Swale: A Floating Food Forest

City-Kid Review:

Why is it on a boat?
Me: I’m not sure. Why do you think?
Because they can?
Me: Yeah, maybe. Maybe it’s the future?
The future is a boat? Can I live on it?

As we are an average City Kid family living in Manhattan, we have no private access to grass and little opportunity for growing our own veggies. We have a windowsill garden.

My Grandad, in England, converted two-thirds of his Council House* backgarden* into a vegetable patch. He grew all of their vegetables and had plenty to spare. Even though I personally preferred to eat my Nana’s deep fried egg and chips* – who wouldn’t – I adored harvesting, particularly the runner beans and I definitely understood the connection between the earth and the food on our plates.

I think it’s important for City Kid to know where food comes from. That salad leaves actually grow in soil rather than appearing on a supermarket shelf; that traditional Pesto Sauce is made with a plant called basil which needs to be grown, and that it needs clean water, clean air, sunlight and, yes, soil to do so.  Consequently, I try to spend a lot of time in growing environments. Plus, we grow a lot of basil on our windowsill.

I wrote recently about a rooftop urban farm. Yet another example of New Yorkers’ ingenuity, Swale  is described as a ‘floating food forest’. It is an urban garden on a boat which includes all sorts of harvestable fruit, veggies and herbs. ‘Can I show you our peaches?’ enthused the Swale horticulturalist taking me on a tour of the boat-garden. Real, organic peaches. Growing on a boat.

Only in New York. Right?

As you wander around the tiny arable city farm, it is easy to forget you are on a boat. That is, until the ground moves beneath your feet as the barge bobs and sways with the currents of the water. Or you look up from smelling  a lemon balm leaf and take in the enormous Manhattan skyline.

Is this a vision of our future? As tides rise and the weather becomes more predictable? The project was first created by artist, Mary Mattingly in 2016, when she created a Concrete Plant Park in the South Bronx which is described on their website as ‘one of the largest food deserts in the United States.’ It is important. And I deeply admire Swale’s and Ms Mattingly’s idea to advocate for growing food in NYC. Why not?

For the record, Swale had chickens at the start of the season. Four of them. But it was too hot for them on the boat, poor things, so the Swale folks found other homes for them. It is pretty hot out there.

*’Translations’ (just for fun):
English-English        American-English
Council House   =    Public Housing
Backgarden         =    Back Yard
Chips                       =     French Fries

Need to Knows:

Swale is free.
Open Thurs-Sun, noon-6pm.
And, yes, kids can harvest food from the farm. Adults, too.

Location: Brooklyn Pier 6. Closest subways, 2/3 Clark Street.
It is quite a walk from the subway station. Walk down Henry street (away from Brooklyn Bridge) until you get to Joralemon Street. Walk down the hill towards the water, under the freeway, and you come to Brooklyn Bridge Park. Turn left and you’ll see the barge on your right.

Bathrooms are located underneath Fornino’s just past the barge on your right. Fornino’s is the closes place to eat. It is a pizza restaurant and looked quite good. There is an Ample Hills ice cream stand which is open Fri-Sun.

They run interesting classes on the weekends. You can check them out, here.

Swale runs until June 30th.

Top-Tip

There is very little shade so make sure you wear a hat and sunblock. If you have time, you can check out the volleyball courts and/or the amazing Pier 6 playgrounds.

Have fun!

Have you been to Swale? Any thoughts you can share? Please post in the comments below.

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