Permaculture lecture - Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton

A few weeks ago I posted a video featuring one of permaculture's pioneers, David Holgren. Here are a couple more luminaries earlier this year, Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. As you see this is part of a very long series. Lots to learn!

Small scale urban farming not possible?

Well, this is sure to spark some debate.

A prominent musician, turned urban farmer in Vancouver says simply that you need to go monoculture or go home, if you're going to make a living cultivating yards in the urban environment.
The fact he said it so forcefully, will no doubt get some backs up. Take on that it was followed by a Salon article in which another farmer says small farming is basically impossible, means folks will be  writing for a long time.

-The FAO released a comprehensive introductory aquaponics paper designed to give anyone a fantastic foundation. Download it for free here.

-Will climate change mean we have to grow different strains of produce, perhaps even return to more ancient seeds? Debal Deb thinks so and has over 1,000 indigenous seeds in his rice bank which are more tolerant to stressors like salt.

-For those who love honey from the hive, but hate the labor part, there's a new product in development which will take honey from the hive to a tap.

, and offers some suggestions that can help ensure greening success.

Plant Preferences

Godman always recommends using plants native to the region – it’s their best chance of survival.

For example, the rece

- See more at: http://sourceable.net/cooling-planet-one-green-roof-time/#sthash.sKQKY9ol.dpuf

Green roofs are being recognised as a critical addition to our urban areas as more and more man-made structures are squeezed into cities to keep up with population demands.

The environmental benefits of green roofs are well documented: absorbing carbon, reducing energy consumption, helping with stormwater management and offering acoustic support. They also offer opportunity for bio-diversity and food production in urban areas.

Another key benefit to green roofs is that they mitigate the urban heat island effect. A chapter study by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that green roofs were substantially cooler than their dark or white counterparts.

Comparing two roofs in Chicago, the study found that on a 32-degree day in August, the green roof temperature ranged from 33 to 48 degrees while an adjacent dark conventional roof dark temperature was 76 degrees.

“The near-surface air temperature above the green roof was about four degrees cooler than of the conventional roof,” the report read.

A similar study in Florida found that the average maximum surface temperature of a green roof was 30 degrees, while the adjacent light-coloured roof was 57 degrees.

Green roofs have also been shown to have healing properties. Humans love greenery and research demonstrates that the presence of plants can directly contribute to health and well-being. Healing gardens in healthcare spaces help patients to recover more rapidly, while office workers become more productive when working around living plants or enjoying a green view.

- See more at: http://sourceable.net/cooling-planet-one-green-roof-time/#sthash.sKQKY9ol.dpuf

Green roofs are being recognised as a critical addition to our urban areas as more and more man-made structures are squeezed into cities to keep up with population demands.

The environmental benefits of green roofs are well documented: absorbing carbon, reducing energy consumption, helping with stormwater management and offering acoustic support. They also offer opportunity for bio-diversity and food production in urban areas.

Another key benefit to green roofs is that they mitigate the urban heat island effect. A chapter study by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that green roofs were substantially cooler than their dark or white counterparts.

Comparing two roofs in Chicago, the study found that on a 32-degree day in August, the green roof temperature ranged from 33 to 48 degrees while an adjacent dark conventional roof dark temperature was 76 degrees.

“The near-surface air temperature above the green roof was about four degrees cooler than of the conventional roof,” the report read.

A similar study in Florida found that the average maximum surface temperature of a green roof was 30 degrees, while the adjacent light-coloured roof was 57 degrees.

Green roofs have also been shown to have healing properties. Humans love greenery and research demonstrates that the presence of plants can directly contribute to health and well-being. Healing gardens in healthcare spaces help patients to recover more rapidly, while office workers become more productive when working around living plants or enjoying a green view.

- See more at: http://sourceable.net/cooling-planet-one-green-roof-time/#sthash.sKQKY9ol.dpuf

Edible Education 101: Michael Pollan (2015)

Over the years this course as attracted some of the best in the food system business. The UC Berkeley organizers deserve huge kudos, not only are the students terribly lucky but we are too that the internet exists!

Ice cream trucks, so why not carrots?

The Permaculture Activist,  the 30 year old permaculture journal, has a new Kickstarter campaign to raise their online profile. If you are moved to contribute, check out their page.

-New York's Department of Environmental Protection announced their 2015 green infrastructure winners, over $3 million dollars will be disbursed. What do the winners have in common? Very ambitious (and big) projects, which will be atop everything from parking garages to auto-body shops turned halal slaughterhouses.   

-“It’s kind of strange - we’ll let ice cream trucks roll down the street and sell all kinds of sugary things, but you can’t sell a carrot.” This kind of quote, one would guess, would be attributed to a local, urban agriculture activist. But this is actually Dallas' sustainability coordinator talking and you can bet the Big D is up for some changes.
Hmmm...but what if you combined those two...carrot ice cream? Would everyone be happy???

-Patented in Lebanon and debuted in Cairo, have a gander at this very artistic green wall, inside Cairo’s Galleria mall. That's two big GILA projects for Cairo, in the last 3 months!

CBC radio loves urban agriculture

A couple of urban agriculture radio segments from CBC, the first one features Joe Nasr detailing how urban planning needs to change to "maximize the potential of urban agriculture for food security. The second is a bit about one man's idea to convert shipping containers into composters.

All about Agritopia!

Over the past two years I've seen a few studies about the effects of horticultural therapy, however there's been a definite uptick in articles over the last six months. In the Journal of Nursing Care, a rigorous study was just published expounding on the effects of ht "on the well-being and hope of women" in Korea.

-It's clear aquaponics and urban agriculture are gaining in popularity throughout the Caribbean and a few Pacific islands. Why not Hawaii as well? I had no idea over 80% of it's food is imported!

-In D.C. the Children's National Medical Center is raising money to make a rooftop healing garden. They are about 1/3 the way there, only $3.8 million dollars to go!

-Vancouver is leading the way with recently adopted community guidelines which includes soil testing for contaminants, forbidding GMO seeds and requirements for accessibility.

-A politician from Philadelphia has proposed to double their green roof tax credit, with a cap of $100,000 per applicant!

-Fascinating article from Nextcity which details how trees can make people happy and vice-versa.

-Agritopia. This is planning!!!! A new development in Phoenix featuring 450 residential lots and space for agricultural development, in addition to 74 independent and assisted living apartments and 48 memory care apartment homes. One teeny, tiny question. How sustainable is agriculture in the desert? I know, I know...I have to be "that guy!"

In a study published this quarter in Journal of Nursing Care, Min and colleagues describe a beneficial impact of HT on hope and well-being in women participating in a 12-week HT program compared with a control group of women who did not participate in HT. This study is notable for its inclusion of a control group, standardized methods of measuring emotional health, and sound statistical methods. - See more at: http://ahta.org/news/beneficial-impact-ht-emotional-health-demonstrated#sthash.mypSTjfu.dpuf

3 Keys to Starting A Permaculture Business

Hot off the presses! A "video" (it's on youtube, but there's no video to speak of...so really it's just an "audio") presentation on how to start a permaculture business!
This is picking up views fast!

Urban foraging to mitigate hunger?

February is here and already there's been an uptick in GILA articles. Spring is around the corner...

A nice little lobbying piece in Crain's New York for the creation and protection of the greater Tri-State's regional "foodshed" in New York's Hudson valley. Every article trumpeting its importance raises the issue and awareness. Tying it to the safeguarding of water is genius!

-Other welcome developments, small cities considering green roof legislation and its applicability as when calculating "permeable surface" percentages.

-If you have a few moments, check out this Chris Reed interview about landscape architecture and the future of urban life.

-Grist poses a great question. "What if we connected the people most in need of healthy food with the expensive, nutrient-dense greens that just happen to be growing between the cracks in their driveways?" That sounds a lot better than "Can urban foraging actually feed poor people?"

-Next month Abu Dhabi will have a motley crew attending the two day 2015 Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA). Over 300 next generation agricultural solutions will be on display.

-The National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon is outlining a 20 year Master Plan for it's five-acre campus. It includes a food forest and aquaponic system. Looks like they already have a healing garden.

-Last, but not least for today is a paper assessing urban and peri-urban agriculture, particularly in Asia. A fascinating read, it has several great statistics. Like the fact that "70 percent of households in developing countries are engaged in some kind of farming and food production"!

ianScientist (Jan. 20, 2015) - By Dilrukshi Handunnetti - Irrigated urban croplands can improve global food security and play a larger role in densely populated and increasingly water scarce regions like South Asia, says a new study. Pay Drechsel, scientist at the Colombo-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and co-author of the study, published in Environmental Research Letters in November, says urban and peri-urban agricultural areas worldwide are larger than the total area under rice cultivation in South Asia. The paper recognizes a global trend of food production taking on an increasingly urban flavor, with an estimated 456 million hectares—an area about the size of the European Union—being under cultivation in and around the world’s cities, challenging the rural orientation of most agriculture research and development work. South and East Asia comprise 49 percent of urban irrigated croplands and 56 percent of the non-urban irrigated areas globally. These two regions account for 26 percent of urban rain-fed croplands and 22 percent of non-urban rain-fed croplands. Drechsel says, “The study documents that 70 percent of households in developing countries are engaged in some kind of farming and food production and challenges the notion that food production, far from being a rural phenomenon, is commonly occurring within cities.” The study says irrigation is more common on city farms than rural farms, intensifying water demands in sprawling urban zones. It further highlights how urban agriculture—particularly in South Asia—contributes to food security, puts marginal lands into productive use, assists in flood control, increases income opportunities for the poor and strengthens urban biodiversity. Drechsel says India is a good example of an urbanizing country which is already more peri-urban than rural. “Feeding the cities with food and water is changing the Indian agricultural landscape. There is more competition between urban and rural needs for water and there are strong urban markets but also significant pollution. Urban and peri-urban farming is operating in this interface,” he says. The study shows that three out of four cities surveyed in the global South were using wastewater for irrigation, predominately for local market sale and livelihood support. “For example, downstream of Hyderabad in India, the only available water for irrigation is the city’s wastewater which is only partially treated and used for the production of fodder grass and rice, supporting about 50,000 people.” A more recent study shows that in India, the conscious and safe use of wastewater could help irrigate an additional 1.1 million hectares. In Sri Lanka, Drechsel says, urbanization is most obvious in the island’s Western Province where urban farming is also receiving policy recognition as a means to support subsistence needs or as additional income source, mostly for women. The article can be found at: Thebo et al. (2014) Global Assessment of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture: Irrigated and Rainfed Croplands. ----- Source: SciDev.Net. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff. Tags: Agriculture, India, South Asia, Sri Lanka, Urban Development, Water Resource Management RELATED STORIES FROM ASIAN SCIENTIST A Word To Young Physicists In Asia In a wide-ranging interview, Sir Anthony Leggett shares his thoughts on science education and the prospects for young physicists in Asia. Air Pollution Hits Crops More Than Climate Change Black carbon and ozone may have caused India more than US$5 billion in losses to wheat and rice crops. The Nature And Scope Of India’s Faculty Shortages According to Pushkar, the government of India is not fully cognizant of the nature and scope of faculty shortages in the country. Climate Change Threatens India’s Native Plants Even moderate climate change could have an impact on the native biodiversity of India, home to 11 percent of the world’s flora. Asia’s Invisible Women Farmers Technology support for farmers should address the needs of women, who provide more than half of the agricultural labor input in Asia. Addressing India’s Scientific Brain Drain India has taken measures to increase the pay of young researchers, but experts say this may not be enough to beat brain drain. More Stories Subscribe to our newsletter ADVERTISEMENT Subscribe to our newsletter Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/01/features/farming-town/

 

2015 Midwest Urban Farmers Summit at the Plant, March 14-15

Toronto, or better yet the Greater Toronto Area, has it's largest aquaponics operation to date based in Mississauga.

-New York City hopes to develop over a dozen vacant lots to make more community gardens available across the city. DC wants twice that number and wants an "army of urban growers".

-Chicago is holding it's 2015 Midwest Urban Farmers Summit at the Plant, March 14-15. They are still taking presentation proposals and requests.

-Most of the time when people think about horticultural therapy, they think about the numerous benefits to seniors or veterans. But everyone can benefit, especially kids.