the 'before' view of the greenhouse at SALT future home of the Istanbul Rooftop Hothouse

…is the next edition in the series of Edible Estates gardens which I have come here to begin work on (housed in a spacious airy new greenhouse on the top floor of the beautifully renovated six floor home for the new center for contemporary art SALT Beyoğlu opening on Apri 8th on Istanbul’s central pedestrian street of İstiklal Caddesi), which should be a casual laboratory for cultivating a diversity of edibles and modest year-round urban gardening activity; a handmade environment gradually evolving over time created with locally scavenged materials for SALT staff and visitors to inhabit as a green living room and gardening retreat; an occasional headquarters and seed-starting facility for local urban farming groups – including the fantastic Sinek Sekiz, who I just met with this afternoon. (more on Edible Estate #11: Istanbul, Turkey, opening mid-September)