Update on green roof collapse in Hong Kong

The rooftop collapse, apparently from the application of a green roof which much heavier than the roof could hold, has struck a nerve throughout Hong Kong. Anyone involved with the project, even at arms length, is looking to distance themselves and the government has taken the event very seriously.
The university is removing several other green roofs, built on tin roofs, as a precautionary measures.

America's parks, not sponsored by Starbucks

America's national parks will not be "sponsored by Starbucks", to the fear of many, but they will recognize donors and need to adapt even further due to global warming.


It's refreshing to see articles on outlets like Vox are now expanding the urban farming debate, there's been a shift from the mantra that "urban farming can feed cities" to "urban farming won't solely feed cities, but that doesn't matter".
If you need ways to figure out how to acquire land for your Urban Agriculture program your prayers have been answered.

Here's a little eye candy to wrap up your week, the United Arab Emirates' best green walls. For a review of weekly green infrastructure news from Latin America, head over to NRDC.org.

Next generation green roof systems

In London there are already over 1200 green roof projects (covering more than 500,000 square meters) and the market is exploding. New modular systems, for both green roofs and roofs incorporating green roofs and solar panels, have hit the market. Even speciality butterfly attracting plug and play plant blankets are available! All of this without major government incentives or legislation!
Also profiled in the article are next generation green roof systems, ones designed to hold large quantities of water, intensify the phytoremediation process or utilizing bioresponsive materials.
If you read one piece about green roofs this year, this may be the one.

-Can anyone guess where Canada's largest urban farm is located? If you guessed Calgary, I tip my hat to you!

-Sacramento will host the year two of the Cultivating Change Summit from June 8-11. It's the first summit for LGBTQ+ agriculturalists and allies. Register here!

-Big things are happening in Toronto. An alley behind a public library has been bought and is being converted into a community garden and a vacant plot of land in the east(ish) end will become a temporary home to a 1500 crate mobile urban garden.

Green roof collapse at Hong Kong City University

Luckily only two people were hurt. Preliminary reports indicate the weight of the green roof was 5 times the structural limit!

Build your own Moss Wall

Yes, green walls have hit the big time. Here's an article in Vogue (!) about how to build your own moss wall. 

Guelph and Kansas City get food forests

On Saturday temperatures hovering at freezing couldn't keep people away from the first round of planting for Guelph, Ontario's first food forest. It was cold, but worth it...

  
The concept is sweeping North America and it says a lot when cities with 125,000 residents dedicate 27,000 square feet and join the movement.

Congrats to Kansas City as well, a 10,000 square foot food forest is being planted there, the second in the city. One question for the permaculture enthusiasts out there. Any thoughts for how big a permaculture garden has to be in order to be labelled a food forest? Does it matter? An article from February says there are 50, perhaps 100, food forests in North America. I've only heard of about 25, quick, someone make a list!

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/living/home-garden/article76738647.html#storylink=cpy

May songs

May is here and there are so many great songs celebrating it!



  Lusty Month of May - Julie Andrews

 Autumn to May- Peter, Paul and Mary

First of May - The Bee-Gees

One Morning in May - Charlie Byrd Trio

My Girl - Otis Redding

How good is urban agriculture at slowing climate change?

A great question and this literature review, which includes 274 peer- reviewed and grey literature, has your answer.

There are lots of way to raise money for urban agriculture endeavors in your neighborhood, I like this way more than this.

First international conference on Africa's Great Green Wall

 There are still a few more days left in this week's first Great Green Wall conference. Representatives from 20 countries are meeting. As one official said this conference is about more than just greenery, land degradation, which effects as much as 65% of Africa, leads to other destabilizing forces like "climate change, illegal migration (particularly youth), declining agricultural productivity and insufficient job creation for our rural community."And of course experts speaking to Reuters point out, it leads to extremism as well.

It was hard for me to wrap my head around what's at stake, until I read this quote from the UN: "Some 60 million Africans could be forced to leave their homes within five years as their land turns to desert, while two thirds of the continent’s arable land could be lost by 2025 due to growing desertification".

Singapore's supertrees

Last week Philadelphia's city council introduced resolutions calling for the expansion of urban and vertical farming. What that means is still unclear, does anyone know what happens next in this process?

The grand opening of Europe's largest urban farm, capable of churning out 45 tons of vegetables and 19 tons of fish, May 20. The founding company is expanding to the US, they hope to open 10 sites in the New York Tri-State area. 2016 will be an interesting year rooftop farming!

-The USDA announced a urban agriculture toolkit for aspiring urban farmers. Wow!

-A $6.5 million dollar private-public partnership in New Mexico will create 14 permanent jobs and another 35 construction jobs to build an urban aquaponic system capable of feeding 16,000 people. And the micro-algae which grows as well will be supplied to another company to produce omega-3 nutritional supplements!

-Hamilton, Ontario's first legal marijuana production facility is capable of producing 2,700 kilograms per year.  And because it's marijuana, they have bank level security.

-This is really fantastic. Vacant lots in Germany are being turned into public gardens and I mean truly public. Anyone can, even tourists, can pick a tomato or two.

-Did you know in the UK sustainable drainage systems (like water retention ponds, green roofs, permeable paving) for all new developments is now the rule? Perhaps we should look to places like Singapore for the next wave in water usage. Faced with tremendous constraints, they have innovated unlike any other place. Two desaslination plants produce a quarter of the city's needs. And wastewater is being reused in all sorts of fantastic ways. Check out these super trees: