Greenpoint Kids Build Vertical Garden Farm with Help from Solar One and SYSTEM Program

Image: Teenagers in Greenpoint's SYSTEM program construct a vertical garden.

Submitted by Samuel Bendett

inhabitat.com - September 10th, 2012 - Jamie Hall

While other youngsters spent the summer playing video games, the kids in Greenpoint’s SYSTEM program (Summer Youth in Science Technology Engineering and Math) were able to accomplish a feat most adults have never even tried – building a vertical garden farm from scratch. The industrious teens were led by Solar One educator Joe Chavez as part of a summer educational internship sponsored by the Greenpoint YMCA, the NYU Wallerstein Collaborative and ExxonMobil, and learned how to build a flourishing urban farm for the space-strapped Lentol Garden in their Brooklyn neighborhood. Students worked to maximize growing space in a small area, creating a thriving home for enthusiastic climbers like strawberries, mint, basil and flowering perennials.

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