Monsoon rooftop gardens + app to help Californians save water

-I definitely want to see more articles like this! Here's how to set up a succesful roof garden for monsoon veggies like sheem and borboti!

-Both Montreal and Charlottetown (P.E.I.) are turning to green roofs, Montreal is looking to streamline their approval process and Charlottetown is investigating green roof legislation. 
 
-A few weeks ago I wondered whether a place like Syria should be using more temporary agricultural systems  than rooftop farming, it just didn't seem feasible to dodge bullets while tending to rooftop gardens. It seems aquaponics systems are now being used in Gaza.

-I'm not sure if vertical farming can work, but my takeaway from this article is that the business is as much about operations (in particular, software) as it is about offerings.

fighting in Gaza has forced farmers and herders to abandon their lands and has paralysed fishing activities, bringing local food production to a halt and severely affecting livelihoods, the United Nation’s FAO warned last week.
Recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities cease, will require significant external assistance over the long term. And this is where we see opportunities for alternative agriculture systems for smallholder farmers and families. Aquaponics and hydroponics can be done on rooftops, and it is especially meaningful in areas where water is severely limited.
The FAO estimates that the recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza’s 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats.
According to the latest update Gaza has lost half of its population of poultry birds (broilers and layers) either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from access restrictions.
Around 64,000 head of small ruminants are in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths and the additional erosion of herders’ productive assets.
Meanwhile losses by Gaza’s fishing sector so far are estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period 9 July – 10 August –equivalent to 9.3 percent of local fishers’ yearly catch.
“Up to now, ongoing military operations have prevented detailed assessments of damages to agriculture from being completed,” said Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO’s office in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip imports most of what it eats — however locally produced food represents an important source of nutritious and affordable food, and some 28,600 people in Gaza rely on farming (19,000 people), livestock raising (6,000) and fishing (3,600) for their livelihoods.
“Under the most recent ceasefire many farmers and herders are now able to access their lands, however resumption of food production faces serious obstacles given the damages sustained and shortages of water, electricity, inputs and financial resources, as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding the possible resumption of military activities”, said Fiorillo.

- See more at: http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/08/why-gaza-needs-hydroponics-and-aquaponics-for-food-security/#sthash.IciZDFYI.dpuf

-How can food transform healthcare for both the patient and provider? Will Allen will speak at the Transform symposium to let us know.

-What some thought was impossible has come to pass, Canadian Pacific has torn up some community garden plots over 15 years old. Naturally Vancouverites are not happy.

-Chicago's urban fruit orchard featured rare and unusual apples has gone quickly from concept to reality and is now a go.

-Climate Central has published a study which states 57 of the 60 largest cities in the U.S. have significantly higher temperatures than adjacent rural areas. In some cases those discrepancies had reached a difference in daytime highs by 27 degrees Fahrenheit. Yikes! Denver is going to need more green roofs and green infrastructure...soon! Florida has done something quite interesting, they've purchased some land to close the gap in their greenway and trail system so now it looks like you can travel from west coast to east. What do you think, Denver? A good idea?

-Despite a three year drought, one of the worst in 500 years (what!!!), Californians still aren't saving water. Hopefully an app, will raise awareness...even a little!

GILA word of the week: Heirloom aquaponics

It's been difficult for people and organizations to make money with aquaponics, like any urban agriculture endeavor. Case in point, an innovative aquaponics project in the UK was recently scuttled because they wanted (or needed?) to build a wood chipping and log drying plant as well.

But I think the key may be the same for microfarmers, whether they are urban or rural: high end products. If you could charge a premium for special kinds of shrimp or indigenous veggies (like  "slow-bolt" cilantro, Yoeme basil) profitability may be possible.

If you'd like to give the shrimp a try yourself, here's a primer below:

Why Gaza needs hydroponics and aquaponics for food security

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Karin Kloosterman in Lifestyle with 0 Comments

• 
  
• 
  
• 63
  EmailShare
• 
  
• Email

The fighting in Gaza has forced farmers and herders to abandon their lands and has paralysed fishing activities, bringing local food production to a halt and severely affecting livelihoods, the United Nation’s FAO warned last week.
Recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities cease, will require significant external assistance over the long term. And this is where we see opportunities for alternative agriculture systems for smallholder farmers and families. Aquaponics and hydroponics can be done on rooftops, and it is especially meaningful in areas where water is severely limited.
The FAO estimates that the recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza’s 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats.
According to the latest update Gaza has lost half of its population of poultry birds (broilers and layers) either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from access restrictions.
Around 64,000 head of small ruminants are in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths and the additional erosion of herders’ productive assets.
Meanwhile losses by Gaza’s fishing sector so far are estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period 9 July – 10 August –equivalent to 9.3 percent of local fishers’ yearly catch.
“Up to now, ongoing military operations have prevented detailed assessments of damages to agriculture from being completed,” said Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO’s office in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip imports most of what it eats — however locally produced food represents an important source of nutritious and affordable food, and some 28,600 people in Gaza rely on farming (19,000 people), livestock raising (6,000) and fishing (3,600) for their livelihoods.
“Under the most recent ceasefire many farmers and herders are now able to access their lands, however resumption of food production faces serious obstacles given the damages sustained and shortages of water, electricity, inputs and financial resources, as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding the possible resumption of military activities”, said Fiorillo.
Volatile food prices

- See more at: http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/08/why-gaza-needs-hydroponics-and-aquaponics-for-food-security/#sthash.AxVZJuRZ.dpuf

The fighting in Gaza has forced farmers and herders to abandon their lands and has paralysed fishing activities, bringing local food production to a halt and severely affecting livelihoods, the United Nation’s FAO warned last week.
Recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities cease, will require significant external assistance over the long term. And this is where we see opportunities for alternative agriculture systems for smallholder farmers and families. Aquaponics and hydroponics can be done on rooftops, and it is especially meaningful in areas where water is severely limited.
The FAO estimates that the recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza’s 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats.
According to the latest update Gaza has lost half of its population of poultry birds (broilers and layers) either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from access restrictions.
Around 64,000 head of small ruminants are in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths and the additional erosion of herders’ productive assets.
Meanwhile losses by Gaza’s fishing sector so far are estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period 9 July – 10 August –equivalent to 9.3 percent of local fishers’ yearly catch.
“Up to now, ongoing military operations have prevented detailed assessments of damages to agriculture from being completed,” said Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO’s office in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip imports most of what it eats — however locally produced food represents an important source of nutritious and affordable food, and some 28,600 people in Gaza rely on farming (19,000 people), livestock raising (6,000) and fishing (3,600) for their livelihoods.
“Under the most recent ceasefire many farmers and herders are now able to access their lands, however resumption of food production faces serious obstacles given the damages sustained and shortages of water, electricity, inputs and financial resources, as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding the possible resumption of military activities”, said Fiorillo.
- See more at: http://www.greenprophet.com/2014/08/why-gaza-needs-hydroponics-and-aquaponics-for-food-security/#sthash.AxVZJuRZ.dpuf

The Wizard of Oz - The first green roof on film?

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. 75 years!!! Do you remember the scene, soon after the intrepid travelers meet the tin man, that the wicked witch tries to turn the scarecrow into a bonfire? (If you've got the movie there, fast forward to the 46:20 mark). I've watched a lot of old movies and as far as I can tell, this may be the first green roof on film!

Perhaps I should start a series of green roofs in popular culture?

The green infrastructure conference, Grey to Green, starts August 25

The Grey to Green conference is taking place August 25-26 in Toronto. It gets bigger and better every year, if you're nearby you should definitely attend. If you can't keynote presentations and certain technical sessions are being webcast.

Which seeds will sprout on a green roof...without care?

There's still much for us to learn about green roofs.  One question to answer is which plants will grow in a primarily inorganic medium without help. Here's what I tried on a rooftop recently...

Sugar beets, broccoli, white tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, green peas, okra (clemson spineless), okra (burgundy), dinosaur kale, green pumpkin, white pumpkin, banana melon, cucumber, nasturtium.

These seeds were a bit old, mind you, at least four years. Any idea which ones grew?

Two winners, white pumpkin and dinosaur kale! I wonder how each would do with a little TLC!
That's an experiment for next year.

Some Californian cities want to scrap the lawn

National Public Radio says almost half of the country's fruits, vegetables and nuts come from California, a state facing one of its worst droughts in recorded history. Lawns have become luxuries and now incentives and businesses are popping up to do away with them.

Sydney's green infrastructure plan

-Sydney, Australia has been working with some green roof guiding principles and standards for a couple of years. They've released a formalized plan to green new development and private land, streets, add parks and expand their urban forest. Still no rebate or cash incentives, unfortunately.

-A Montreal borough is trying to streamline their evaluation process so that green roofs can go up on buildings in less than 6 months.

-The EPA has given one of its highest honors, the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Education, to one of the first teachers to incorporate a food producing green roof garden into his curriculum.

- Two years ago came the first warnings about possibly contaminated soil in Boston urban gardens...and perhaps elsewhere. Here's a comprehensive article about the presence and danger of the number one contaminant, lead.

-There's still a lot of research which needs to be done in aquaponics. Hopefully with the explosion in enthusiasts will come some new and cheap ways to solve common problems. Here's an innovative one, use old refrigerators in your outdoor aquaponics system. Speaking of which, did you know the vertical farming industry now has its own trade group?

Trend alert? Rooftop vegetable gardens on residential condos

I'll let you be the judge. Two articles in the last month have touted the additions of rooftop gardens, sometimes edible, sometimes not, to pricey developments in Miami, London, Singapore and beyond.

Panasonic enters the vertical farm race + green infrastructure's many faces

Singapore may be the global leader in vertical farming companies.  With precious little land available for farming, they've had to look up or continue importing their food. Panasonic has jumped into the fray, hoping to add "agriculture to their potential growth portfolio." Could this be the start of something big in the industry?

-A county government in Kenya has recruited a private company to set-up aquaponics projects in five cities to increase jobs for youth and food production.

-Solutions for Change has earned itself even more cash, $1 million dollars, to expand aquaponics program to provide 1.6 million servings of greens. These folks know how to raise cash!!!

-Talk about comprehensive, take a look at this article (on all of the links!!!) about the strategies, tools and role parks (especially those in and near Los Angeles) can play in combating climate change.

-Utne magazine proposes that another form of green infrastructure, trails, are the new town square and farms have the potential to be agritourism destinations.  

-Tacoma's food forest is 6 months old. Here's an update on how it is coming along. I love how the adults are keenly focused on the trees, the baby is staring right into the camera.

Yale gets big bucks for living wall research + Mid-Atlantic symposium starts tomorrow

-The Mid-Atlantic Green Roof symposium starts tomorrow. Year two of the get together brings experts and enthusiasts from the area and beyond.

-At Yale researchers have been given almost $300,000 to develop a "new class" of living wall technologies capable of rejecting waste heat as an alternative to cooling towers. Keep an eye on this one!

Urban farming under gun fire

Urban farming for refugees in Syria is a risky, but necessary part of daily life. Two facts from the article really stand out to me, first that farming on rooftops is often done under the threat of snipers (!) and secondly that some refugees picked up farming techniques from youtube.

-Washington State is making people who want to keep small livestock take a certification class, I think they're the first state to do this. Smart. Urban agriculture is likely to cost the city extra money for animal control services (rounding up loose or abandoned animals), so this makes a lot of sense. 

-On the east coast a $1.5 million dollar federal grant awarded to Virginia State University will go to refurbish an old building and turn it into an urban agriculture hub featuring both aquaponic and hydroponic systems. 

-Here's a school aquaponics facility which hopes to add snails to its offerings.

-When Land8 talks about urban agriculture it seems to happen in spurts. Two weeks ago they published a helpful 10 principle article for creating food-producing landscapes and then a follow up article which delves into the challenges of urban agriculture.

-As practitioners know permaculture can mean many things. Here's how one group makes it synonymous with activism.

-A rise in community activism and pressure on governments to scale back and save money in the face of declining revenues has led to more do-it-yourself groups. The trend is taking off in San Francisco and Vancouver as residents help build mini-public parks using their own tools and ultimately time and money.

GILA words of the week: Emotional farming, Just green enough and environmental gentrification

A few officials in India are calling their new horticultural therapy initiative "emotional farming". A clever term which could stick elsewhere.

Soon after the massively successful first part of the High Line opened there were a few folks who stated, quite accurately, that there were some drawbacks to its popularity. People love the High Line, they want their business and homes near it and so land prices go up and gentrification displaced long term residents. There's a new paper out which advocates greening neighborhoods, but "just enough" to benefit the community, but not enough to displace them. And they point to one example in New York were this has already happened. This is a delicate balancing act indeed!