Here’s what’s been happening up in Cork’s first Rooftop Farm
It’s been pretty quiet down here.
Meanwhile, up above the Cork city streets in an idyllic private slice of earthy paradise, the owners of Cork’s first Rooftop Farm have been enjoying some very exciting developments indeed.
The last time we met Brian McCarthy and his partner Thay Carlos, they had just started the gargantuan task of arranging 20 tonnes of topsoil into 12 raised beds for planting spuds, carrots, lettuce, turnips, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, parsnips and almost every other variety of vegetable you can fathom.
Four weeks in and the first seedlings, which started life in the rooftop polytunnel, have been planted. The first crops on the go are radishes and beans, which are thriving, despite being many storeys above the earth.
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“We saw some great growth in the polytunnel,” Brian told podcast listeners. “An awful lot of what’s in the polytunnel is now ready to be transplanted outside.
“Our week was pretty busy, we’ve got pretty much all the raised beds done now at this point.”
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When the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted, Brian and Thay will be inviting visitors to check out their rooftop farm, which will soon be home to Cork’s first rooftop chickens. The fresh produce grown on the site will also be sold to locals.
If you’d like to follow the urban farmers’ progress, check out their twice-weekly podcast here or follow the project on Facebook.
