Swale

Swale: a Floating Food Forest, conceived by Mary Mattingly and created with an interdisciplinary team of collaborators, has visited waterfront parks in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Governors Island. In each location the fully planted barge with irrigation and solar systems provides visitors with free, healthy fruits and vegetables. It has been open to visitors on weekends and free workshops are offered for people to have access to forage for fresh food such as broccoli, kale, bok choy, tomatoes, blueberries, peaches, native plums, and apples as well as a wide variety of medicinal and culinary herbs. This year from May through July it is located at the Brooklyn Army Terminal before transitioning to a land-based site on Governors Island. Last year it visited Concrete Plant Park on the Bronx River and continues to collaborate with local stakeholders on the development of a land-based Foodway, NYC Parks’ first 24-hour entirely public edible landscape. More public edible spaces are being planned for other locations as a result of Swale. Mary Mattingly initiated the project in 2016 with a grant from A Blade of Grass and a crowdfunding campaign. Through a residency from NYC’s Urban Field Station, plants and healthy soil were procured and a team of specialists brought the project to life. Swale works to change perceptions and policies in order to increase responsible uses of edible perennial landscapes.