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.

 

Paolo Soleri + storm water management in LA + Maryland

-Stormwater mangement put LA and Maryland in the news last week. LA has new rules with incentives for cities to spur projects that filter and/or capture rainwater. This makes a LOT of sense, as LA has been starved for water for decades...and their situation is only bound to get worse.How they will pay for this great idea is a whole 'nother question.

Maryland property owners will be getting a stormwater discharge fee, might we see some green roof incentives, like in Minnesota, to green the roofs and alleviate fees?

Lastly, Paolo Soleri died last week. Most known for his Arcosanti project, you could very well call his blend of lean architecture and ecology, which he called "arcology", a close permaculture relative.

Step right up and get your own Highline

Every city wants a Highline...and that makes a lot of sense. Take derelict train tracks, add $172 million dollars and out pops over $2 billion dollars in private investment. What’s not to like? An architect who helped bring big community dreams to life says who the real winners are. By the way, if you think that your city should have its own Highline, Open Spaces Sacred Places wouldn’t be a bad place to start looking for money.

-A program in Minnesota encouraging kids to learn where their food comes from has expanded to over 145 school districts; in five years they have increased participation five fold. 

-I blogged about the NY Times love of bees last week, perhaps a little jealous another Big Apple rag jumps in to explain how the city may have reached their bee capacity.

Urban Agriculture Word of the day: Guerilla grafting

-Big news for aquaponics keeps rolling in. A couple of weeks ago Continental Organics announced that they would open a new aquaponics facility, the biggest in the Northeastern USA. They promise offering up to 140 new jobs when the operation is in full-swing.

-If you want to learn more about aquaponics and don't live near a pioneering company or organization where you can gain experience, there's a new webinar to help with your self-education.

-Organic agriculture has been seen as the solution to all sorts of environmental, social and economic problems. The Indian government
is hoping an embrace of organic ways can lead to a decrease in farmer suicides.

-By spring time urban farmers in Lantzville, British Columbia may be able to sell their wares after city council met on Monday to discuss bylaw amendments. As urban agriculture becomes more popular look for similar developments across the continent as communities grapple with noise, smells and the realities of farming placed right in the middle of existing communities.

-Last but not least, your word of the day:Guerilla grafting.

Permaculture scholarships, internships and conferences

We're deep into January and spring is just around the corner (or so the calendar says), so opportunities are starting to sprout up.

-Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute (FLPCI), in upstate New York,
offers opportunities to learn sustainable design methods including mushroom inoculation workshops, summer apprentice programs (June 4 - August 11, 2011), and an two week Permaculture Design Certification course.

For more information, you can click the link above, call Steve Gabriel at (607) 527-0607, email steve@fingerlakespermaculture.org or snail mail it to:

Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
2962 Swamp Rd.
Alpine, NY 14805
USA

-Sanctuary One at Double Oak Farm in Oregon has a few apprenticeship opportunities as well, starting in April. Contact either Della Merrill (People Care Manager) or Sansa Collins (Animal Care Manager) by phone at 541-899-8627, via email at education@SanctuaryOne.org, info@SanctuaryOne.org or snail mail:

Sanctuary One at Double Oak Farm
13195 Upper Applegate
Jacksonville, OR 97530
USA

-Lastly and also in Oregon May 19-21, 2011 at the Doubletree Hotel, is the Food Policy from Neighborhood to Nation Conference. Run by if you want to submit an RFP, you must do so by January 28, 2011.

Coordinated by Community Food Security Coalition this conference will bring together elected officials, government staff, academics and advocates for three days of networking, peer-to-peer learning, and skill building. Additionally, conference attendees will participate in the formation of a national Food Policy Network.
For more information, Emily Becker is your woman at 503-954–2970 or snail mail her at:

You seriously don't have time left
There's only 1 week to submit
Not enough time...call or email
USA

Tis all!

Legislation and action

An urban agriculture bill was filed in late January in the Missouri House of Representative; don't know much about Jason Holsman, but he's definitely thinking ahead with comments like...“Ideas like vertical sky farming and sustainable living communities just make sense for places like Kansas City and Saint Louis...”
Also, Everdale Organic Farm and Learning Centre, outside Toronto, has started Ontario's first Organic Farming Certificate.
Details below...

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Everdale Organic Farm & Learning Centre announced today that it will be launching Ontario's first Organic Farming Certificate (OFC) program in April 2010. The OFC is based on a program offered at the University of California at Santa Cruz and will help Ontario to meet a growing demand for locally grown organic produce.

Everdale is a farm-based learning centre located one hour northwest of Toronto near Hillsburgh, Ontario. Everdale has been breaking ground in farmer training since 2000, when they partnered with Agriculture Canada to create an on-farm internship program. That internship program was one of the first of its kind in Ontario. It provided hands-on farm experience to young people interested acquiring skills in organic farming.

The units of study in the OFC curriculum are:

- Organic Farming and Gardening Skills and Practices
- Managing Soil Fertility
- Garden and Field Tillage and Cultivation
- Propagating Crops from Seed and Greenhouse Management
- Transplanting and Direct Seeding
- Irrigation: Principles and Practices
- Selecting and Using Cover Crops
- Making and Using Compost
- Managing Arthropod Pests and Plant Pathogens
- Managing Weeds
- Soil Science
- Social and Environmental Issues in Agriculture

For additional news and information regarding the OFC please contact:

Gavin Dandy, Director of Farm Programming

Everdale Organic Farm & Learning Centre

gavin@everdale. org