, did not make the list.

Buckingham Properties supports the project with a $1 goodwill lease. Southern Exposure pays for its water.

"It does not cost us anything, and it's part of Buckingham's push for sustainability issues and its desire to be a good neighbor," says Ken Glazer, director of development and architectural services and a partner at Buckingham."This is a good trend and we are glad to be a part of it."

While Rochester currently has a lot of open space surrounding it, that could change in the future, making rooftop space more valuable for food production as it has become in larger cities, he adds.

Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a non-for-profit industry association that supports urban agriculture endeavors, estimates there are about 20 commercial rooftop farming operations in the country. The largest is Brooklyn Grange, a 2.5-acre farm that produces organic vegetables on top of two different buildings in Brooklyn and Long Island City.

Next year, Southern Exposure may expand to other locations, on ground or above. It may also build more permanent structures such as raised beds to grow crops.

Paul Vroman, executive chef at Aunt Rosie's, has been pleased with the tomatoes he buys from Southern Exposure, which were ready weeks earlier than other locally grown tomatoes.

"The price is on par with other local farms. But these are really good," he says.

Urban farming in Rochester

While Southern Exposure City Farms may be the first to take farming to new heights, there are others who have broken ground on urban farming. Here are a few:

Lexington Avenue Urban Farm: This 1-acre (and expanding) farm, run by Foodlink in partnership with Mary's Place, has converted an old subway bed into a community garden for about 40 Burmese and Nepali refugee families. It includes a hoop house where starter plants are grown.

Rochester Roots Urban Farm Share CSA: Rochester Roots' community supported agriculture program grows a portion of its produce at the Clara Barton School No. 2 Urban Farm.

In the City Off the Grid: This sustainable design firm's projects in the works include City Farm, a hydroponic greenhouse and aquaponic system for lettuce and fish behind the Greenhouse Café on East Main Street, and Live Neutral Farm on Plover Street.