Northshore Magazine

November 2014

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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cakes for all occasions & fresh cupcakes daily 978.465.6057 | eatcakeonline.com 6 Inn Street, Newburyport celebrate the moment Agriculture ne 110 They used a roof system manufactured by American Hydrotech, Inc., which provides a barrier for the farm without protruding into the building's waterproofing. (In fact, Winterer says, waterproofing typically lasts twice as long on buildings equipped with green roofs.) Approxi- mately 324 tons of growing material—a wind-resistant composite of shale, sand, compost, and a soil amendment called biochar—is layered over filter fabric and formed into 10-inch mounds. Because roots can spread out without the constraints of a container, the crops themselves are healthier and drought tolerant. When things do dry out, a smart irrigation system that calculates wind, humidity, temperature, and other environmental factors goes to work. "Luckily, Lynnfield gets about 50 inches of rain each year," Winterer says. Near the end of the more-than-year-long design process, a mix-up over a critical calculation called the project's fu- ture into question. "I remember sitting at a huge table with about a dozen architects and engineers trying to tell Whole Foods not to do the rooftop farm," Winterer says. "But they didn't falter: Whole Foods challenged them to go outside their comfort zone and find a way to incorporate this new Earth and Sky: Laura Feddersen of Green City Growers designed the garden once the space was engineered.

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