Welcome to our rooftop garden in Jersey City, New Jersey!
We're a family of four with a passion for plants and good food. We moved to the US from Switzerland in 2021 and landed in an apartment building just across the Hudson from Manhattan. Not much space, but that didn't hold us back. A few weeks after moving in, we realized our communal rooftop was the perfect spot for an urban garden.
Over the next few months we bought planters, set up a compost station, hauled up bags of soil, and grew our first batch of tomatoes, lettuce, squash and Swiss chard, with a cheerful smattering of cosmos for color. Today it's our own little botanical sanctuary, and our kids get to plant seeds and grow fresh food with their own hands.
But a small space means every planter counts, and that turned out to be harder than it looked. Our tomatoes exploded, then faded, and half the planter sat empty for the rest of the season. Our Swiss chard thrived one year and barely made it past seedling the next. And our mint looked sad until we moved it next to the tomatoes, where it suddenly took off.
So I set out to build something fun to play with that would help us plan our next season: what to plant and when, what grows well together, when to harvest, and how to get the most out of a small plot from spring to fall. Understory was born!
A few friends started using it, and we realized we didn't want to keep it to ourselves. Gardens bring peace, a connection to nature, and a wonderful excuse to bring family and friends together. Whether you have acres of land, a backyard, or just a few planters on a rooftop, everyone deserves the joy of growing something.
We hope you have as much fun using Understory as we had building it. Happy planting!
Andreas & Anna 🌱