Germany urban agriculture and GILA word of the week: Klein Gartens

Over the past few months I have spied an increase in articles referencing "Klein Gardens".
Like this one: "In Germany, the Klein Garten movement, translated as “little garden,” planted the seeds of urban farming. There are now about 1 million such gardens across the country."
Or this one. Both times it seems Klein Gartens are mentioned with another country in Asia.

Well, with a little help from Wikipedia I found out Klein Gartens are the European equivalent to allotment gardens and have been around for a long time. So maybe North Americans have much to learn from the Germans about not just green roofs.

GILA (green infrastructure living architecture) word of the week: Foodtech Startup

-What is a Foodtech Startup? I am so glad that you asked!

-The American Planning Association released a tasty report entitled "Planning for Food Access and Community-Based Food Systems" a couple of weeks ago. Evaluating over 21 plans from around the US, it is a great tool for other municipalities.

-Here's a short audio report on aquaponics being embraced by Vietnamese-American farmers in New Orleans in the wake of the BP Oil Spill, which, as I learned today, may still be leaking!

-The enormously contentious fight appears to be over as Hantz Farms in Detroit finally got their land.

-And I present to you a little video on the future of farming to wrap up the day!

Holiday songs - 2012

Hopefully you and yours are taking a break this week! 

Enjoy!!!

Vince Guaraldi Trio - What Child is This?
Mason Jennings - I Love You and Buddha Too
Jethro Tull - Ring Out Solstice bells
Los Straitjackets - Frosty the Snowman

Gift guide for living architecture lovers

 Crunch time is upon us and if you don't have the gifts you need for the holiday season, look no further.

-For Fido, how about a green roof doghouse? President Obama's dog has one and there are a ton on the market to choose from, you can even build your own.

-For the littlest of kids, there are a couple of books entitled "Edible Alphabet". My top choice is by Bonnie Christensen.

-For kids a little bit older and into food, science or nature, how about a window farm? 

-For mom and dad (grandparents too), bicycles made from bamboo!

-And for the whole family, a treetop walk locally (if you're in North America) or abroad.

Happy Holidays!!!

Oregon band films video on Portland green roofs

 A Portland, Oregon based alternative band called Rags + Ribbons made a music video for their song, on various green roofs or ecoroofs, as they call them in Portland. One columnist said "this video should do for ecoroofs what 'Thriller' did for dancing zombies." Hmmm...that's not too much pressure.

Green roofs set to get a big boost in DC...8 years from now?

-Washington DC is grappling with how to deal with its stormwater and is considering expanding its popular green roof program to help with some other green infrastructure technologies as well.

Several questions are raised by the article, for instance, what has the District been doing over the last 8 years since they were sued by the federal government to put these stormwater drains in place? And do they really need another 8 years to experiment with the various green technologies before backing them completely?

-In Victoria, Australia a local advocate is imploring green infrastructure enthusiasts to use a local policy to fund their projects. If you follow his lead, you have up to $10,000,000 at your disposal for either green roofs or green walls!

-More great ideas for how everyone can enjoy local, organic foods. A few months ago I featured a forward thinking community gardener who accepted any form of payment, including SNAP benefits (food stamps). Another organization has taken it a step further. With the Double Value Coupon Program you can use SNAP benefits at over 400 different markets across the USA.

-A couple of weeks ago I wrote a bit about the new and the first true vertical farm in Sinagpore. Here's a more in depth article about how it came to be and what their designs are for the future.

Happy Friday!!!
 

China's Urban Agriculture Summit begins today

So last month we had the International Green Conference and a bunch of others revolving around green infrastructure, starting today we get another exciting event, the 2012 World Cities Scientific Development Forum: Promoting Sustainable Urban Development Through Urban Agriculture and Tourism in Xi'an China.

Permaculture basics - two for your video collection

A couple of classic permaculture videos for today, the first featuring a short one from Geoff Lawton investigating various stages of growth and development of food forests; the second is a long film detailing the principles of permaculture.

GILA (green infrastructure, living architecture) word of the week: bioadaptive façade

-Still stuck in the "looks good on paper phase", bioadaptive façade, building surfaces that could, say, produce heat harvested from the photosynthesis process of micro-algae, sound like a great idea.
The first building of its kind is scheduled to open in Germany next year.

-A new website debuted recently called The Growing Map. It's aim is to make a more interactive, comprehensive visual map of living architecture projects around the world. Of course they need your submissions and support to make it work.

-A couple of weeks ago I was at the School for Social Entrepreneurs - Ontario to chat about verticiel Inc. and its past, present and future.  There are a few folks working hard on living architecture initiatives, don't think I can publicize their ventures yet, but when the time is right I will definitely give them some space.

-Projects which analyze Urban Ecology, such as the ULTRA-Ex (Urban Long-Term Research Areas: Exploratory), are more important than ever as cities "launch efforts to slash carbon emissions, reduce water use and improve habitats". How will urban agriculture projects and programs affect the urban landscape as whole? One particular project in Cleveland is investigating the effects of building urban farms on unoccupied lots. Preliminary research has shown that the gardens develop ants and pest-killing microbes over time, meaning the gardens can start out and remain organic.

-Last one for today is a draft recommended for public review by the ASPE (American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association and American Society of Plumbing Engineers) Main Design Standards Committee. The goal is to develop a standard to assist stakeholders (builders, developers, engineers, designers, plumbers) in safely implementing a rainwater catchment system.
After having a look, you can have your say!

State of North American Green Roof industry - Updated

This has been a big year in the green roof world, so I thought I would do an update on what has transpired since the inaugural post, about six months ago.

Cincinnati -

Now has a green roof loan program with five million dollars to loan to the first comers, everyone except institutions. They are so accommodating, they even posted contact information for the program manager! (Robin Henderson, robin.henderson@cincinnati-oh.gov). In the city of Cincinnati you can also now get a green roof certificate. Because of these impressive development, they get three stars all the way!

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Although they are not in North America, a special mention goes to Melbourne, Australia. No money on the table yet, but they are talking about both green roofs and green walls and if other cities are any indication, chatter often comes before the cash.

December songs of the month

Back by popular demand, here are your December songs of the month!

December African Rain - Soweto Gospel
I am a rock - Simon Garfunkel
Anos Dourados (Looks like December) - Ana Carem e Tom Jobim
If We Make it Through December - Merle Haggard