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