Kale from Queens, Beets from Brooklyn

P.F.1 (Public Farm One), 2008. WORKac. Photo: Elizabeth Felicella. Courtesy P.S.1 Contemporary Center

Seen here is the awesomeness of P.F. 1, the sustainable urban garden project now in its final days at the P.S. 1 art center in Queens. The project comes from the imaginations of Amale Andraos and Dan Wood. P.F. 1, winners of MoMA’s Young Architects Program, and is described in amazing detail on its website and this Times article. In a nutshell, however, P.S. 1 is a miniature farm constructed completely from recyclable materials: chiefly 260 gargantuan paper towel-esque industrial tubes. Andraos and Wood conjoined and converted them into working planters, building the tubes out to form a wavy plane that swoops up over a P.S. 1 wall brimming with things like beets, kale, and dill. Now at the end of the season, the plants are still growing, seemingly creeping off toward the sides of One Court Square just down the block, Day of the Triffids style. Also integral to P.F. 1’s design are rainwater collection and solar power systems, a tiny kiddie pool, and four chickens.

An event celebrating P.F. 1 a few weeks ago featured Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony handing out farm vegetable skewers. Museum-goers ate radishes in the dark; word got out that P.F. 1’s final harvest was going to be the best one yet. Show up Sunday afternoon for some tube-grown vegetables from Queens!

Another harvest festival is in Brooklyn tomorrow. This one’s at Added Value, the farm featured in the Spring issue of Edible Brooklyn. Come for the local, organically farmed food; stay for the spoken word and face painting.

Red Hook Harvest Festival // Saturday, 10:30am-5pm // Added Value // Red Hook
Final Harvest, P.F. 1 // Sunday, 12-6pm // P.S.1 // Long Island City