A rare orchid sprouts on a green roof

The biggest news of the last couple of weeks has to be the ReGen development in Almere, outside Amsterdam. The five pillars of the community are:

+Energy positive homes;
+Door-step high-yield organic food production;
+Mixed renewable energy and storage;
+Water and waste recycling;
+Empowerment of local communities.

Once completed this pilot project will be one of the most resilient and sustainable in the world.

-Here’s an update on Virginia State University’s Urban Agriculture Centre a year after receiving their $1.5 million dollar grant. Food production, both indoors (aquaponic systems) and outdoors (micro farms, orchards and vineyards), is in full swing and the aims to have classes and training for local residents as well.

-A delightful visitor has landed on a green roof in the UK. The very rare orchid, pictured above, is the only one to grow on a green roof.

-Last week Saskatoon (!) became the latest city to offer tax breaks for residents to grow food on vacant lots.

-Pittsburgh is doing something very unique, foodies are turning invasive species, like Japanese knotweed, into beer, paper, kimchi, tinctures, ice pops and honey. They figure with so much out there, why not consume it! Hopefully this becomes a trend worldwide!

-If you needed more reasons to grow your own food, here’s one: people who garden at home, eat more veggies which means they'll be healthier!

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.

Rooftop farming in India

Three recent, fascinating rooftop farming stories from India. The first features an ordinary farmer who decided to do things a little differently by growing food on his rooftop, even rice a phenomenon I profiled last year.
The second is a HUGE, 5000 square foot rooftop in Olkata, India, with over 15 different vegetables (and several chili peppers) being organically grown. And the third documents how some Indian cities are offering subsidies for rooftop farming kits.

-This has to be one of the most neutral and even handed urban agriculture blurbs I've ever seen! Granted, when you're writing about Hong Kong and you live in Hong Kong, diplomacy is a must. But it highlights the complexities of growing food in Hong Kong and starkly illustrates that when we can finally figure out how to properly value cultural ties to land and the benefits of people having accessing to nature, the equation for how we use land will totally shift.

-A tip of the hat to Hilltop Alliance in Pittsburgh, who want to build 120 rental townhouse and a 20 acre urban farm and incubator. Sacramento seems to be a step closer to offering the same idea, but on a smaller scale, with a school thrown in for good measure!

-Lastly to round things out, is a cool article about green roofs popping up in recent films. Perhaps I should do a post about films in older movies, starting with the Wizard of Oz and working backwards.
Farming still has a part to play in Hong Kong

Rooftop beer

Last week I wrote a bit about Congressman Tim Ryan's love for urban agriculture. Silly me, I didn't even realize he had a new book out.

-In LA a rooftop garden has drawn a lot of publicity, especially once they launched their very own beer grown with hops from their rooftop..

-To assist with their rehabilitation, a jail in Denver is opening an aquaponics facility.

-In the same week, both Pittsburgh and Oakland have announced that they are both working hard to open up vacant land for urban agriculture.

Mayor Bloomberg loves green roofs so much, he’s helping Pittsburgh!!!

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a terrific proponent of green infrastructure for New York City. But he can't make other cities put green roofs up. So his foundation is taking the next step by giving the city of Pittsburgh $100,000 for cool or green roofs.

-How can someone get a job in the permaculture field? Whenever someone asks me that question, I can now direct them to this handy guide from the Austin Permaculture Guild.  One suggestion from the permaculture job guide is to join an existing project as an intern. Wouldn’t you know it, there’s an opportunity in New Hampshire right now.

-Two new GILA projects have hit the web, notable for their locations. One is a small vertical farm in Arizona, the other...errm...underground. Where? Anywhere!

-Co.Exist is rapidly becoming one of my favorite websites. Where else can you read about turning firehydrants into bioswales?

-Lastly I must, absolutely must, direct you to see this person's Halloween costume...she's dressed as a green roof!

Urban agriculture - come up edition

It's time for one of those "fell through the cracks" posts, where I elevate a few of the stories which are worthy of more attention, but somehow fell off the radar of other blogs and publications.

The first is a really new story and deserves a round of applause. The Rid-All Green Partnership has been a Cleveland success story. Buoyed by tremendous support from the local community, various for and non-profits and several hard working team members, they have become the centerpiece of a 23 acre Urban Agriculture Innovation zone.

-The St. Mary's Urban Farm in Harlem, NY should get a tip of the cap as well. In just a few months they have gone from 0 to harvesting over 700 pounds of food for their community. Okay, you say, there are lots of urban farms doing that. Well, how many of those farms have chosen to remediate their contaminated soil, instead of using raised beds, by utilizing Bokashi?

Harlem is filled with social innovators. See the Corbin Hill Farm's CSA. Pay only a week in advance, put your share on hold and any form of payment accepted including food stamps!

-Underreported urban agriculture story number four, and the last one for today: Behold the work done by City Growers in Pittsburgh.

New Jersey says "yes" to green roof incentives; Sydney says "maybe"

Some great green roof news in the last few days. We can now add New Jersey to the list of North American cities (soon to be) offering incentives for green roof installations. 

Sydney, Australia is also considering adopting various green roof and green wall incentives. Fun fact of the day, although just a city, Sydney has a population 1/2 the size of New Jersey in 1/900th of the space!

-In other green infrastructure news, Pittsburgh will be making a deep investment in their tree canopy. Hurray!!! 

-Last year I wondered what the hold up in Detroit was for the Hantz urban agriculture project. After years of waiting Hantz may finally get approval from the city, but this article describes some of the reasons for opposition to the farm. Does this seem familiar, Fort Lauderdale?

32 square foot green roof for $20,000

A 32 square foot green roof for $20,000??? Yes, you heard right.. No one can argue that this is a good thing, educationally, and that the tiny green roof provides minimal environmental impact (the officials was smart to say that right away)...but in a time where economic austerity is sweeping the continent, that money could certainly have been used for another green roof projects with greater educational and environmental reach.

-PRI Cold Climate is looking for individuals and/or design teams to create a self-sustaining system for growing annual or perennial food crops in cold climates. Deadline for registration is January 6!

-Ahhh...now I understand why Michigan's Right to Farm Act and the City of Detroit seeking an exemption from it to allow urban agriculture, was such a big deal. At least, I think that I understand. Some have fears that "nuisance odors, traffic and similar issues" would be hard to control. However the Michigan Agriculture Commission approved amendments Wednesday to state farm regulations, so we'll see how things turn out.

But we're really nice because we have a green roof!

There is precious little new news from the living architecture world except for this doozy from the Post Gazette in Pittsburgh. It appears Slippery Rock Univ. is in big trouble, the U.S. Department of Justice's environmental division is suing them to the tune of about $35,000 (on average) per day for pollution violations. But they are really good folks.

The latest on legislation+ more

-Pittsburgh is looking to adpot legislation that would define a green roof and establish zoning height, meanwhile Detroit which is in every third urban agriculture article you read these days because of the "right sizing" looks to create a zoning code for urban farming. Hmm..after hearing Richard Heinberg talk on Monday, I think Detroit's fate, which was a source of embarrassment to many, I think, may be a true blessing in disguise.
Speaking of which, if you're in Philadelphia and you want to start farming there, an RFP just hit the interwebs.
Meanwhile San Francisco is full-steam ahead with their urban food gardens on and around public facilities. Even more inspiring is San Fran's highway turned garden.



-In honor of World Water Week, here's a great new invention
that offers a basic sanitation service, thereby protecting drinking water and providing fertilizer in nutrient-poor soil. It's called the Peepoo. Better than the name is the cost, 2-3 cents per bag! More info about composting toilets can be found further down the page.

-A roundup of the latest New York City rooftop farms, present and future. I'd like to know more about the large commercial farm that successfully raised and sold vegetables on a Bronx rooftop in the 1980s referenced in the article.