A colorful array of dahlias, zinnias, maroon-colored chocolate cosmos and perennial greenery adorn the top of 15 apartments in Berkeley, three blocks off bustling Telegraph Avenue. They're there because of Joanna Letz, who runs her rooftop flower farm, Bluma Farm, in the unique spot.
Letz, who grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, started farming in 2008. At first, she worked for farms like Slide Ranch in Muir Beach. She then launched her own business in fall 2014, roughly 30 miles southeast of Berkeley in Sunol. There, farmland is plentiful, and the soil is fertile enough that all you need to do is "stick plants in the ground" and they grow, she said.
But Letz found it difficult to feel rooted in the community where she lived because of her 50-minute commute to work. In 2019, she made the difficult decision to move her farm to 2201 Dwight Way, a 6-story apartment building a few blocks south of the UC Berkeley campus. Benjamin Fahrer designed the rooftop garden with the intent of feeding building residents, mostly students, with food from it. But plans to hire a farmer fell through. He connected with Letz, and she moved her farm in.
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