Research Green Roof Thriving at CSU Spur Campus
Sourced from Colorado State University
More than a hundred pounds of tomatoes. Forty-eight pounds of cucumbers. Nearly 20 pounds of basil, dill, cilantro, and other herbs.
In all, the research green roof at the CSU System Spur campus has now produced 204.5 pounds of produce in its initial growing season at the recently opened Terra building.
This harvest has already bolstered deliveries for local families participating in a food access program administered by The GrowHaus. For Jennifer Bousselot, an assistant professor of horticulture at CSU and lead designer of the research green roof, it is also providing an exciting glimpse at how urban rooftops might be transformed in coming years into productive gardens that can help feed, inspire, and inform surrounding communities.
“This is the largest publicly accessible green roof research space that we know about,” Bousselot said. “To be able to do this research in Colorado’s biggest city is incredible.”
The green roof, open to Spur visitors during the campus’s regular operating hours, currently has four sections, including a 576-square-foot food production area that contains a “salsa garden” replete with tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, and chives, as well as nasturtiums, which add their edible, orangey-red petals to the mix.
Three other sections are exploring different types of plants and how they respond to the weather extremes of a Denver rooftop.
From the Living Architecture Monitor
