A Living Roof in Green Bay

St Mary's Hospital Living Roof. A 22,000 sq.ft space with 16,000 sq.ft of living plants.
This roof has both aesthetic and environmental benefits.
The area is open to anyone - drop by for a visit.
The sedums and alums are grown in trays in a very porous soil mix and are thriving.

At home, this eggplant was a little too bitter for a second trial.
This is a little pepper but it packs a lot of heat units.
This was last weeks ending pepper harvest.
The potato harvest out in the sun to dry before storage.
On a recent Door County bike ride we saw this amazing mushroom tree.

This weeks mystery plants - grown from germinated seeds in a fruit.

Recently my garden club visited the "Living Roof" at St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center at 1726 Shawano Ave. in Green Bay. This is the largest living roof north of Chicago covering apx. 22,000 square feet. This roof is in part of the mission of this hospital to respect "not only people but the environment we live in." I was really delighted to see this structure. Corrine Vercauteren spoke to the group about the reasons and benefits of this roof. She is the person in charge of the Environmental Service for St. Mary's. The Sedum and Alum species that grow on the roof are well suited to the zone 4 conditions they endure. Additionally the roof collects 99 percent of the rain that falls on the roof and diverts the water to two cisterns for later use and use in the other gardens that surround this hospital.
The roof was planted in trays and notably, should the hospital decide to build on this site, the roof can be removed and reused atop any future construction. This was truly a well thought out project and has many advantages as compared to a conventional asphalt roof; especially in that this roof will outlast an asphalt roof. St Mary's Hospital is working hard to fulfill its environmental stewardship role and definitely demonstrates "Reverence for the Earth".
If you are ever in the area stop by and take a look at this structure - it is well worth your time.
We are possibly looking at frost soon so the last of crops have been harvested. Potatoes were dug yesterday and the last of the egg plants were harvested and eaten tonight. The fig tree is in the green house and will probably go from there to the basement for its winter sleep. Today there were 8 rip figs - what a great treat. The apples are going to stay on the trees as long as possible. Last year I picked them all and was not happy that some of them were not as mature as another week or two would have produced. This year I am resisting the urge to harvest at the threat of frost and will wait till really dangerous low temperatures threaten. That should allow the late fruit to mature and store better. Besides the fruit seems to just taste better when it comes right off the tree.

Happy Gardening