TIME Hotels introduces first urban rooftop garden in UAE

TIME Hotels has launched the UAE’s first Urban Rooftop Garden to provide better nutrition and health for the community and help people connect with nature. Lemongrass, mint, Indian borage, oregano, basil, cucumber, zucchini, capsicum, baby marrow, pineapple, bitter gourd, sweet potatoes, garlic and pumpkin are among the vegetables and herbs being grown at the UAE’s first ever urban rooftop garden in TECOM, Dubai. The TIME Urban Garden project, located at TIME Oak Hotel & Suites, is designed to educate people of all ages about the upkeep and care of a living garden. The concept, inaugurated last month, is built around the principles of the slow food movement, which champions “good, clean and fair food” for consumers and producers thanks to high quality, natural and fairy priced goods for all. The Urban Garden grows organic, heirloom vegetables, herbs and fruit from seed or stem propagation, without the use of chemicals and industrially produced pesticides. All work is carried out by volunteers from Slow Food Dubai, the first of its kind in the GCC, aided by TIME Oak engineering, food and beverage staff and chefs. Indeed, the TIME team was trained directly by the founder of Slow Food Dubai, Laura Allais. The first harvest took place in December 2015, producing a selection of herbs such as basil, oregano and lemongrass. At present cucumber, zucchini flowers, bitter gourd, capsicum, cucumber, sweet potatoes are being picked. Slow food fans can taste the harvest via TIME Oak Hotel & Suites’ Petals restaurant, which offers selected items on the buffet menu. “Introducing the Urban Garden project to TIME Oak Hotel & Suites allows us to provide high quality food with a flavorful taste that is fairly priced and produced and transported in a responsible way,” said Mohammad Awadalla, CEO, TIME Hotels Management. “It is in line with our ethos of making space available that would otherwise be underutilized. Although there is an initial investment form our side, the cost of implementing the rooftop garden is far outweighed by the social and environmental benefits which will be felt for years to come,” he added. Now, with summer approaching, the TIME team is busy installing sunshades to allow the soil to rest and prepare the seedling house for the next season. — SG