Alex Dorfman is a FLM intern and Sophomore at Tufts University. She is majoring in English and is an op-ed contributor to the Tufts Daily. Her favorite pastimes include horseback riding, reading, and eating cupcakes.
Whenever I visit home, people have two questions for me: do you like college? and are you seeing anyone? The answer to the first question is always, yes, I love school, while the response to the latter has lately been, no, I’m not. I thought people would be happy when they found out how much I loved my school, but for some reason, they all seem focused on my relationship status. My negative response causes them to smile pityingly and say, “Don’t worry, you’ll meet someone,” leaving me wondering what I did to deserve such a halfhearted pep talk.
By Alex Dorfman
Both co-founders come from outdoorsy families, who also provide immense support. Katrina, who hails from California, grew up weeding her parents’ garden on the weekends. She then attended University of Santa Barbara, where she says there were “fruit trees on every corner.” As a result, Katrina grew up being really used to just picking something and eating it right away. The food situation, she says, was quite different when she moved to New York. (Not too many fruit trees on these city streets!)
In New York City, urban farms can be found in the most unlikely places. As New Yorkers become more conscious of the food they consume, enterprises like Tinyfield Roofhop Farm are thriving in the Big City, dotting the gray urban landscape with shocks of green.
Tinyfield Roofhop Farm sits atop an old pharmaceutical factory in Bed-Stuy. At Tinyfield, micro-radishes and micro-cilantro grow side-by-side on the floor of a greenhouse. Hop plants, a key flavoring agent in beer, reach for sun, wrapping themselves around long ropes that hang from an old warehouse. The iconic skyline of Manhattan peeks over the farm’s western wall.
Every morning, Tinyfield co-founders Katrina Ceguera, 25, and Keely Gerhold, 29, water the hop plants peppering the ex-factory’s vast roof. Other daily chores include making potting soil mix, pruning hops, and seeding microgreens, which have more flavor and nutritional value than their fully-grown counterparts. (The micro radishes made me exclaim, “Wow! That little thing packs a punch!”) They then ride bicycles to hand-deliver samples to local breweries and restaurants.
side-by-side on the floor of a greenhouse. Hop plants, a key flavoring agent in beer, reach for sun, wrapping themselves around long ropes that hang from an old warehouse. The iconic skyline of Manhattan peeks over the farm’s western wall.
Every morning, Tinyfield co-founders Katrina Ceguera, 25, and Keely Gerhold, 29, water the hop plants peppering the ex-factory’s vast roof. Other daily chores include making potting soil mix, pruning hops, and seeding microgreens, which have more flavor and nutritional value than their fully-grown counterparts. (The micro radishes made me exclaim, “Wow! That little thing packs a punch!”) They then ride bicycles to hand-deliver samples to local breweries and restaurants.
Little Farm,
Big Ideas
by June Jennings
June Jennings is a recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied anthropology, art history, and writing. She currently interns at The Investigative Fund in New York City.