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!!!

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.

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.

 

World Cup green roofs - Group D

Group D has understated Costa Rica, totally unpredictable England, tough and elegant Uruguay and clockwork like Italy to enjoy.

Uruguay

Costa Rica

England

Italy

EU goes all in for aquaponics

Wasted food + great design + vermiculture = some innovative furniture design from two graduate students at Ohio State.



© Amy Youngs

-Yes, I would say today is the day aquaponics went from being perhaps the next big thing to a global phenomenon. The EU is funding a 4 year, 18 partner (across 8 countries), 6 million Euro (9 million USD) large-scale demonstration project – each at about 500m² – in Spain, Belgium, Germany, and China.

This dwarfs another aquaponic/hydroponic projects I was going to profile in England and Costa Rica. You should still read about it, both are pushing the envelope, especially in England where some savvy folks are using abandoned air raid shelters.

Is Boston's urban agriculture movement about to take off...or implode?

A few weeks ago we learned that Boston was changing its zoning guidelines to allow more urban agriculture. And wouldn’t you know it, last week Higher Ground announced their rooftop farm is in the planning stages and there seem to be a bunch of other interested parties (including Lufa Farms who just opened their second farm in Montreal) at the table! In 2013 Boston may have gone from middle of the pack in the rooftop farming world to first place by late 2014.
Or will it be only be highly commercial ventures which survive. A San Franciscan seems to think their struggle to keep community urban agriculture alive will be experienced by Boston.

We did a little world urban agriculture news crawl in the last post, but didn't stopover in Asia. Let's rectify that...

-We'll start in Japan where there's a 9 story high (like Higher Ground’s farm) urban farm which is up and running. Seems they are employing a wide array of technologies inside and outside the building.

-There have been a billion articles about a really eclectic rooftop in China, but no video. Until now, thanks to the Brisbane Times.



-A 350 square meter (3760 square foot) living wall in London has been just as well covered as the amazing roof in China. If you haven’t heard (or read), feast your eyes. Let’s add it to last year’s list!!!

-There are others in the urban agriculture world who are thinking big. One particular fellow wants to build 100 aquaponics farms (2/3 in Charlotte, 1/3 in Haiti) and another just signed on to stake Alberta’s claim in the aquaponics game.
In Fiji the national university and Joe’s Farm (love that name) are pioneering research and development into an aquaponic system and mushrooms production.

Still more from the last couple of weeks! Two studies document urban agriculture in Seoul and Los Angeles.

Phew! That's it for now!

New Jersey Adopts Horticultural Therapy Resolution + World's Largest Vertical Farm

If you're in St. Louis or Washington State there are a couple of ways to make your voices heard to support living architecture/green infrastructure in your cities.

Write to your legislators to support Bill 228 (in St. Louis, to incentivize urban agriculture) and call (1-800-562-6000) in Washington State to support a much bigger measure, $100 million in general obligation bonds. The latter seems to be, at least partially, inspired by Seattle's green infrastructure successes.
One more piece of legislation to consider supporting. Texas House Bill 1306 would reduce the amount of property tax a homeowner would have to pay if they engaged in urban agriculture.

-Speaking of legislation, one already adopted is the most comprehensive Horticultural Therapy Resolution (by New Jersey) to date. What does it mean? I am not sure, but perhaps a funding stream for horticultural therapy projects? We can only hope!

-The biggest news of the week (in my book) is the first Canadian school (and, I think, North American...correct me if I am wrong) to get an working urban farm! In a unique partnership between the school board and local not for profit, the kids have a place to learn about farming and get some fresh food!

-In the winter I passed through Chicago's O'Hare airport and had no idea something so cool was growing there. A demonstration vertical farm, almost 1000 square feet of aeroponics, provides herbs and vegetables for three airport restaurants.
Chicago also will boast the world's largest vertical farm...for now. 90,000 square feet on Chicago's South Side!

-What do you get when "The Plant" meets "Plantagon"? A lovely vertical farming facility where Manchurians are treated to a venture that educates communities about sustainable food production. 

1 day until the women's Pentathlon, be there or be square

A gentle reminder to watch Donna conquer the world tomorrow. If you're just joining the blog, here's the backstory and why you must watch the telly tomorrow!

GILA (green infrastructure, living architecture) word of the week: dry farming

Normally around this time of year things slow down but we’re deep in summer and the news keeps on coming. 

-First the GILA word of the week, thanks to Grist and the unfortunate drought now being experienced across 1/2 of the USA: dry farming.

-Add Matanuska-Susitna to the list of municipalities offering green roof incentives. North of Anchorage, Alaska the Borough of Matanuska-Susitna offers up to $500 reimbursement for the installation of a green roof. Obviously this is helps mitigate the cost when applying a green roof to smaller shelters, like a garage or shed roof. Hopefully this does well and the program expands. 

-I love this idea, what's not to love about an edible garden at every bus stop?!

-And in another first, here’s the first article I can recall referencing permaculture in Pakistan. 

London's green walls

It seems natural to do some more posts related to green infrastructure and the Olympics, after all, it is the Olympics! How about taking a look at some of the green walls in London that you could see if you're there right now. Let's start with the most recent addition:

-The one above can be viewed close to the Eurostar Terminal. The creators of the wall, Biotecture, are one of the go to firms in England.  

-The Athenaeum Hotel's green wall, eight stories tall, is a Patrick Blanc project. There were more dramatic pictures to choose from and you can have a look at the hotel's website, but this one I was drawn to from a technical point of view, as you can see the wall looks somewhat sparse up close. Most green walls have the plants really packed in, there is no "dead space" to play with. But as you can see having plant upon plant is not necessary to create something absolutely beautiful.

-This one is for the people. Near the Westfield Shopping Centre, this 2010 green wall is still going strong. Of note, check out the irrigation requirements. 3 Liters of water per square meter every two days, for comparison the top picture requires about 2 liters per square meter per day. 

-The London Westminster hotel, formerly the Mint Hotel, had their green wall installed in 2011. It's currently the tallest in London, snatching the title from the Athenaeum. And a lot bigger too, more than 10 times the size.

-No list would be complete without London's National Gallery living interpretation of Van Gogh's "A Wheatfield, with Cypresses".

There are plenty more around London, when you're not taking in the Games or sights (if you are there post Games), see how many you can find. 

Mushrooms may be the ultimate urban agriculture product

-Raising mushrooms seems to be one of the hottest urban agriculture/socially responsible businesses. You can take waste, for instance, coffee grounds, grow and sell the mushrooms in a dark, dank basement (of which there are plenty in an urban setting) and when the grounds have been spent completely, you can sell that product as a fertilizer. Well, add this to your list of mushroom media: dirty diapers.

-There is a battle royale taking place in West LA. Residents of residential-agricultural zones say the character of their neighborhoods are threatened by proposed development.

-Oooo...it's that time of year folks, a new Plant Hardiness Map for the USA. Behold the beautiful colors in all their interactive splendor!!!

-Lastly, a community in England hopes to produce all of their own food by 2018. Good luck, Todmorden.

A living wall fails...or did it?

Whenever a green or living wall fails in the UK, it always hits the newspapers, so it comes as no surprise the Guardian is all over the latest failure. What makes it even worse is that it was controversial to start and, over the course of the last month, seems to have increased in price by about $34,000 USD. Yikes! It's unclear if a few plants didn't make it or a substantial number died, either way, it's not good.

-When chatting with prospective clients interested in living walls they are always floored by the cost. Me too! The industry is still new and it will probably be a few years before the costs come down. Research on how to make them more affordable and sustainable is definitely needed, so it's great to read what is happening in Singapore.

-A recent report, summarized nicely by the Guardian, (they are really on it today, huh?), details how white roofs might actually increase temperatures all in all. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, we await your comments. So the moral is, we shouldn't rely on one technology (not that we have even made it that far). And we must also finds ways to make technologies inexpensive, so that everyone can participate in lowering our collective carbon footprint.

"Insert green roof here"

From the mind of artist Shatia Jackson, comes the "insert____here" tag. To make your own tag, head to sponsor 350.org and encourage others to take some community action.

-Those in Britain could probably use a few of these signs. Even better than the headline is how the Guardian calls out the government from the very top with the line "...the green infrastructure partnership has no financial backing but has cross-government support and backing of influential groups." Question, if you are going to support green roofs but not provide backing, why just make it a 2 year push? Why not an infinite one as there is no money involved??? On the bright side, it is good for green roofs to have support. But realistically, money speaks louder than words. Best line of the article? The environment minister proclaiming that green roofs really have lots of benefits and are not "airy fairy". Aye!

-For those interested in fermented foods, Sandor is your man. Not only is he constantly criss-crossing the US on speaking engagements, but he also has a gift for cheeky ways to make fermentation cool, with phrases like "Sandorkraut", "fermentation fetishist" and "fermentation revivalist".

-Website of the week goes to Fruitipedia. Impress your friends with your knowledge of, say, durian or one of the other 424 fruits covered.

-And lastly, Canada's most dangerous city (according to Maclean's in 2010...and I would have never have guessed!) sees some promise in urban gardening.

Urban agriculture roundup

It's been a week, so I'm giving everything I've got...

First the continental roundup:

-In California, developers can now get tax credits for including community gardens in their plans. In New York, I was glad (and surprised) to learn you are now allowed to keep bees and that there are over 100 CSA programs in the five boroughs!
Chicago has the green roof crown, it wants the urban agriculture crown as well. Upping the limit for community gardens to 25,000 square feet? Beyond progressive.
In North Carolina, there's increased interest in farming, as we all know this is a great thing.

And across the pond urban agriculture hits Germany, while in England some grocery stores are considering rooftop gardens as well.

-Who wants money for a food project? You've got 5 days left to apply.

-Two head scratchers. What does this app actually do and how can farmers win big if the purchase of local foods is still in doubt?

-Lastly, mark your calendars, the International Permaculture Conference is September 3-15. And just days ago a new book concerning the history of permaculture in Australia, it's birthplace, hit the shelves and web.