IKEA now stocks indoor gardening kits

Ever wonder how green roofs can help with productivity and recovery? If you are a hospital administrator you'll definitely want to check out the latest from the International Green Roof Association.

-I love to do deeper dives into how green infrastructure takes off. And why. This Atlantic piece investigates Washington D.C.'s adaptation, spurred by the municipal government. Speaking of deeper dives, here's a paper on the knowledge and awareness of wastewater use for urban agriculture in Ghana's capital, Accra.

-New Orleans got a major commitment from the federal government, $144 million dollars, to add design and install a 25 acre water garden to alleviate flooding like they experienced during Hurricane Katrina.

-And the biggest news of the week, IKEA (in the UK) is now selling indoor gardening kits!

Bhutan celebrates a Prince's birth with 108,000 trees

What a wonderful welcome!

-Next week is Horticultural Therapy week in New Jersey. I think this is the tenth annual celebration!

-I'll finish up with a video, but first a few thoughts. Visually this growing pod is stunning. And how much food each unit would produce I guess is up for debate, however I desperately hope that people don't decide to get closer to nature "by bringing their laptops inside", as the inventor suggested.

Old school green roof recipe

Here's an old school formula for making a green roof. I can't vouch for this as I haven't seen one done, nor watched how it performs over the years, but if you're up for an experiment on the cheap, please let me know how it works out.

-While not exactly living architecture, these new mechanical trees are supposed to replicate the real thing, while generating wind power.

-It's wonderful to see more hospitals embracing horticultural therapy and all its benefits, in Philadelphia Magee Rehab Center plans to open a $4 million dollar creative therapy center and healing gardens.

Although this is outside my normal purview, it is too cool not to pass on. Norway hopes to spend $1 billion dollars on bike infrastructure!

Brain scans show gardening is good + GILA predictions for 2016

More evidence that gardening is good for mental health, this time brain scans show that it's true...which is a first! Horticultural therapy advocates rejoice!

Another $20 million euros has been given to the Great Green Wall programme by the European Union! Finally serious money is heading their way, this is on top of 5 billion dollars from France last month for various greening projects, including building the Green Wall.

-I know, I know, it's very late, but Foodtank.com had it's list of the most exciting stories for 2016. Here are four things I see in my crystal ball...

-The aquaponics movement will continue to develop in landlocked and import dependent countries and regions (like the Caribbean).
-We'll see the beginning of neighborhood scale urban agriculture projects, aquaponics and urban gardening designed to fill the food needs of a urban block or two, further decentralized food production. Those shipping containers? Yeah, they'll be big.
-This year will also mark the true beginning of the miniaturization of the insect growing movement, as tabletop systems, designed for a family, begin to take off.
-I also predict you'll see more green roof funding, specific in it's focus, get moved to general stormwater management funding for gardens and the replacement of lawns.

What do you think?

GILA word of the week: Food Swamp

I have a bunch of things to mention which have slipped under the radar recently, for instance your GILA word of the week: Food Swamp. We've all heard the term food desert, well a food swamp has lots of food available and most of it is unhealthy.

-It's important that everyone is aware of the benefits of green infrastructure, especially green roofs. In Victoria, Australia, a local university, the city council and state government are trying to put a dollar figure on greening utilizing their own research and the country's Economic Framework for Green Infrastructure. Similarly, Mauritius is attempting to quantify how much green roofs would mean to them.

-The Dutch have taken urban agricultural to new heights, by creating a floating dairy platform making it one of the first urban aquatic agricultural operations.

-Follow a Kenyan family on the front line of climate change in the first episode of Al Jazeera's "The Climate Diaries".

-Speaking of pioneers, urban agricultural guru Will Allen may be in a jam of a different kind as an investor has sued him (and his partner) over the disputed mismanagement of their investment.

-Last week it was announced India is slated to get it's first horticultural therapy garden in 2016. While a new program is opening in India, sadly a popular one is being shut down in the UK.

-Let's end on a positive note, shall we? How about focusing on Detroit's intention to plant tens of thousands of trees on 1/2 square miles of vacant city space. Note, this is only a demonstration. There are over 20 miles of vacant land in the city...right now! Other lots will be filled eventually, whether it's with wildflowers or urban farms.

You need 34 city lots to sustain an urban agriculture business

How would you like to have one of these on your block?

Here's a tree which grows 40 different kinds of fruit. Wouldn't it be great if city trees were grafted to produce fruit. And not via the Guerilla Grafters?

-No doubt the information is out there, however it's great to see the Michigan State University Extension post information illuminating the financial stress of farming. And for urban farmers this particular fact is sobering: "The single farmer would need to accumulate and manage approximately 34 city lots, to achieve scale that has the potential reach the poverty threshold." Wow!

-Of course all municipalities need money to operate. It's a bit sad when "user fees" are applied to accessing your local community garden. After reading this story I was naturally thinking about
the "paying for things" and we've seen many municipalities support growing vegetables and herbs on lawns, while others are not so keen. So when I read this headline I immediately thought "How disappointing is that, a woman is giving a citation for doing horticultural therapy?" But it's the good kind of citation.

-I love the alliteration of this new offering from an aquaponics operation: "salad subscription".

World Water Week - Starts August 24

-Just around the corner is World Water Week. Of course with droughts in California and elsewhere water security and scarcity, is now top of mind.
The UN FAO released a report examining the importance of water to global food security, it's definitely worth your time.

-Look at the bones for what will be a very interesting "green canopy", part roof, part wall in Texas.

 Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has a wonderful new horticultural therapy program.

-Egypt has launched a green rooftop fund, the first roofs covered were the Education and Scientific Ministries. This is the second big piece of news from Egypt in the last year.

-Pittsburgh is supporting green roofs too, they are offering $250,000 to 17 projects for their green commitment.

-Here's a tremendous resource if you'd like to get create an educational food landscape at your school!

-So many South Koreans are leaving the cities to farm in the country there is a name for them: guinong. NPR delivers the audio goods once again.

-How do you record ever tree in a city? New York has recruited volunteers and they have mapped nearly 100,000 trees in 3 months!

-Okay, it's not the World's first farm to table community, as the article would suggest, but these Californians have dreamed big and deserve applause.

Horticultural therapy - helping veterans transition back to health and civilian life

Horticultural therapy program and projects have benefited many people and groups over the years. It seems programs focused on veterans are sprouting up everywhere. In the last six months I've seen stories from Chicago, London, Grand Rapids, and Fort Wayne. Heck, three of those are from the last WEEK! There's even a book which came out in the spring and an ongoing study in Virginia.
Let's keep our eyes peeled to see if this is a (mid-western) trend...or phenomenon!

President Obama releases comprehensive plan to save American bees

Kibera, Kenya has one of the largest slums in the world. To combat food insecurity the National Youth Service (NYS), a government agency that promotes youth affairs through the ministry of devolution and planning, has begun distributing a series of sacks that are filled with manure, soil and small stones to create simple, and cheap, urban gardens.

-New Jersey has signed into law that the third week in March is now, statewide, know as “Horticultural Therapy Week”.

-D.C. wants more green roofs to ameliorate their overburdened stormwater system and now, they will certainly get more! Speaking of D.C., on the federal side, President Obama has created the first "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators". As everyone is aware by now, this is definitely needed!

-Historically farmers turned to agricultural colleges, usually in rural areas because that's where the farms are, for assistance on questions like "What crops can I plant (and how) to diversify?" and "Where can I have my soil tested?" With the rise in urban agriculture, perhaps urban operations need similar, expert help...which is local?
The Sustainable Cities Collective is trying to chip in by offering a free webinar on how to start and run a sustainable urban agriculture company.  They were incredibly thorough!

-Costa Rica is now the most recent nation to give aquaponics a whirl.

-And lastly for today is NPR tackling food forests. Look at all the comments!

GILA word of the week: Green roof + cool roof = cool-green roof!

Talk about smart. This social entrepreneur grows plants on vacant lots in the USA, which are harvested as dyes for garments, which are in turn woven by women in India.

-This is the first article about horticultural therapy, that I've read, detailing how it helps young people!

-Farmscape Gardens is the very definition of "under the radar". They maintain 400 gardens in California, but very few people outside the state (according to my unscientific poll!) have heard of them.

 -According to a new research paper by a team of Australians, just 40 seconds looking at nature can sharpen the mind. Last week seemed to be the time to drop hard core research, because a literature review revealed that despite almost 12,000 relevant studies there needs to be more emphasis focused on finding a direct relationship between food security, nutrition and urban agriculture.
And last, but not least, what would happen if you combined the features of a green roof and cool roof? You get the cool green roof and a total game changer.

GILA word of the week: Agrihood & NJ gets the world's largest vertical farm

It's Horticultural Therapy Week and there's no regular proponent for HT greater than the state of NJ. You have, Mycentraljersey.com, which constantly churns out articles include 10 ways you can celebrate the week. And let's not forget the New Jersey Senate officially recognizing the week.

-Speaking of NJ, the picture above is of a $30 million dollar vertical farm which should be ready to roll by the end of the year. With backers like Goldman Sachs and Prudential, this AeroFarms venture has the potential to be very, very big.

-Agrihood, it's what you get when you mix the best place for a subdivision and a farm...a mutually symbiotic relationship demonstrated in northern Virginia on 2,000 acres of land.

-This article both excites and saddens me. A Philadelphian is excited about schoolyards becoming the "next set of great public spaces". And I am all for multi-use facilities, but, we should look at deeper causes as to why Philly schoolyards are "...in deplorable condition, with pockmarked pavement, aging play equipment and few amenities". The schoolyards shouldn't need to be viewed as "curb appeal" for the surrounding homes, the schools should be good enough (and it's facilities) to encourage parents to move and send their kids there.

-Here's a way for airports to use their undeveloped spaces, put a few beehives in. Question, has anyone studied how loud noises affect bees?

100 studies proving the benefits of horticultural therapy for the elderly

Next week is Horticultural Therapy Week! And in honor of it, here's a link to one source which compiles hundreds of articles and studies which detail how HT reduces pain, improves attention, lessens stress and more.

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

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.

GILA words of the week: gated agriculture and cemetery farming

-Romania has it's first horticultural therapy program, but if doctors William Brid and Matilda van den Bosch had their way, horticultural therapy would be part of the publicly funded national health service!

-Everyone wants a Highline, an iconic green roof with seemingly unlimited appeal. But not everyone can have one. Read the comments at the bottom of this article, there are some undiscovered stand-up comedians waiting to be signed!

-Baltimore has a few interesting GILA ideas on the go. The first is called "Green Tracks". There are several component to he project, but the one I'll mention here is using the area along the Amtrak corridor for community gardens. I hope they keep an eye on possible existing contamination and contamination over time.
The second is allocating some of the 14,000 vacant lots in the city for flower production. Nice work Baltimore!

-We all know urban agriculture is huge. How big? Researchers have found all the farms together cover an area the size of Europe. And those 456 million hectares (1.12 billion acres), 15% is in the city proper. Urban agriculture will be crucial, especially in Africa. with half of the continents inhabitants living in cities by 2030. In Kenya a company wants to be a pioneer in providing the produce. The idea? Gate some land and lease it to prospective farmers.

Which gets me to wondering. With development pressures could we see more urban agriculture in marginal or previously taboo lands? In the Philippines a new urban agriculture garden has opened in a cemetery. It seems the cemetery has rich, unused pland within its gates. in the future, could we one day see food production happening anywhere soil is available?

GILA words of the week: Emotional farming, Just green enough and environmental gentrification

A few officials in India are calling their new horticultural therapy initiative "emotional farming". A clever term which could stick elsewhere.

Soon after the massively successful first part of the High Line opened there were a few folks who stated, quite accurately, that there were some drawbacks to its popularity. People love the High Line, they want their business and homes near it and so land prices go up and gentrification displaced long term residents. There's a new paper out which advocates greening neighborhoods, but "just enough" to benefit the community, but not enough to displace them. And they point to one example in New York were this has already happened. This is a delicate balancing act indeed!

Sturgeon in aquaponics + horticultural therapy in South Korea

The aquaponics industry is still relatively new, we don't know which plants and animals will prosper. That's why it's encouraging to see new experimentation with new flora and fauna. Last week
Vancouver Island University's Nanaimo campus unveiled a demonstration aquaponics system featuring sturgeon. Will using a cold water fish help drives prices down, as it would take less energy to heat the tanks? Stay tuned.

-If you'll allow me to take a quick detour from the regular proceedings, I just have to highlight Vox's amazing "40 maps which explain America and its relationship to food".

-Last week gave me another first. It's the first time I've seen horticultural therapy mentioned in southeast Asia. I figured that there were programs there, but often trends in North America are given different names and no one knows what's going on until the dots are connected. In Seoul it appears horticultural therapy is called "professional garden therapy".
By the way, the new American horticultural therapy journal is now in print.

-The folks at Falling Fruit are chugging along with their tremendously useful worldwide foraging guide...the database has grown a lot since we last checked in. There are now over 500,000 sites listed!
Milwaukee can add a few trees to the website as Growing Power got a 4,000 fruit tree donation to spread among vacant city lots.

-Santa Fe Community College has become the first institution to offer an accredited rainwater harvesting course.

-San Francisco has a new Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone Ordinance that will allow land owners to take advantage of a property tax break when they allow a parcel of land to be used for agriculture and educational purposes. Wow! This could go a long way to literally changing San Francisco's landscape as program participants must "guarantee the land will stay in agricultural use only (it can’t be on land with a house for example) for at least 10 years".

-This is turning into an epic post! How about a little permaculture news? One of the first Greek permaculture design course is taking place right now. And if you would like to live the permaculture experience a 100 acres Chinese permaculture community is looking for practitioners and community members.

-Last but not least is exciting news that two Johannesburg academics have started a multi-stakeholder engagement project that hopes to create opportunities for urban agriculture. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Deputy Minister recently said the sector could create 1 million jobs over the next 16 years, perhaps this will be the model for future urban agriculture projects.

HTA members will continue to receive digital versions of the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture at no cost as a member benefit; however, those who prefer to read JTH as a printed document now have the ability to purchase a print version of the publication. The current edition is already available. This change in publishing policy is the direct result of feedback received during 2013's Membership Satisfaction survey.
AHTA members, as well as non-members, may now purchase a printed version of JTH through Amazon or Createspace, which is a publishing arm of Amazon. AHTA members may order the printed Journal at a significant discount (up to 90%) when they use Createspace.com through use of a promotional code. The promotional code can be found on the AHTA Members' Welcome page.
At present, AHTA is only able to offer the latest edition of the Journal through Createspace; however print editions of JTH are still available through AHTA for most years between 1996 and 2010. These Journals are also still available via the online ordering system found on the Publications page on the AHTA website.
The cost for purchasing a print edition of  JTH is $25.00 per issue for non-members. Members are able to purchase printed editions at cost, which will fluctuate based on the number of pages per issue but is expected to be approximately $5.00 (plus shipping) per edition.
To order a printed copy of the current issue of the Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, visit the AHTA Members' Welcome page to access the Member Discount Code. Log on to www.createspace.com; click the Site dropdown and select Store. Enter 'AHTA' in the Search field and the current issue will be available. The AHTA discounted price will not appear until you checkout using the Members Only code. Once the purchase is completed, the issue will be mailed to you within 8-10 days. While the Journal is also available on Amazon.com, the “Members Only” discount cannot be used on that site. The discount is only available on the CreateSpace.com site.
For more inform
- See more at: http://ahta.org/news/journal-therapeutic-horticulture-now-available-print#sthash.Izaf0Xlc.dpuf

t is among the oldest living species on the planet, but researchers say sturgeon may be a key to future food security.
International Centre for Sturgeon Studies staff members unveiled a demonstration aquaponics system at Vancouver Island University's Nanaimo campus Friday.
It's a variation of hydroponic, or water-borne, growing that replaces chemical fertilizers with fish waste to nourish plants.
At VIU healthy chives, Swiss chard, lettuce, basil, cress and even quinoa grow on waste water from tanks containing the 250-million-year-old, living dinosaurs.
Visitors dined on a lunch of salads from the vegetables, served alongside grilled sturgeon steaks - all grown from the same system.
"This is the first time anybody has combined sturgeon, a coolwater fish, with aquaponics on this scale," said Don Tillapaugh, centre director.
The system provides a more immediate return on investment after someone pours money into a commercial fish farming (aquaculture) operation, boosting an investor's cash flow.
Tiny microbes release nutrients for plants to easily absorb.
"Studies have shown plants can grow up to 30 per cent faster, as compared to hydroponics."
"In aquaculture, it takes two to three years. .. where you don't have any cash flow. With aquaponics, you can get a head of lettuce in three weeks."
The goal now is to move toward commercial food production.
The VIU program, in existence since 1979, is reaching out to its extensive network of industry contacts.
"The project is to develop scientific information to allow entrepreneurs to decide whether sturgeon farming or aquaponics is a business for them," Tillapaugh said. "It's about food production, not fish production."
DBellaart@nanaimodailyn
- See more at: http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/news/viu-researchers-say-sturgeon-could-hold-the-key-to-future-food-security-in-the-world-1.1129681#sthash.t9PIxH3V.dpuf

t is among the oldest living species on the planet, but researchers say sturgeon may be a key to future food security.
International Centre for Sturgeon Studies staff members unveiled a demonstration aquaponics system at Vancouver Island University's Nanaimo campus Friday.
It's a variation of hydroponic, or water-borne, growing that replaces chemical fertilizers with fish waste to nourish plants.
At VIU healthy chives, Swiss chard, lettuce, basil, cress and even quinoa grow on waste water from tanks containing the 250-million-year-old, living dinosaurs.
Visitors dined on a lunch of salads from the vegetables, served alongside grilled sturgeon steaks - all grown from the same system.
"This is the first time anybody has combined sturgeon, a coolwater fish, with aquaponics on this scale," said Don Tillapaugh, centre director.
The system provides a more immediate return on investment after someone pours money into a commercial fish farming (aquaculture) operation, boosting an investor's cash flow.
Tiny microbes release nutrients for plants to easily absorb.
"Studies have shown plants can grow up to 30 per cent faster, as compared to hydroponics."
"In aquaculture, it takes two to three years. .. where you don't have any cash flow. With aquaponics, you can get a head of lettuce in three weeks."
The goal now is to move toward commercial food production.
The VIU program, in existence since 1979, is reaching out to its extensive network of industry contacts.
"The project is to develop scientific information to allow entrepreneurs to decide whether sturgeon farming or aquaponics is a business for them," Tillapaugh said. "It's about food production, not fish production."
DBellaart@nanaimodailyn
- See more at: http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/news/viu-researchers-say-sturgeon-could-hold-the-key-to-future-food-security-in-the-world-1.1129681#sthash.t9PIxH3V.dpuf

t is among the oldest living species on the planet, but researchers say sturgeon may be a key to future food security.
International Centre for Sturgeon Studies staff members unveiled a demonstration aquaponics system at Vancouver Island University's Nanaimo campus Friday.
It's a variation of hydroponic, or water-borne, growing that replaces chemical fertilizers with fish waste to nourish plants.
At VIU healthy chives, Swiss chard, lettuce, basil, cress and even quinoa grow on waste water from tanks containing the 250-million-year-old, living dinosaurs.
Visitors dined on a lunch of salads from the vegetables, served alongside grilled sturgeon steaks - all grown from the same system.
"This is the first time anybody has combined sturgeon, a coolwater fish, with aquaponics on this scale," said Don Tillapaugh, centre director.
The system provides a more immediate return on investment after someone pours money into a commercial fish farming (aquaculture) operation, boosting an investor's cash flow.
Tiny microbes release nutrients for plants to easily absorb.
"Studies have shown plants can grow up to 30 per cent faster, as compared to hydroponics."
"In aquaculture, it takes two to three years. .. where you don't have any cash flow. With aquaponics, you can get a head of lettuce in three weeks."
The goal now is to move toward commercial food production.
The VIU program, in existence since 1979, is reaching out to its extensive network of industry contacts.
"The project is to develop scientific information to allow entrepreneurs to decide whether sturgeon farming or aquaponics is a business for them," Tillapaugh said. "It's about food production, not fish production."
DBellaart@nanaimodailyn
- See more at: http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/news/viu-researchers-say-sturgeon-could-hold-the-key-to-future-food-security-in-the-world-1.1129681#sthash.t9PIxH3V.dpuf

MASS transit rooftop gardening

Boston's MBTA may have some rooftops for you or your group to grow food on. This would be the first rooftop gardening initiative on mass transit buildings in North America. Kudos to Boston for being pioneers.

 -Horticultural therapy is front and center on USA Today yesterday, hopefully this introduces Americans and Canadians to its promise.

Chris Ives of the Sustainable Cities Collective penned a long article last week outlines how "taking a ‘values based’ approach to urban ecosystem services studies can complement current research efforts and provide new insights into how to plan and manage urban ecosystems." In an era of shrinking municipal budgets, I am sure we can all see the inherent value in directing biodiversity actions and messages in ways that will enhance social receptivity.

Horticultural Therapy in Vermont

A very cool story about the power of horticultural therapy and how sometimes the students can help the teacher.

Donna's Story - Vermont's Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired from Vermont Event Video on Vimeo.