Deborah Gavito and Donna Binder, co-owners of the East Village vegetarian restaurant Counter, use 54 rooftop planters on top of their fifth-floor walk-up to grow the herbs and organic produce that appear on their menu daily.

The garden, which was featured in The New York Times Real Estate section on June 27th, 2004, is now overflowing with orange verbena, lemon grass, chocolate mint, dill, chervil, rosemary and chives, and fruits and vegetables including chocolate peppers, chili peppers, tatsoi, strawberries, lettuces, and 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.

Though this type of rooftop garden does not have the full environmental benefits of a green roof, the Gavito and Binder garden demonstrates the potential of growing edible plants on rooftops. Groups in Canada, such as FoodShare and the Fairmont Hotel, have experimented with using green roofs for agricultural production. Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver estimates that its green roof has produced $30,000 (CDN) worth of herbs and produce in a year. Here in New York City, Eli Zabar grows fresh herbs and mesclun in greenhouses on top of his store on 91st Street and is able to supply produce for his market and restaurant. At Earth Pledge, we use our green roof to grow produce used for staff meals and cooking classes.