Uncommon Ground operates a community-based restaurant and advocates the principles of local, sustainable and organically-produced food. Its Rooftop Farm, Chicago’s first certified organic roof top farm, is a long-term organic gardening program that they hope will be used as a model for other roof top gardens and farms in comparable environments. It is 2,500 square feet and rises 30 feet above Devon Avenue on the north side of Chicago.

The Rooftop Farm features 28 raised bed planter boxes that hold a total of 640 square feet of organic soil (nearly 6 tons), growing ingredients for the restaurant, including Nardello Peppers to Black Prince Tomatoes . The planter boxes rest on top of a deck that is made entirely out of a recycled plastic and wood composite material, making it durable to the daily duties of farming.

Not only do Uncommon Ground staff grow vegetables on the roof, they also employ five solar panels that heat up to 50 percent of the water for the restaurant, house four beehives that will eventually produce over 200 pounds of honey, and teach urban agriculture classes to local school groups of all ages, ranging from grade school to grad school.