Permaculture refresher

Spring is upon us in the northern hemisphere, pretty much everywhere now. If you want a permaculture refresher as we head into the next planning season, have a peak at this well done video presentation.

The problem with permaculture

 I've never really seen someone elaborate like this, via a major outlet, about the problems with how permaculture is currently taught. The author has a number of valid points. His major complaints center around money and philosophy:

-Because of the base cost, permaculture design courses are usually out of the question but for a select few.
-Throw in the cost of books and even more people are unable to gain a certificate.
-Some in the industry recommend using expensive equipment and machinery, instead of low cost methods, further driving up the price of a typical project.
-Permaculture teachers view sharing their knowledge as money making tools/income generators, which runs counter to the similar, yet still very much different, agroecology movement. 
-Courses "sometimes seem like a publicity campaign for companies that market organic products". In one particular course he mentioned hundreds of plugs for popular products.

What do you think?

-A billion dollar project in Florida spent over $700,000 moving mature trees to their latest project!

-Will this ambitious wine loving, Brooklyn based duo be able to pull off the world's first rooftop vineyard? It's been a few years in the making and they are now oh so close.

Jackson, Mississippi plants a food forest

The biggest story of the past two weeks details the world's biggest aerogation project to date. When installed in 2017, this 4 square meter living wall system in London will be able to purifying 2 million liters of air every day!

-If you read nothing else, check out this story on CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation With Station data). By managing food use and distribution better, we could reduce 14% of emission produced by agriculture in 2050. It blends data from weather stations and satellites, from the past three decades, to hopefully give farmers an idea of how the current growing season might look. An early warning system, so to speak.

-Add Jackson, Mississippi to the list of communities with food forests!

-Another fantastic story, this time from Indiana, about how aquaponics is helping employ those with social needs and give back to the community.

-Tucson, Arizona has been named a City of Gastronomy in the Creative Cities Network by UNESCO. It's the first American or Canadian city to get this award and joins a list of 116 cities in 54 countries. Fun fact, Tucson has had urban agriculture, in some form, for over 4,100 years!!!

-Frustrating news for urban agriculturists from Moscow, because the 150 year old Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, will be moved and the 100 hectares of land used constantly for education and experimentation at the agrarian university will now become residential buildings. Some experiments have been ongoing for over a century!

30 Nutritious indigenous crops

Last week Foodtank released what may be one of the best posts of the year so far. It lists 31 different indigenous crops which are fantastic for health and increasing food security. Have a look at the list and see if you can find some of them and incorporate them into your diet...

Africa:

1. Bambara Bean
2. Cowpea
3. Finger Millet
4. Gemsbok Cucumber
5. Lablab
6. Marama
7. Marula
8. Safou

Europe:

9. Ermelo Orange
10. Formby Asparagus
11. Målselvnepe Turnip
12. Perinaldo Artichokes

Asia

13. Bitter Melon
14. Corchorus olitorius
15. Jackfruit
16. Lemongrass
17. Mungbean
18. Pomelo
19. Rambutan
20. Taro

Australia and Oceania

21. Bunya Nut
22. Kumara
23. Lifou Island Taro
24. Lifou Island Yam
25. Perry Pear

Americas

26. Chayote
27. Coconillo
28. Sapote
29. Sweet Corn Root
30. Woodland Sunflower

The world's first vertical community garden

The Ottawa region will have their first urban agriculture summer camp opening in a few months. Run by Enviro Éduc-Action, which is based across the river in Gatineau, teens will learn gardening theory and get their hands dirty over the 15 day camp.

-The Lahore Development Authority is developing several districts near the city. And we are talking about big time development, over 285,000 acres of land.  For our those familiar with the Big Apple, that's an area the nearly the size of New York City. An environmental impact assessment estimates over 55 percent of this land, suitable for agriculture, will be lost thus increasing food insecurity in the region. Privately owned orchards in this zone could be destroyed too, in addition to a plethora of animals and plants. On the plus side, there will be increased economic activity and livelihood opportunities. To mitigate the loss of vegetation the assessment recommends developing green infrastructure along nearby railroads, river banks and roadsides. The architect for the master plan thinks the assessment harbors "serious misconceptions". How do you think the land should be developed?

-A failed living wall in London is set to be repurposed and become the world's first “vertical allotment” (aka community garden). The gardeners will use rock-climbing gear to access the plots high up in the air. A few kilometers away the City will try out one of it's first green wall filtration systems.

Seoul City Hall

If you haven't seen Seoul City Hall, a magnificent building shrouded in verdant green walls, you should...

-An interesting article posits if recent disasters and new trade deals, could be the death knell for farming in Japan. What do you think?

-How do production rates for those shipping container gardens compare to traditional horizontal farms? One company was kind enough to share some data and an interesting discussion opened up in the comment section.

Vandana Shiva speaks at the National Permaculture Convergence

Nearly 1200 practitioners came together to connect, share experiences and best practices in Hyderbad in March, including the amazing Vandana Shiva. Here's her speech...