NYC's Urban Farming Style Shop

Urban farming is hotter than hot. Therefore it is not a surprise that the first DIY urban farming/gardening store in New York City is a huge succes. City Hydroponic is a full service shop that offers a complete range of gardening products for indoor as well as outdoor gardeners and farmers. The shop has all what it takes to grow fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in the Big Apple. Whether you want innovative aeroponics or hydroponics growing kits, hi-tech gardening equipment for intricate green roofing systems and indoor grow room to a plain old fashion dirt and guano for a modest apartment window box, the store carries a wide variety of the leading brands in grow lights, reflectors and plant nutrients.

Initiatives such as City Hydroponic could indicate that the urban farming trend becomes mature. This way of producing food goes beyond the current “I live in the big city but pretend to be a farmer” hype. In essence, effective urban farming should use other growing techniques compared to regular farming, mainly because of the available space. City Hydroponic offers the possibilty to stretch perspectives from allotments with carrots to new production methods. Shop owner, urban gardening enthusiast and entrepreneur Aaron Moore believes that good food is essential for urban communities. Therefore he hopes to stimulate the production of healthy and sustainably produced food. By starting two local food producers stores in low income neighborhoods in New York City, Moore hopes to raise awareness for the production of food.

The idea for City Hydroponic is based on Moore’s frustration about the poor dietary habits in his neighborhood and the city at large. “In the communities that we are in there is an abundance of food but there is not an abundance of quality food,” he says in an interview with Cool Hunting. The strategy comes down to bringing the quality of food back to the masses by starting to build a DIY chain of producers in the neighborhood. At the same time, his agenda includes increasing knowledge about where your food comes from.

Moore is a source of inspiration to many of New York’s local gardeners. He does not only sell a wide range of gardening gadgets that make urban farmers get crazy, but he also inspires local communities by organizing free sessions in his two shops in Brooklyn and the Bronx. The sessions regard main principals underlying urban gardening and the concept of Moore’s strore hydroponic farming (growing solely with water and no soil) and aeroponic farming (spraying exposed root systems with a nutrient mist). The sessions proceed with a complete set of tips on how to produce and maintain a complete functional farm. With the products and courses of City Hydroponic a farm can be made at any urban location ranging from a studio apartment to a suburban home. Explains Cool Hunting:

“The shops are fully committed to the craft, stocking the highest tech tools in the trade. They offer a full line of fluorescent, HID, metal halide and high-pressure sodium lights, full hydroponics and aeroponics systems, nutrients, fertilizers and knowledgeable employees who will gladly explain everything from potting soil to building drainage systems.”