Inspiration, Gardens and Determination = Mobilegro

Guest blog post submitted by:

Angela Dimaggio, Inventor of Mobilegro

When I moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Phoenix, Arizona in 1971, I was amazed at the year round growing seasons here. Snow back home, citrus on the trees here. We purchased our home in Arizona and turned the entire backyard into a massive garden. We grew everything, even planted 30 zucchini plants; what a mistake! Even planted peanuts. You name it I had it growing in my backyard.

Within a few years I went through a divorce and landed in a condo with a cement patio for a yard….gone was my beautiful garden. I sat at my teacher desk and drew out my idea to still have some kind of garden ability even if people were dealing with the same problem, limited space, no land, no anything. I drew out Mobilegro, sketches on a piece of paper ( no name at that time).

I put the paper in my desk and said to myself, when I retire I want someone to build this for me. In 2007 I retired from teaching and was cleaning out my desk for the last time. I was shedding a tear because I thought I couldn’t live without the energy of all my high school students around me and my sketches and drawings for Mobilegro fell back into my lap.

I revised the drawings with more sophistication, did the initial patent myself and MOBILEGRO was born. Five versions, two trademarks, 22 domains in 9 countries today. My Linkedin account went from 25 to 1100. People from Australia to Denmark want the Mobilegro product.

I need to mention that many manufacturers blew this old lady off, didn’t pay any attention to me or my product and
it was like climbing mount Everest with a toothpick. I persevered no matter what and here I am today helping people who have lost their homes and who lost their gardens just like I did.

Mobilegro will allow people everywhere regardless of space constraints to once again enjoy gardening. I made it to help people…..and it is doing just that!

Update 04.15.2012:
Mobilegro featured in Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine, April 2012 Picks for the Gardener feature! Congratulations Angela on another incredible achievement!

Demirel Rooftop Garden: Red Hook, Brooklyn

Real People with Rooftop Gardens Series

There is not a day that goes go by, that we do not invite our readers to send us their story. Some folks do. All we ask for is a short story and pictures of the project. Well, the Demirel Family Garden delivered. We call this one, “Let’s talk organized and methodical rooftop container gardeners!” We love what this family has done with their outdoor space in Brooklyn, NY. It is so very inspiring.

Story and Photos by: JoJo Demirel

Just under 2 years ago my husband and I moved into a house with lots of outdoor space in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn.

I always wanted a garden so the first order of business was to put up a greenhouse on one of the terraces. We had great success with the first year’s crop of tomatoes, peppers and herbs. We knew we wanted to stay organic so we used organic soil, compost, fertilizer and seed.

This year we have expanded our growing area to all 3 terraces and the rooftop! We have added lettuce varieties, carrots, swiss chard, cucumbers for pickling, zucchini, eggplant and new varieties of herbs in addition to our tomato and pepper plants.

We have been able to keep up with the production by canning, freezing and otherwise preserving the yield as well as giving out baskets of veggies and herbs to friends and family. Ultimately, our goal is to develop a catering company and supplement it with produce from our garden as well as to connect with foragers who have contracts with local restaurants and food trucks.

The moral of our story is that it is totally possible to have your own rooftop food garden and we hope our story inspires other people to do the same.

~The Demirel Family

Let’s Build an FAQ – Rooftop Garden, Green Roof, Green Wall

It amazes me the number of questions I hear about the misunderstood subject of rooftop gardens, or green roofs, or green walls. People are intrigued as to how they really work. Those in the building industry are even stumped on this subject. Quite frankly it is truly misunderstood and that is the entire purpose of this website and blog.

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