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.

Will recovering food waste get big bucks on Shark Tank?

Happy New Year everyone!

We're several days in and hopefully the resolutions are still intact! If you're able to, resolve to watch Shark Tank on Friday, Hungry Harvest will be pitching their idea for a CSA specializing in recovered (too small, not round enough, too big etc.) foods.  This is a big idea!

-Highline College in Chicago got a nice chunk of change, $80,000, to recruit residents from the area to participate in their Urban Agriculture certificate program. The 9 month certificate and 80 acre campus allows unique opportunities to get your hands dirty.

 -In Kenya the government added to their constitution Article 21, which states "Kenyans'..have the right "to be free from hunger and have adequate food of acceptable quality”. What this means in practical terms has yet to be determined.

-Speaking of practical terms, the Montreal Gazette asked a few experts how Montreal can reduce it's climate change impact. Green roofs were on the list and lots of other great ideas too, like urban gardening.

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.

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!

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.

Public parks with private poppy

As you know New York's Highline was the catalyst behind big changes on the westside of Manhattan. More changes are coming down the pike with a new park. But is that a good thing? Sponsored by private money, what is private wealth's role in remaking public spaces?

-This fall was the first time MillionTreesNYC free tree giveaway featured exclusively edible fruit trees, in total 4,500 were claimed!

-Since the spring residents of a retirement facility, just outside of Chicago, have grown vegetables on their rooftop hydroponic facility for use in their kitchen and others kitchens across the city. This is the first of it's kind, I believe.

-If you'd like to peer into the life of one horticultural therapist practicing in New Jersey, check out this blog. I've linked to the latest posting in the past, she periodically updates it with interesting anecdotes.

-An Emory College student has launced a vineyard to study the American starvine, a threatened native plant which may have tremendous medicinal benefits.

-Earlier in the year I wrote about Brightfarms opening a urban farm in DC, it will be one of the biggest in the USA. Make that, it would have been. The site is so contaminated, they make walk away from the project and $700,000 already invested. A recent paper highlighted the problem in Buffalo and New York City.

2015 - International Year of Soil

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2015 to be International Year of Soil. Have a look to see how you can take an active promotion role.

-2015 may also be a big year for a couple of other organizations. Here's some great video of a trip to EnerGaia, the folks farming spirulina in Bangkok.

-Plant-e has expanded their "power plant" trials, where they generate electricity from plant roots. They hope, one day, to get enough power from 120 square meters of roof space to power an average Dutch home.

Bakery, laundromat and greenhouse

The Iberoamericana University in the Dominican Republic hosted a green roof symposium a couple of weeks ago. The school administers the program for the country, their stated goal "to preserve the structures of buildings and conserve native and migratory species."With so many benefits to green roofs, I love how different people, companies and municipalities embrace the technology for different reasons.

-In Europe, a Swiss company says it has just opened the continent's largest urban farming project. And they are no shy about touting that, look at that sign!!!

-How's this for an eclectic list of services, bakery, laundromat and greenhouse. These folks in British Columbia pull it off.

-The Design Trust for Public Space has released their toolkit, which they describe as “part how-to guide and part reference for urban farming”. Ohh...tasty


-In India a demo aquaponics project is trying to grow sea bass. You know what I thought of first, frickin' sea bass, of course!

Urban farming and music, the next trend?

In the past couple of weeks I've seen two articles about the music industry's link to urban farming.

There's Taja Sevelle, who founded a non-profit back in 2005 called Urban Farming, which is responsible for over 62,000 community gardens across the US.




And let's not forget a newcomer to the scene, Kimbra Lee Johnson best known for the Gotye song below, who recorded her latest album at an urban farm in Los Angeles.

Masanobu Fukuoka birthday - February 2

Monday, February 2 natural farming advocates celebrate the 101st anniversary of Masanobu Fukuoka's birth. Best known for his groundbreaking book, The One Straw Revolution, Fukuoka began experimenting with organic farming techniques in 1938 when the industry was heading in the opposite direction.
His five principles of natural farming look very familiar to permaculture enthusiasts today, including minimal human cultivation of soil, weeding or application of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
The consummate teacher, he was still giving lectures around the world well into his 90s.
If you haven't read The One Straw Revolution, check it out...it may be your best read of the year.

Big jumps

Everyone realizes a lot of work needs to be done to make vertical farming viable; the industry needs cross-disciplinary help to make it efficient and inexpensive. A researcher in Sweden has published his exploration into using biogas slurry and urine as nutrient sources.

-Check out this tremendous kickstarter campaign. Being able to build colorful, custom raised gardening beds in minutes out of 100% recycled plastic would be a huge leap forward.
If they have the analysis to back up that the plastics are inert, you will be seeing these everywhere.

-One last thing to share today, a fantastic new town near Atlanta. Serenbe redefines sustainability.

Introduction to Vermicomposting

Need I say more?
Enjoy!

Saskatoon next in line for green roof legislation?

I stumbled upon a few high quality websites over the last week. Top of the heap is EfficientGov, I've thought for years "there needs to be a resource for government officials to turn to for great ideas." And it was here all along! This week the good folks cover zoning steps to make to allow for urban farming success. Check out the other articles on leasing rooftops for solar panels and urban farming.
Here's another tip for bureaucrats. I-tree can help you figure out just how much your urban forest is worth.

-Saskatoon could be the next Canadian city with a green roof bylaw. Stormwater management is key for them, hopefully there will be a law of some kind on the books by the end of this year! That's just me hoping...

-For true fans of rainwater harvesting, the meatiest article in a while!

-A recent podcast covers the surge of permaculture in Croatia and Slovenia. It seems the recent economic downturn has led to greater reliance and interest in the movement.

-Staying on the topic of food security, the USDA yesterday released a report illuminating how important food hubs are to rural America.

Enjoy the last day of February!!!

GILA (green infrastructure living architecture) word of the week: Foodtech Startup

-What is a Foodtech Startup? I am so glad that you asked!

-The American Planning Association released a tasty report entitled "Planning for Food Access and Community-Based Food Systems" a couple of weeks ago. Evaluating over 21 plans from around the US, it is a great tool for other municipalities.

-Here's a short audio report on aquaponics being embraced by Vietnamese-American farmers in New Orleans in the wake of the BP Oil Spill, which, as I learned today, may still be leaking!

-The enormously contentious fight appears to be over as Hantz Farms in Detroit finally got their land.

-And I present to you a little video on the future of farming to wrap up the day!

Gift guide for living architecture lovers

 Crunch time is upon us and if you don't have the gifts you need for the holiday season, look no further.

-For Fido, how about a green roof doghouse? President Obama's dog has one and there are a ton on the market to choose from, you can even build your own.

-For the littlest of kids, there are a couple of books entitled "Edible Alphabet". My top choice is by Bonnie Christensen.

-For kids a little bit older and into food, science or nature, how about a window farm? 

-For mom and dad (grandparents too), bicycles made from bamboo!

-And for the whole family, a treetop walk locally (if you're in North America) or abroad.

Happy Holidays!!!

Green roofs set to get a big boost in DC...8 years from now?

-Washington DC is grappling with how to deal with its stormwater and is considering expanding its popular green roof program to help with some other green infrastructure technologies as well.

Several questions are raised by the article, for instance, what has the District been doing over the last 8 years since they were sued by the federal government to put these stormwater drains in place? And do they really need another 8 years to experiment with the various green technologies before backing them completely?

-In Victoria, Australia a local advocate is imploring green infrastructure enthusiasts to use a local policy to fund their projects. If you follow his lead, you have up to $10,000,000 at your disposal for either green roofs or green walls!

-More great ideas for how everyone can enjoy local, organic foods. A few months ago I featured a forward thinking community gardener who accepted any form of payment, including SNAP benefits (food stamps). Another organization has taken it a step further. With the Double Value Coupon Program you can use SNAP benefits at over 400 different markets across the USA.

-A couple of weeks ago I wrote a bit about the new and the first true vertical farm in Sinagpore. Here's a more in depth article about how it came to be and what their designs are for the future.

Happy Friday!!!
 

GILA (green infrastructure, living architecture) word of the week: bioadaptive façade

-Still stuck in the "looks good on paper phase", bioadaptive façade, building surfaces that could, say, produce heat harvested from the photosynthesis process of micro-algae, sound like a great idea.
The first building of its kind is scheduled to open in Germany next year.

-A new website debuted recently called The Growing Map. It's aim is to make a more interactive, comprehensive visual map of living architecture projects around the world. Of course they need your submissions and support to make it work.

-A couple of weeks ago I was at the School for Social Entrepreneurs - Ontario to chat about verticiel Inc. and its past, present and future.  There are a few folks working hard on living architecture initiatives, don't think I can publicize their ventures yet, but when the time is right I will definitely give them some space.

-Projects which analyze Urban Ecology, such as the ULTRA-Ex (Urban Long-Term Research Areas: Exploratory), are more important than ever as cities "launch efforts to slash carbon emissions, reduce water use and improve habitats". How will urban agriculture projects and programs affect the urban landscape as whole? One particular project in Cleveland is investigating the effects of building urban farms on unoccupied lots. Preliminary research has shown that the gardens develop ants and pest-killing microbes over time, meaning the gardens can start out and remain organic.

-Last one for today is a draft recommended for public review by the ASPE (American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association and American Society of Plumbing Engineers) Main Design Standards Committee. The goal is to develop a standard to assist stakeholders (builders, developers, engineers, designers, plumbers) in safely implementing a rainwater catchment system.
After having a look, you can have your say!

A desert harvest, courtesy of desalinization

A couple of quick, but captivating stories for this Wednesday:

-The most tantalizing of the bunch comes from deserts of Australia (and Qatar), where a group is desalinating sea water with solar energy and growing fruits and vegetables for the continent.

-Citizens of Detroit are grappling with selling 1,500 parcels of city held land - almost 140 acres -  for urban agriculture...they think, as there’s no development plan yet!

-Dakar, Senegal supplies 45% of its city’s food supply via urban agriculture, generating over 450 million dollars last year alone! Land and water issues threaten to slow progress, let’s check in on this next year to see what is new.

-Kickstarter has been a boon to many smaller businesses, here’s an aquaponics one who has made it big! They have an attractive system, good luck to them!

Dropping by Seneca College for a living architecture talk

Tomorrow I'll be the closing speaker for Seneca College's Green Citizen Conference. The topic, living architecture of course!

-And I'll give you some advanced notice so you can prepare, Friday don't forget to celebrate National Pumpkin Day!

Green roof lesson plans

South Korea is making a push to become the world's urban agriculture hub.  Buoyed by over $2 million in funding, they hope a 12 fold increase will spur innovation and development.

-$2 million is a nice chunk of change, but that won't allow South Korea to win the coveted title with some cities, like Montreal, trying their darndest to make urban agriculture part of their brand.

-Following up on last week's PBS special on green infrastructure comes a lesson plan for teachers to help their students get the most out of the video. If that's not enough, here are even more lesson plans.