Will Montreal be next to adopt green roof bylaw?

With 3 out of 4 candidates professing their love for green roofs, and the fourth open to "encouraging" their spread, will the 8th biggest city in North America be the next to adopt green roof incentives and a green roof bylaw? Stay tuned...

Green roof research, near and far

A couple of months ago I highlighted a green roof research project which is investigating native plants suitable for the Mediterranean region. Important stuff, as is a recent project which highlights plants that can work well in the area and how much additional water plants must be given if there’s a decrease in substrate.

-A Walmart in Portland, Oregon has stepped up in a big way, offering it’s rooftop for research.

-Toronto's FoodShare posted a little more about the new and totally unique School Grown Rooftop Garden. Prepare to be amazed.

-Occasionally I like write posts featuring new and exciting projects from one country to help understand what’s going on in their GILA world. The last Singapore post was in June, here’s one article which gives us a look into what some other innovators are doing in the sovereign city state.

-Sign up right now to follow this urban agriculture series, it’s going to be a good one!

Permaculture video

The always animated and educational Paul Wheaton from over the summer at the Southern California Permaculture Convergence. Make sure you have the volume down, it's NSFW because of the length anyway, but some of the banter can be coarse!

The third edible forest + urban agriculture drops hunger by 50% in Venezuela

The USA has two food forests already (in Seattle and Holyoke, Mass -- 90 minutes from Boston). A third is being planned for tiny (less than 4,000 strong!) Basalt, Colorado, about three hours west of Denver.

-Milwaukee’s Home Gr/own initiative is bringing together 10 to 20 different food and farming related programs to boost employment and utilize vacant lots. What’s even better is this is coordinated through the mayor’s office!

-Venezuela has reduced it’s number of hungry people by over 50%, according to the United Nations World Food and Agriculture Organisation. They hope to double their 39,000 urban gardens within a year!

Songs about farms in honor of the School Grown Rooftop!

It's been a secret until now, but yesterday was the official launch of the School Grown Rooftop. Spearhead by FoodShare and based at Toronto's Eastdale Collegiate Institute, verticiel was lucky enough to participate as a consultant for the project. Lots more information to come, for now here are a couple of quick pics and a bunch of songs in honor of this tremendous project!

Sting - Fields of Gold
Robert Plant - The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn
The Muppet Show - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens
Loretta Lynn - You're Loking at Country
The Andrews Sisters - A Bushel and a Peck

Insect farmers meet insect chefs

Oh, I nearly forgot this. I'm all wrapped up in designing projects for next year and I almost neglected to make a virtual introduction, the folks who hope to grow insects should meet the ones who are trying to make them into tasty meals...

Rent-a-chicken

Over the last couple of years there has been a huge increase in urban agriculture interest. Recent reports of chicken abandonment, once the chickens stop laying eggs or when the going gets tough (winter!), are horrible, so it's wonderful that someone thought of a fantastic solution, rent-a-chicken!

-From the "this is so big, how did I never know that?" file comes the popular Kenyan comic strip magazine and radio broadcast Shujaaz. I may have to learn a little sheng to understand what three million listeners love!

-The University of Vermont’s Spatial Analysis Lab and the USDA Forest Service’s Northern Research Station have come up with a fantastic way to help municipalities to prioritize tree restoration projects. Could this tool be used to figure out where best to place other green infrastructure, like green roofs or green walls?

-Copenhagen has repeatedly shown to be one of the most progressive cities, in regards to green infrastructure. Here's an update on how Copenhagen is tackling climate change through progressive environmental design.

-Social cost benefits for urban agriculture as generally hard to come by, especially ones crunched by esteemed sources, so relish this report from the Netherlands.

Aquaponics: fighting crime, delighting at Disney World & worth a million bucks in Switzerland

You know aquaponics has reached new heights when it is used to fight crime and Disney World makes an exhibit around it!



I had questioned the power of aquaponics in the Caribbean, considering there is no shortage of fish. But when analyzing the amount of vegetables which need to be imported to countries like Puerto Rico, Barbados and Trinidad, right next door, it makes more sense to me now.

-One of the biggest aquaponics investments [$1,000,000 (USD or CDN, take your pick] in Europe is this massive farm in Switzerland. Capable of producing 10,000 lbs of veggies, someone in the neighborhood is going to be very happy!

Insects from a green roof infest school...or maybe they don't

Maybe the writer of the article was not the writer of the headline?

Free webinar on how to run a permaculture farming business

Big news from Illinois and Connecticut. Illinois' Governor Quinn announced $5 million in investments to 13 communities for green infrastructure improvement projects. And Connecticut's Governor Malloy has provided a $1 million grant to fund an urban agriculture center which will produce 800,000 tons of free produce and provide 40 green collar jobs.

-I forgot to mention Yale's free green infrastructure seminar this past Monday (whoops!), but there is still time to check out part two next week. The topic of discussion is green infrastructure tools in the nation's capital, which segue's nicely into Baltimore's new, 64 page urban agriculture plan.

-So, back to the webinar which slipped my memory. I almost to forgot to post a second one!!!  There's a fantastic one happening today! The topic is permaculture and how to train a core of employees, create a lasting legacy for your children (and grandchildren) through farming and market to a diverse audience.

5 common mistakes made by green roof installers

Those new to the industry, hoping to break in and even prospective clients like to know the finer points of green roof installation. To follow up on my post about ways to get a faster and more accurate green roof quote, here are five common mistakes made by green roof installers.

-Not calling all of the suppliers the week before things are to be delivered/picked up. You'd be surprised how often there is a mix-up or misunderstanding...even when you have been very, very clear.

-Not calling all of the suppliers the day before the pick up. See a theme here?

-Not checking the weather forecast religiously for the week before, and during, the installation. It seems simple but is vitally important. Do you have someplace to hide out if a rain (or in a installer's worst nightmare, snow) storm hits?

-Not thoroughly prepping the roof deck before the installation begins. It should be clean, "I could eat cake off of that" clean, because it will be reaaaaaaally hard to get to that rogue nail, left from the roofers, once your materials go down.

-Not having a backup plan if something goes wrong. What if there's a plant mix-up and you can't finish for another week? But you have another job scheduled??? What's the plan to get everything done?