At the end of May, the owner of the urban garden on the rooftop of Fidelity Bank’s new parking garage was excitedly planning for the project’s future.
Leah Dannar-Garcia, 65, was about to open the microfarm on Market between Waterman and English — named Rise Farms — to the public for the first time as part of a one-day Herb Fest that would allow people to see all 15,000 square feet of the operation and its rows and rows of raised beds sprouting with asparagus, strawberries, pears, cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, herbs and lettuce.
Her plans for the near future, she said, included adding you-pick programs at the farm, growing the roster of local restaurants that purchased its fresh veggies, and making her produce more available to local buyers through her online Food Hub.
Now, less than three months later, the rooftop farm is closed. So is Dannar-Garcia’s other business — Firefly Farm at 15615 E. 21st St., which she’d run as a commercial farm since 2015. The online Food Hub also has ceased operation…