Solutions for Change takes aquaponics higher

San Diego's largest aquaponics farm will triple its size, making it one of the largest in the country. This is a tremendous success story for the industry and Solutions for Change.

-This was a good week for green jobs, as another innovative green jobs training program pairs New York residents in public housing developments to work on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency programs.

-Mesa Community College continues to revolutionize as they now offer an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Sustainable Agriculture, the first of it's kind in Arizona and really one of the first nationwide.

-This isn't really about sustainable agriculture, living architecture or green architecture, but is still amazing all the same. Look at the many ways the Colorado River effects the American West.

-The City of Halifax has released a handbook for community gardening on municipal lands. Very handy!

-Let's finish up with the best stuff last. The rising popularity of Freight Farms container gardening system makes me wonder if one day we'll see these systems for community (by block...neighborhood?) food security.

San Diego's climate change mandate

San Diego has just mandated, by law, the most ambitious plans to cut carbon emissions. It includes drought tolerant landscaping and urban tree planting. Interestingly their urban agriculture incentive zone proposal was not included.

-The University of Hawaii Maui College is now has one of the first aquaponics business courses. The two evening courses entitled Aquaponics Entrepreneurship and Marketing Aquaponics and only $220 each, meet for 16 weeks. You can register here and here.

-Germany's Association for Vertical Farming asked students to come up with a "certification system to assess the sustainability of vertical farms." They settled on nine key principles for the very diverse industry, which includes start-ups and huge ventures like AeroFarms, which just raised $20 million in venture funding. What do you think?

• Health and safety
• Food safety and quality assurance
• Pest management and pesticide use
• Nutrient management and fertilizer use
• Water conservation and management
• Community relations
• Waste management
• Energy and climate
• Site and facility characteristics

Lessons learned from setting up a permaculture business

A hour long presentation on what it takes to set-up and sustain a permaculture business. I can attest to many of the suggestions here!

The Great Green Wall starts to grow

After historic climate change talks people are encouraged good things, actionable steps, will actually be taken by governments around the world. One such vital initiative is the Great Green Wall.

Ten countries are offering more degraded and deforested land and France has offered over 5 billion dollars to help its former colonies with environmentally friendly projects, including the Wall. That's a huge deal! The project has languished due to lack of investment and under the threat of extremism. Experts worry if real economic opportunities aren't created, in addition to the Wall, the trees will end up being used by those living near it.

-Speaking of desertification in Africa, there's a new greenhouse which just hit the market which uses could be a boon for dry lands. Work is being done in the USA as well, California in particular, in an attempt to solve a problem which knows no bounds. The City of Los Angeles has partnered with private industry and several non-profits to craft design solutions and a digital tool which helps cities in dry climates become self-sufficient in terms of water while delivering additional benefits, including improving performance in energy, the environment, and public health. The initiative is called the Drylands Resilience Initiative.

-Outside Atlanta a partnership with Georgia Tech university is developing the highway of the future. Some features? Use the right-of-way along the roadside to farm biofuel plants like sunflowers, corn and canola, combining sound barriers with solar panels, incorporating hog manure as a binding agent in lieu of asphalt, and creating living billboards made of plant material.

GILA word of the week: Food Swamp

I have a bunch of things to mention which have slipped under the radar recently, for instance your GILA word of the week: Food Swamp. We've all heard the term food desert, well a food swamp has lots of food available and most of it is unhealthy.

-It's important that everyone is aware of the benefits of green infrastructure, especially green roofs. In Victoria, Australia, a local university, the city council and state government are trying to put a dollar figure on greening utilizing their own research and the country's Economic Framework for Green Infrastructure. Similarly, Mauritius is attempting to quantify how much green roofs would mean to them.

-The Dutch have taken urban agricultural to new heights, by creating a floating dairy platform making it one of the first urban aquatic agricultural operations.

-Follow a Kenyan family on the front line of climate change in the first episode of Al Jazeera's "The Climate Diaries".

-Speaking of pioneers, urban agricultural guru Will Allen may be in a jam of a different kind as an investor has sued him (and his partner) over the disputed mismanagement of their investment.

-Last week it was announced India is slated to get it's first horticultural therapy garden in 2016. While a new program is opening in India, sadly a popular one is being shut down in the UK.

-Let's end on a positive note, shall we? How about focusing on Detroit's intention to plant tens of thousands of trees on 1/2 square miles of vacant city space. Note, this is only a demonstration. There are over 20 miles of vacant land in the city...right now! Other lots will be filled eventually, whether it's with wildflowers or urban farms.

Symphony of Soil

In honor of World Soil Day, in the last month of the International Year of the Soil, here is an almost two hour long film about the good, brown stuff. Head over to the website for the video with subtitles in another seven languages.

Synthetic grass stores are spreading

Found primarily in California and Arizona, fake grass stores are beginning to pop up around the country. Definitely a sign of the landscaping times.

The week of big urban agriculture hits!

It's the week of big hits!


I'm sure many folks have heard about Serenbe in Georgia. But here's one of the first news stories about the development, 2 hours south of Atlanta, which gives you a feel for the houses surrounding the urban farm and the farm itself.




-Right on cue is another article about how food one of the hot trends in real estate is...can you guess?...food!


-What's happening in the Vancouver urban agriculture scene? What are the guidelines, standards and policies? What is being farmed, how is pest management handled? Which farms have staff and volunteers? Everything you want to know is here.


-We've seen lots of urban agriculture farms made out of shipping containers. The next step in the evolution is having a farm shipped, IKEA flatpack style, in a shipping container and ready for assembly.

-In Guyana a bold new collaboration has sprung between universities in Chile, the United Kingdom and Guyana to pioneer aquaponics education in the Caribbean.


-North American researchers have said to beware of the soil in urban settings, heavy metals may be present. It seems that the same could be true in Spain.


-Finally the biggest news of all, Gotham Greens opened the world's largest urban greenhouse facility in Chicago.

Vines reclaim a town, so green roofs and walls abound

A fishing community once inhabited this island in China. Once deserted nature took over, the vines took over and green walls and roofs exploded all over the place. Almost as fascinating is how this article from the day before Halloween is based on another from June. Both yield incredible pictures from different parts of the year.

Philadelphia adds another green roof incentive

After Jet Blue's announcement a few weeks ago, they get a full NY Times story covering their urban agriculture endeavor at JFK airport. Maybe the NY Times saw my posts about airports and urban agriculture?

-A self-storage facility in St. Louis gets to green their roof while offering the space for rooftop gardening. 9,000 square feet for $10,000 per year sounds like a pretty good deal!

-Regular readers know I don't like to profile projects still in the design stage...there's no certainty they will be built. But I'll make an exception for this project in Singapore, when Singapore wants something done, it gets done. So this project, the picture above, is as good as gold.

-Philadelphia already gives tax credits for green roof installation, now they are offering another incentive: density bonuses for green roofs.

-The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University has just released a "guidebook which provides science-based guidance and sample zoning code language designed to reduce the barriers to, and promote production and sales activities commonly associated with urban agriculture." Wow. Iowa!

-For those who want to expand their horizons, here's a paper on food security and urban agriculture in Vietnam.

GILA word of the week: Zfarming

A couple of tasty tidbits for the week. A nice collective term, courtesy of the Germans, for vertical farming, rooftop farming and indoor farming: Zfarming. Here's a paper about perception and acceptance about the phenomenon.

What do you get when you mix tasteful architecture, aquaponics and leisure. Have a look:

The second design meeting for Guelph's food forest

Last night was design meeting #2 for the Guelph food forest. A nice turnout despite the driving rain, gale force winds and temps flirting with freezing. Three designs were created composites of the original six designs (picture number four). Participants split into groups to discuss what they liked and did not like about the designs and which one they like the most. It seemed to be a tie between picture number 1 and 3.
What's your opinion?
The next meeting should be after the new year, stay tuned!

The world's first desktop edible insect harvester

 I think this week marks an important point in the urban agriculture revolution. A group (which may or may not be based in Germany, it's hard to tell) launched a Kickstarter campaign to manufacture the first desktop edible insect harvester. As many know the idea of eating insects, in much of the West, is absolutely foreign to most people. But with people now keeping chickens in urban environments instead of depending on farms, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to up the game.

I predict that there will be a slew of imitators very soon, who strive to make desktop harvesters sleeker, easier to use, smaller, you name it. But this is the first. Tell your kids (or grandkids) about it.

-Singapore now has 72 hectares of rooftop greenery (enough to cover 100 football fields, says this article), an increase of 8 hectares in a year. There's of course room for growth. In Melbourne, Australia they currently have only 5 hectares of green roofs and rooftop gardens, but the city council is really behind the idea and have mapped out over 240 hectares, across the city, which would be suitable for greening!

-In Memphis, Tennessee, if you mow the vacant lot adjacent to your piece of property, you can now own it! Wow!

Permaculture in the city

Over the summer permaculture guru, Toby Hemingway, published his latest book entitled The Permaculture City. With so much of the world in urban environments, he thought the time was right to encourage more urban denizens to embrace the movement. Here's an overview of the book:

Good news for urban fruit lovers

With concerns over lead levels in community gardens, a few researchers wondered if fruit from historical farms, urban parkland, and residential properties would be similarly afflicted. A least in the Greater Boston Area, they are not. In fact, the fruit appears to have higher calcium and "...on average, urban fruit contains a wider range of micronutrients than its commercial counterparts."

So eat that street peach!

Indonesia shows us how to save urban trees

Nigeria's fight against desertification, the Great Green Wall Project, is looking for international support to help move things along. Let's see if an NGO steps up to help out.

-Indonesia's "One Soul One Tree" has been a smashing success as city dwellers have found new ways to preserve their urban trees for the benefit of all.

-Virginia State University pioneering aquaponics work got a huge vote of confidence, last week, in the form of a $900,000 check to support the construction of an aquaponics production center. Well done, VSU!

A food forest begins to sprout in Guelph

Ithaca Permaculture Park, River Valley Food Forest, Greenbelt Food Forest in Maryland and most famously, Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, Washington food forests are already on the map. Now Guelph (Ontario) is in the process of building one. I was lucky enough to be part of the kick off.
It's tentatively called Hanlon Creek Community Food Forest. Six designs were produced by breakout groups, last Thursday, and the common elements will be combined into three workable designs for further elaboration in a couple of weeks. 
This is very exciting for a town of roughly 125,000. Your town can do it too! 

-Some big news out of Ireland as a new green roof bylaw in a suburb of Dublin, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County is set to take effect in a few months. It covers new building construction starting January 1!

-Gigantic retailer Target is teaming up with MIT to explore how they can support urban agriculture.

-There's so much happening in Detroit, lots of good stuff gets underreported. A $15 million dollar, 60 acre, urban agriculture project was announced which will hopefully employ up to 125 ex-offenders and recovering addicts.

-A fantastic permaculture program is taking off in Ethiopia. 450 hectares in total may be transformed.

-Here's a handy dandy guide to growing indoor plants, what kinds of containers you can use and which plants work best in them.

Scott Pittman's latest permaculture design lecture

The growing season is winding down in this part of the hemisphere, so perhaps you have a few moments and can enjoy a Scott Pittman permaculture design lecture from earlier in the month!

The Lowline is unveiled

Sometimes it's all about the pictures. Sourceable has a very helpful infograph (seen above), which explains the different types of living architecture.

-Two news items from NY. The Lowline has now entered the proof of concept/experiment phase for what underground, public space could become. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city will double parks funding to $285 million. What a great way to further build the city's green infrastructure.

-A few folks in the UK would like a Highline. But this one, it seems, would be private. And subsidized by public funds. Many people, including environmentalists, claim this is simply a vanity project and want it kiboshed. With the number of people and groups against it, I think this is going nowehre fast.

-Detroit has 274 acres of vacant land. There are numerous ideas what to do with all that space. The City has some ideas, including dumping 85,000 people on one site to improve the soil.


-Do you live in Austin, Texas? Do you have a fantastic idea for how to turn raw materials into a viable enterprise? Would you like $10,000 to help make your idea a reality? This is your chance!

Food forest community meeting in Guelph - October 22

If you're in or around the area and interested in becoming part of the process, on October 22 from 7-9 pm stop by Jean Little Public School. Led by the City of Guelph and with the support of the immediate local community around the site (University Village Park) and the broader Guelph community, this is a unique opportunity! There are perhaps only 10 food forests in North America  and very few in small communities, be there or be square!

Urban agriculture at airports - part 2

Airport beekeeping has really taken off. (Oh, the delicious puns. I know, I know I have to stop). Starting in Germany and spreading across Europe and North America, look for some tasty honey coming your way. Or start up an operation in your town.

Urban agriculture at airports - part 1

It seems airports are beginning to utilize their space more and more to promote healthy eating and (urban) agriculture. Later in the week I'll preview some other ventures, today is a profile of a collaboration at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport where blue potatoes will be grown to eventually be made into chips for your snacking delight on board JetBlue airplanes.

São Paulo's green roof and wall incentive & agrihoods take off

If there's one thing I learned this week, all good things come from the NY Times.

While reading about São Paulo mayor, who is trying all sorts of things to reduce gridlock, I stumbled upon other initiatives he has enacted including the stipulation that companies must pay for "environmental conservation works" and can do so by installing green walls or green roofs, like the one above.

-Two weeks ago in Santa Clara a plan was selected for a 1.5 acre parcel. It includes 165 affordable senior rental units and much, much more. If you want a list of prominent agrihood/agriburbia developments across the nation, one was convenient posted last week.

That article is one of three I saw over the next 10 days detailing newish and future agrihoods.

-An interesting pairing has Back to the Roots teaming with Sodexo to supply 2,300 schools with garden tool kits, including aquaponics kits, mushroom mini-farms and their “garden-in-a-can”. There’s curriculum for the toolkits as well.

-Vancouver is now offering $10 trees to encourage home owners to build up their urban forest. Fruit trees are available too, including prunes!

-India is working on creating a green wall of their own, this one featuring palm trees to stop sea coast erosion.

The newest style: plants on heads

I really hope this makes it to North America. Apparently people in China are adorning themselves with plants. Now if people could start growing food which they eat...on their heads. That would be beyond awesome! Is this the dawn of "personal living architecture"?

Are green walls bad for human health?

A new study from England seems to say so, when the temperatures are very warm plants emitted volatile organic compands. The industry will definitely be paying close attention to these findings and, if I can predict anything, others will try to replicate or debunk these findings!
Stay tuned!!!

Check out this city hall in Belgium! Very, very nice...

In Nepal 150 households get urban agriculture training

On Monday London hosted a one-day event on green and solar roofs. I didn't see a lot on social media about the event, maybe more will come out in the next few days.

-In Nepal the Kathmandu government is offering rooftop training for 150 households. The most curious part of the announcement "pickaxes" will be provided to each household involved in the training. Pickaxes? The goal must be to make some pretty big gardens!

-They are really churning out the green roof research in the Mediterranean. The latest paper on Science Direct states there may be a marked difference in plant stress felt by some plants and water retention when soil levels are reduced as little as 3 cm, with 10 cm being better than 13.
Stateside research findings indicate that "older women living in counties where an insect infection killed off a large number of trees were more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or fatal coronary heart disease." So the take home lesson is somehow, if we take care of trees, we can help ourselves.

Art with moldy food

What can you do with moldy food? How about art?

The USA's food waste reduction plan

Upon completion in 2017 this is how the Memorial Children’s Hospital should look. Lush walls will make this a landmark building in the southwestern Michigan/northern Indiana area.

 -You had the pizza farm...farmers cutting out the middle people and serving their produce on their farm. An innovative chef will try his own spin on this. Of course other culinary experts have had small plots of land or the odd planter to supplement their offerings, but an entire urban farm? This is a first and seems to be a different spin on the totally controlled culinary experience.

-The biggest news last week was the American government joining forces with several organizations to outline and launch a (food) waste reduction strategy. And concerted effort to reduce the 133 billion pounds (!) of lost food is a very, very good thing.

-Farmers are turning to very precise methods to keep an eye on their produce and farms. One program can tell them the exact point on a field where a planter has missed a seed! A huge question remains...who does this data belong to? The farmer or the software company?

-The UK's underground farm is humming alone, 18 hour days of sunlight means plants can be harvested between in 28 days, sometimes in as few as 6.

Chives are amazing

Here's a little something I just had to share from the vault. Look at these chives growing IN this bag.

And another plant has decided to break out of it's prison and is doing quite well...at Home Depot

International Permaculture Convergence - 2015

If you missed out on the opening of the International Permaculture Convergence in London last week, here's a live stream (10 hours) of action!

Climate change dominoes & the lowline

Over the years, loyal readers, you'll notice the blog has changed a bit. I used to just focus on individual projects, mine and others. But these days there's a lot to talk about on the macro scale. And I prefer that, to be truthful, it's nice to discuss things which effect us all.

Case in point how climate change is changing living infrastructure. I think this may become a regular feature of mine.

Some experts have asserted that drought conditions, brought about by climate change, are partially responsible for increased movement of people in affected regions, as people both seek resources peacefully and violently. Even in peaceful parts of the world, climate change is effecting housing development. Which means, it could increase the amount of vegetation...if a developer decide that it isn't worth their time to erect structures there the plants remain. There are so many questions which arise from this. If one cannot build further away from cities for people to commute, does that mean there will be less vacant lots, maybe even parks, with in city limits? Will less green in the urban environment mean more stressed out people, as strong correlations have been drawn between the amount of plants around human beings and their level of stress?
Will this mean more creative uses for underground space...like the Lowline?

We live in very interesting times!

Aquaponic and rooftop farming news from Egypt

This operation has been operational for a couple of years, but they rarely release updates. What they have accomplished in a few years is very impressive!
There was another article about Egyptian living infrastructure this week, the missive takes a look at the rooftop garden operations.

-Here's a very long and well-written article from Business Insider about America’s largest crop, the American lawn. The thirsty crop drinks Nine billion gallons of water A DAY and covers more than 3 times the amount of area corn does!
Several of those interviewed believe it will be harder to get people to quit watering their lawns because the lawn is a symbol of the American dream. Subconsciously, letting your lawn die may be akin to giving up on the American dream, conspicuous consumption, social contract and multi-billion dollar industry, combined. Look for lobbying groups to fight restrictions as they pop up around the USA and beyond. It has already begun...

-A recent study suggests there are 3 trillion trees worldwide! That’s incredible! On the bad side, that’s half of what was there a few hundred years ago and 10 billion per year are currently lost.

-In a very, very curious story, the Vancouver Aquarium has decided to start raising fish...for sale at local stores! Wow!

-In other aquaponics news we learned something amazing, by accident. It appears the US is creating a Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force. The press release states "aquaculture, aquaponics and hydroponics being the fastest growing sector in agriculture"!

Events in October

We've hit September folks and those events which seemed like the distant future are right around the corner.

On October 15 forty-five cities will sign an urban food policy pact. That's World Food Day, by the way. Milan is leading the way, hopefully this leads to coordination of urban food policies around the world.

Also, I must mention the World Green Infrastructure Network's 2 day symposium bookends World Food Day, it runs from October 14-16. This year, Nagaya, Japan welcomes the green infrastructure world.

The World's Biggest Green Roof - coming soon...

I try to stay away from commenting on projects still in the development phase, but if a developer is willing to make the largest green roof in the world, at a price tag of at least $300 million, I think it’s worth paying attention.
The idea apparently sprouted from a community consultation. In the future, maybe they could even have their green roof design by children, as is being done in Stockholm with the help of Mine Craft!

-The Great Green Wall is about 10% done, 330 miles out of 4,750 is a great start. However if the UN estimates are true, that by 2025 two thirds of Africa's arable land will be covered by desert, we had better get a move on to plant the other 90 plus percent.

-Speaking of changes, Americans’ lawns gobble up more land than Texas, that’s three times larger “than any irrigated crop in the U.S.A.”  How will that change in the coming decades?

-Here’s what Toronto could have done if the City council had decided to tear down part of their Gardiner Expressway. Welcome to Providence!

Permaculture Trio -- Forest Gardening and Edible Landscapes

An oldie, but a very instructive goody. Permaculture - forest gardening, edible landscapes and urban permaculture

Fireflies on a green roof - in song

These are normally supposed to be the dog days of summer, but the season seems to barely have arrived! If you're lucky there are a few fireflies around where you are. Maybe one or two on your green roof? I serenade you, luminescent visitors with songs as beautiful as your glow!

The Temptations - Firefly
Gato Barbieri - Fireflies

Lawrence Welk - Firefly Serenade
Leo Kottke - Spanish Entomologist      

A restaurant that serves plants fed gourmet sunlight

I did an April Fools post about verticiel selling "artisanal air", but here's something that sounds like an joke but is actually real. A conceptual artist/philosopher tried to start a restaurant for plants. Not just any restaurant for plants, one that serves gourmet sunlight!  Wow! Perhaps I shouldn't be amazed, this comes from a man who tried to genetically engineer God.

You need 34 city lots to sustain an urban agriculture business

How would you like to have one of these on your block?

Here's a tree which grows 40 different kinds of fruit. Wouldn't it be great if city trees were grafted to produce fruit. And not via the Guerilla Grafters?

-No doubt the information is out there, however it's great to see the Michigan State University Extension post information illuminating the financial stress of farming. And for urban farmers this particular fact is sobering: "The single farmer would need to accumulate and manage approximately 34 city lots, to achieve scale that has the potential reach the poverty threshold." Wow!

-Of course all municipalities need money to operate. It's a bit sad when "user fees" are applied to accessing your local community garden. After reading this story I was naturally thinking about
the "paying for things" and we've seen many municipalities support growing vegetables and herbs on lawns, while others are not so keen. So when I read this headline I immediately thought "How disappointing is that, a woman is giving a citation for doing horticultural therapy?" But it's the good kind of citation.

-I love the alliteration of this new offering from an aquaponics operation: "salad subscription".

Perfume...inspired by green roofs

Yes, it totally exists! Here's the ad, now you can smell like a green roof too!

World Water Week - Starts August 24

-Just around the corner is World Water Week. Of course with droughts in California and elsewhere water security and scarcity, is now top of mind.
The UN FAO released a report examining the importance of water to global food security, it's definitely worth your time.

-Look at the bones for what will be a very interesting "green canopy", part roof, part wall in Texas.

 Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has a wonderful new horticultural therapy program.

-Egypt has launched a green rooftop fund, the first roofs covered were the Education and Scientific Ministries. This is the second big piece of news from Egypt in the last year.

-Pittsburgh is supporting green roofs too, they are offering $250,000 to 17 projects for their green commitment.

-Here's a tremendous resource if you'd like to get create an educational food landscape at your school!

-So many South Koreans are leaving the cities to farm in the country there is a name for them: guinong. NPR delivers the audio goods once again.

-How do you record ever tree in a city? New York has recruited volunteers and they have mapped nearly 100,000 trees in 3 months!

-Okay, it's not the World's first farm to table community, as the article would suggest, but these Californians have dreamed big and deserve applause.

GILA word of the week: Baira

The prevalent mode of thinking goes like this: Rich countries (and people) help poor countries (and people).

Bangladesh is flipping this on its head.  Countries lack in resources must use ingenuity to battle climate change. And with much of Bangladesh just six feet above sea level, residents will have to come up with clever ideas to grow food.

One ingenious idea is the baira.

Check it out...

Extreme vertical farming - NASA grows veggies in space

Today crew members aboard the International Space Station will try space grown food for the first time from their experiment, Veg-01! This may be the biggest living architecture story of the year!

GILA word of the week: Personal Food Computer

There's only one eco-village in Cameroon and it's called the Ndanifor Permaculture Eco-village. Here's a little about their unique story.

-Urban foraging has come a long ways, from back in the day when it wasn't permitted because it just wasn't. And then officials let folks forage for decades because most residents weren't into it. Now in places like Toronto the tide has turned, with foodies and chefs on the prowl and overforaging, officials are hoping to stop foraging before it gets out of hand.
Look up, people, there are always tons of mulberries on city streets!

-Quezon City supports urban agriculture. How much? The vice-mayor advocates for it!

-Open-source farming....data-driven agriculture. The term most likely to catch on is "personal food computer". At least, that's what I think!

through her campaign “The Joy of Urban Planning” which started in 2010 -- advocates the development of green thumbs among city dwellers.

Right in the Quezon Memorial Circle are rows and rows of vegetables planted in a 1,500 square-meter area.

“Quezon City is lucky that places, especially in Fairview and Novaliches, still have a province-like ambiance. We have organic piggeries and chicken farms. As long as you’re not near streets, even if you’re at the slumps, you can grow organic produce,” said Ms. Belmonte.

She credits Mayor Herbert Bautista because “he started it in 2010 [with a program] called Halamanan sa Bakuran (Backyard Gardening), I only continued and grew it. This is the most well-funded in all of my projects because I really believe in it.”

HOW VIABLE IS URBAN FARMING?
“When I started the program, the problem was the mind-set that farming isn’t compatible in the city. It’s all in the mind-set. You can do vertical garden or start with small containers,” said Ms. Belmonte.

She said residents, like senior citizens who find it therapeutic, are interested in organic farming. “They write us a letter, we check if they are sincere and check their space. We give them farming materials, the soil they need, and unlimited seminars. We assign an agriculturalist and a provide greenhouse,” she said.

The city currently has 68 farms of various sizes found in barangays, public elementary schools, daycare centers, parishes, and nongovernment organizations. The city works with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, which provide financial grants.

But even if city farmers fail to bring their items to market, urban farming is still a win-win situation.

“If they don’t produce [enough] for selling, as long as they can eat their products to decrease the issue of malnutrition, it’s already a triumph,” said Ms. Belmonte.

Urban farming can also be a matter of self-suffiency, especially when calamity strikes. “We still rely on the provinces to deliver our food. [The produce is delivered by] carbon-emitting vehicles that only add to climate change.”
- See more at: http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=112163#sthash.twQAEZOT.

When vertical farming goes bad - Vancouver edition

So it's a year and a half since Alterrus, a Vancouver rooftop farming operation with so much promise,
went bankrupt. Their assets were bought by a company called Affinor. Things have gone from bad to worse, as Affinor never did much of anything and the greenhouse and everything in it are now up on Craiglist. The whole shebang can be yours for $1.5 million dollars!
Oh yeah, the City of Vancouver is suing Affinor and Affinor is suing them right back. It is officially a mess!

There may be a lesson in there for some new urban agriculture/vertical farming ventures in Indianapolis and Jersey City. I'm not sure yet what that lesson is!

Dear Algerian Oak...

A tip of the hat to a new reader for this summary of studies investigating the physiological health outcomes of direct outdoor nature experiences. It is wonderfully exhaustive and worth your time.
The authors noted "Most of the studies were conducted in Japan, based on quite small samples, predominantly with male students as participants..." so additional studies are absolutely needed. Perhaps the authors should contact Hoshino Resorts Oirase Keiryu Hotel, they've organized moss viewing expeditions, mostly attended by women. And it's gaining in popularity, they've gone from 5 to 8 trips in three years!

Or maybe give government officials in Melbourne, Australia a call. Email addresses (!) have been set-up for trees and correspondence, love letters, actually, are pouring in for the cherished, leafy behemoths. Perhaps the writers can fill out a survey or participate in a study detailing how they feel about nature?

A sample:

To: Algerian Oak, Tree ID 1032705
2 February 2015
Dear Algerian oak,
Thank you for giving us oxygen.
Thank you for being so pretty.
I don't know where I'd be without you to extract my carbon dioxide. (I would probably be in heaven) Stay strong, stand tall amongst the crowd.
You are the gift that keeps on giving.

One less green roof bylaw + the world's largest vertical farm breaks ground

 It looks like construction started long ago, but last week was the official ground breaking for the largest vertical farm in the world. Politicians galore stopped by for the photo-op, here's hoping they can deliver on 80 jobs for the citizens of Newark, New Jersey!

Are you involved in urban farming? Then a Dutch grad student wants your help in filling out a survey to find out what role innovation has on urban agriculture.

China has big, big plans. Earlier this week was a story about their mega city, Jing Jin Ji, which would join several big cities to make a GIGANTIC one, as big as all of New England and with over 130 MILLION PEOPLE! Several of these cities have begun installing porous bricks and bio-swales, I hope the entire region gets the green infrastructure!

-Barbados becomes the latest island nation to embrace aquaponics.

-Jakarta has added 66 urban farming spots in the last year. It has been reported they are "modest" plots. Regardless of the size, that's a big commitment.

-If you have an environmental business based in Canada, ECO Canada just announced their internship program. With almost a $1 million dollars in wage subsidies for over 100 jobs, it's a great way to introduce a young person into your green field.

-One of the first cities to adopt a green roof bylaw, Port Coquitlam, has now rescinded it. This is big news for the green roof industry. There are only about 20 bylaws in North America. It seems their City Council how to decide which program to greenhouse gas program to support, so they went with something more general which targets an increase in building insulation and overall energy efficiency.
We'll keep watching to see if this is a one-off for the industry or a trend.

Introductory tutorial to rooftop gardening in India

About an hour long, if you're curious about rooftop (or terrace) gardening in India or want to give it a try, have a look.

Introduction to Permaculture in India - ground level

We'll double up today with a second helping of permaculture videos from India.

Big cash for your environmental community project!

Big money for your community project. The Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has announced their nearly $1.4 million dollar grant program, applications for projects which create a share sense of responsibility for stewardship of the environment, are due in late August!

GILA Word of the Week (part 2) - Green infrastructure bank

Ontario is set to become the first jurisdiction to put a limit on the use of neonics, a class of agricultural insecticides blamed for the reduction in bee numbers. This article, in particular, is a head scratcher. It's not simply "farmers" vs "the government", other groups like nurses and doctors have called for a ban for a while.

-Chicago is trying to address food deserts by outfitting buses and bring produce to the articles most in need.

-The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization estimates it would only cost $160 per person to eliminate hunger.

-Rhode Island may get an Infrastructure Bank soon. It's Clean Water Finance Agency may expand what it's already doing (making loans to cities and towns for sewer projects and other clean water infrastructure) and is already thinking beyond that. It just added roads and bridges to its portfolio and may finance all kinds of green infrastructure improvements, meaning everything from stormwater infrastructure to energy retrofits for buildings. The article states "the new green infrastructure bank would make giant loans – in some cases 'a half a million dollars or higher' for massive energy overhauls of public buildings."
How about green roofs as well?

-Oregon has been very supportive of urban agriculture. Now they will even allow you to grow marijuana (four plants) in your backyard, since it is now legal.

-For folks interested in (or in the middle of) an urban agriculture business a grad student has several models for success.

-Could the future of farming be underwater? If nothing else, we now know seaweed is a useful additive to green roof substrate. Perhaps it is to regular soil as well?

GILA words of the week: Pizza farm + mobile green wall filter

Before getting to the word of the week, here's the new title holder for the largest green wall.

A Taiwan based company built this nearly 2,600 square meter green wall, it beats the previous biggest in Singapore by more than 300 square meters.
An even bigger development may be the invention of a mobile green wall filter. Keep an eye on this company!

-On to the pizza farm! In Minnesota and Wisconsin agritourism is taking off and some farmers have cut out the middle man. Why not grow (or source locally) all of ingredients for a pizza, bake it and serve it up on a farm? You can't get much fresher!

Water Saving Tropical Permaculture Garden Tour

With climate change comes new challenges, particularly drought. Here are some tips for saving water in tropical regions...

Horticultural therapy - helping veterans transition back to health and civilian life

Horticultural therapy program and projects have benefited many people and groups over the years. It seems programs focused on veterans are sprouting up everywhere. In the last six months I've seen stories from Chicago, London, Grand Rapids, and Fort Wayne. Heck, three of those are from the last WEEK! There's even a book which came out in the spring and an ongoing study in Virginia.
Let's keep our eyes peeled to see if this is a (mid-western) trend...or phenomenon!

GILA word of the week: Bee highway

The FAO has definitely been busy. This week it announced that Cape Verde has it's first FAO urban agriculture program. Earlier in the month the FAO released a collection of findings from scientists and economists who have taken stock of climate change impacts on food and agriculture at global and regional levels. The document investigates, among other things, how climate change will impact crop production in Africa and grain production in Russia and neighboring Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

-I hope these entrepreneurs can do it, however it will be an uphill climb. By 2017 a Brooklyn duo hopes to produce the first rooftop wine from rooftop vineyard.

-Norway is creating a bee highway. What is that you ask? Private individual, state bodies, companies, and associations post their little slice of green on the website polli.no to map out a bees’ safe route across the Oslo.

-A graduate student has published the first summary, I believe, stating the limits of community gardens in creating communities. One of her preliminary findings (in the Netherlands) is that those who garden together don't often become friends outside the garden, however they are more likely to ask for help from others. As this story hit the web, so did one which focuses on urban agriculture and measuring what it actually yields, in terms of food production and money.

-Chicago laps the fields in rooftop farms, 13 have been documented, compared to 3 in Chicago and only 2 in Toronto. I wonder how many exist outside North America?

Songs about flies

Where would we be without them. The source of plagues and, oddly some cheeses, I'm thankful for their roles as decomposes and pollinators. A tribute to you...

Venus Flytrap and Bug - Stevie Wonder
The Black Fly Song - Wade Hemsworth

Permaculture in Zimbabwe

Take a trip around a permaculture farm in Zimbabwe and see how things are done there!

Latin America & Africa pave the way for 21st century urban agriculture

Although many of us have been involved in urban agriculture for some time, once upon a time everyone was new to it. Remembering that, it’s awesome to stumble upon an article which summarizes so many of the key issues and big projects for newbies. Here is a great one.

-We all know how much surplus and less than perfect food goes to waste. An ex-President of Trader Joe’s has decide to do something about it by opening a second hand grocery store, so to speak. Do we ever need this!!!! It’s a non-profit to boot!

-Here’s your next Highlinesaque project. It’s called the “Lowline” and features, maybe, growing vegetables in a park underground. Three years ago they garnered over $150,000 on Kickstarter, and they are hoping to finish negotiations with New York City by 2017 for a 2018 launch.

-Wednesday was the World Day to Combat Desertification. It’s a good start for sure, but we need to think about this and act on it every day.

-Preliminary findings from a green roof project based at the University of Toronto indicate a few things, including that indigenous plants may attract more native pollinators. Speaking of findings another study which shows just 40 seconds of viewing a green roof can improve your attention span.

-In the next 85 years, how can we make greener cities capable of producing food to achieve zero hunger? The FAO has an exhaustive report about what is currently being done in countries around the world.

App for Philly residents calculates green roof water savings

Every, and I mean every, city, town and village should have one of these apps. If you're in Philly you can use it to calculate, after installing green infrastructure like green roofs and rain gardens, how much less you'll have to pay in stormwater fees!

Brown (aka dead green) walls make us all grumpy

No one likes a dead living wall...and this one village councillor's expression is representative of the entire village's feelings!

-How much mulch is good for a green roof and how much do they effect water quality? And is organic farming really better than conventional? Three long running studies (one 30 years long) have your answers.

-One community run, city agency has gone from administering a few hundred to nearly 90,000 empty lots in Detroit in a few years. Is that a good thing or bad?

-Lastly Utne reader has a couple of previews to whet your appetite with two excerpts from upcoming books on the history of herbal medicine and educational benefits of school gardens.

 

East Coast grasslands on a green roof

Later in the year I'll be visiting Long Island, New York. Long Island once had a sprawling grasslands, over 40,000 acres which has been reduced to less than 60. On one of the last remaining parcels is a new educational center, complete with a native grasslands green roof. I'll make sure to take pictures when I visit and compare them to the rendering as the years go on.

Farming with soil at sea

Hot of the presses is the latest Urban Agriculture Magazine. This month's edition is about "City Region Food Systems".


-For those new to or interested in urban homesteading there's a web series for you, check out "The Urban Homesteader"

-This to me seems pie in the sky, a concept I wouldn't normally comment on. Farming on huge rafts at sea? Seems too risky. But when you consider how quickly urban land is disappearing or being rapidly degraded, what's stopping someone in an overcrowded, seaside country from making a low-tech version of this and floating it off the coast so they can then have fresh vegetables?

-For the first time is a book which attempts to encapsulate all of the local and state laws applicable to community based urban agriculture.

Vertical farming in Japan

You may remember my pronouncement a while back how I wouldn't comment on concepts because they are simply artwork until someone puts numbers behind how to make it reality.
Covering Toronto's Gardiner Expressway with a green roof to resemble New York's Highline, was one of those fanciful ideas which got people talking, but seemed far from realistic. And it still is. Especially when you consider the first part of the equation, fixing the Gardiner has gone from $500 million to $950 million in four years.
Now a top bureaucrat is agreeing with some people who think the Gardiner should be torn down. If nothing else, I think we can all agree the Gardiner will never be topped with a green roof.

-Next door the City of Mississauga will add a storm water discharge fee to the bills of building owners to help rebuild their infrastructure.

-Back to Toronto, for a second, how cool would it be if they had a provision, like they do in Seoul, that if you get rebates, public funds to subsidize your green roof or wall, that it must be publicly accessible? Seoul has spent over $57 million in public funds greening their city and has a really big project up their sleeves, look out for their Seoul Skygarden in 2017. It's supposed to be like...wait for it...the Highline!

-In terms of ideas, here are a couple I really like. A team of Chicago entrepreneurs are hoping to lease rooftops to grow veggies. Let's see if they are able to do it, because no one has done it successfully yet. Of greater promise, I think, is leasing parking lot space for these pop-up farms. Maybe even stacking them a several stories high to maximize the space.

-In Japan this semi-conductor company has entered the vertical farming race and found a niche market for their lettuces, growing low potassium lettuces for those with kidney problems. That's a smaller version of their system up above.

-I'll round out with the best news of the week. France now has a ban on supermarket food waste. All surplus food must be donated to charities or used for animal feed!