Tuesday, August 15, 2017

August 9, 2017

FIELD TRIP! Today we had a horticulture field trip. We got to go on a tour of the Javits Center's green roof. It is the largest green roof in New York City and the second largest green roof in the U.S. The green roof was added a few years ago during a massive renovation to make the building more environmentally friendly. The garden on the top is really big and covered in a bunch of different types of sedum, a low growing plant that is very good at absorbing water. This was a bit unexpected, a lot of use were expecting to see a garden like we work on every week, with flowers and plants, but the purpose of this green roof is to absorb water and keep the temperature of the building lower, which sedum is apparently very good at. The roof is also home to lots of birds, and as such, you can see lots of bones from different animals that birds have eaten on the roof. Kinda creepy, but really interesting.

We only saw half of the Javits Center's green roof, the other half is where they keep bees. They are hoping to harvest their first honey this fall, and plan to use it in the building's cafeteria - pretty cool.

After the tour, we got to see a bit more of the building. Workers were getting ready for a big exposition, so there was lots of activity in the main hall. We also got to see the main entrance, which they call the crystal palace.

After the Javits Center, we crossed the street to visit a bit of the High Line and enjoy our lunch. Most of us on the trip had never visited the High Line before, so that was fun. And after lunch, we all got ice pops - mine was raspberry hibiscus - before it was time to go home. 









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