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.
Showing posts with label san diego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label san diego. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
San Diego's climate change mandate
San Diego has just mandated, by law, the most ambitious plans to cut carbon emissions. It includes drought tolerant landscaping and urban tree planting. Interestingly their urban agriculture incentive zone proposal was not included.
-The University of Hawaii Maui College is now has one of the first aquaponics business courses. The two evening courses entitled Aquaponics Entrepreneurship and Marketing Aquaponics and only $220 each, meet for 16 weeks. You can register here and here.
-Germany's Association for Vertical Farming asked students to come up with a "certification system to assess the sustainability of vertical farms." They settled on nine key principles for the very diverse industry, which includes start-ups and huge ventures like AeroFarms, which just raised $20 million in venture funding. What do you think?
-The University of Hawaii Maui College is now has one of the first aquaponics business courses. The two evening courses entitled Aquaponics Entrepreneurship and Marketing Aquaponics and only $220 each, meet for 16 weeks. You can register here and here.
-Germany's Association for Vertical Farming asked students to come up with a "certification system to assess the sustainability of vertical farms." They settled on nine key principles for the very diverse industry, which includes start-ups and huge ventures like AeroFarms, which just raised $20 million in venture funding. What do you think?
- Health and safety
- Food safety and quality assurance
- Pest management and pesticide use
- Nutrient management and fertilizer use
- Water conservation and management
- Community relations
- Waste management
- Energy and climate
- Site and facility characteristics
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Urban agriculture inspires more municipal code changes
Boise, Idaho is the latest North American municipality to update its municipal codes to allow urban agriculture within the city limits. In the past two months both San Diego and Minneapolis, to name two, have undergone similar reviews.
-Speaking of Toronto, I don't have the inside scoop but sooner or later it looks like a new art collective/urban agriculture garden/community hub rooftop space will be up and running in Toronto. The About Face Collective's ambitious Everything roof looks like a huge undertaking, but it appears the founders know the system well and have everything in place to go from dream to reality.
-There has been much speculation about what has caused bee colonies to collapse in North America and beyond. Two new studies point to pesticides as a partial cause of the die-off.
-One of my favo(u)rite tangential posts from 2011 explored bending bamboo to make bikes. I had no clue that you can get a degree in bamboo engineering, indeed a very useful tool in your tropical permaculture toolbox.
-Speaking of Toronto, I don't have the inside scoop but sooner or later it looks like a new art collective/urban agriculture garden/community hub rooftop space will be up and running in Toronto. The About Face Collective's ambitious Everything roof looks like a huge undertaking, but it appears the founders know the system well and have everything in place to go from dream to reality.
-There has been much speculation about what has caused bee colonies to collapse in North America and beyond. Two new studies point to pesticides as a partial cause of the die-off.
-One of my favo(u)rite tangential posts from 2011 explored bending bamboo to make bikes. I had no clue that you can get a degree in bamboo engineering, indeed a very useful tool in your tropical permaculture toolbox.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Two green infrastructure/ living architecture (GILA!) words of the week
-More on the practice of countries buying agricultural land abroad and global food security. This really is a hot topic.
-San Diego city council is firmly behind urban agriculture. Let the goat keeping begin.
-In a couple of articles this week I saw attempts to expand the definition of green infrastructure. Trees are a quintessential (read: budget threatened) example.
I think most people would agree rain gardens are already seen as such. Urban agriculture, not yet, but if adopted city wide (a definite possibility in New York City in a few years), it would be hard to argue against it.
-A double dose: two living architecture/green infrastructure words of the week: regenerative cities and way finding. Yes, things can get wacky in February!
-San Diego city council is firmly behind urban agriculture. Let the goat keeping begin.
-In a couple of articles this week I saw attempts to expand the definition of green infrastructure. Trees are a quintessential (read: budget threatened) example.
I think most people would agree rain gardens are already seen as such. Urban agriculture, not yet, but if adopted city wide (a definite possibility in New York City in a few years), it would be hard to argue against it.
-A double dose: two living architecture/green infrastructure words of the week: regenerative cities and way finding. Yes, things can get wacky in February!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A few things
-An interesting aquaponics/food security project is developing in India. It includes a buy back guarantee for farmers who participate.
-We tend to think of the food security movement as being mostly small players, but there are large organizations doing their part as well including Feeding America.
-On January 31 San Diego's city council will be discussing various urban agriculture ordinances. On tap are the requirements for farmer markets (both daily and weekly), honey bees (2 hives per lot), community gardens and miniature goats...which have to be dehorned. Do you really have to dehorn a miniature goat???
-We tend to think of the food security movement as being mostly small players, but there are large organizations doing their part as well including Feeding America.
-On January 31 San Diego's city council will be discussing various urban agriculture ordinances. On tap are the requirements for farmer markets (both daily and weekly), honey bees (2 hives per lot), community gardens and miniature goats...which have to be dehorned. Do you really have to dehorn a miniature goat???
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
March! + po-tay-toe/po-tah-toe
Looks like we made it. I just kept telling myself "Make it to March and you're almost through winter." Not that this was a particularly tough winter in Toronto, not that cold at all. Just very grey and not much snow. I mean, half the fun of winter (for me, at least) is the snow! And the slush. And the puddle ice. But with no precipitation, can't have much of that.
With two days of sun, I'm feeling giddy...
-To start things out, the Sustainable Solutions Series in Los Angeles:The Permaculture Design Course Experience kicks off in just a few weeks. This weekend permaculture design course is run by some of the best in the business (Larry Santoyo, Toby Hemenway, Scott Pittman, John Valenzuela and more!). Check out the video to get a taste for what Earthflow folks are all about.
-Speaking of LA, when is a green roof, not a green roof? When terms like cap parks slowly pick up speed. Cap parks basically cover a portion of a freeway (read highway, parkway, thruway, expressway, turnpike) with a planted concrete lid. And in LA, designs by AECOM for
four projects spread across Hollywood, downtown LA, and Santa Monica, comprising 44 acres, would carry a price tag of $1,000,000,000,000. That's 1 trillion. Wow. Don't worry, you've got a few years to express you feelings about the project before it gets started.
-Cool little organic garden venture in San Diego.
-Today's video! Here's an excellent backyard greenhouse/aquaponic system flic. Automated computerized control and wifi system...the whole nine yards.
With two days of sun, I'm feeling giddy...
-To start things out, the Sustainable Solutions Series in Los Angeles:The Permaculture Design Course Experience kicks off in just a few weeks. This weekend permaculture design course is run by some of the best in the business (Larry Santoyo, Toby Hemenway, Scott Pittman, John Valenzuela and more!). Check out the video to get a taste for what Earthflow folks are all about.
-Speaking of LA, when is a green roof, not a green roof? When terms like cap parks slowly pick up speed. Cap parks basically cover a portion of a freeway (read highway, parkway, thruway, expressway, turnpike) with a planted concrete lid. And in LA, designs by AECOM for
four projects spread across Hollywood, downtown LA, and Santa Monica, comprising 44 acres, would carry a price tag of $1,000,000,000,000. That's 1 trillion. Wow. Don't worry, you've got a few years to express you feelings about the project before it gets started.
-Cool little organic garden venture in San Diego.
-Today's video! Here's an excellent backyard greenhouse/aquaponic system flic. Automated computerized control and wifi system...the whole nine yards.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
"Cash for grass" or "rip your strip" + the latest from Africa
For many of those on this side of the continent, Las Vegas' cash for grass program is a brand new idea. Hmmm...there are a few cities which have had issues with droughts over the last decade (I'm looking at you, Atlanta), I wonder how a similar program would work elsewhere? This article does a really nice job rounding up the water conservation problems and programs around the US.
Speaking of roundup, lots of info from the plateau continent in the last few weeks, including some rainwater recovery programs in Tunisia, sponsored by
International Development Research Center (IDRC-CANADA) and urban agriculture developments in Morocco.
Further down south there are a couple from Kenya. Run by an Italian NGO and Nairobi based grassroots initiative, the first story features the farm in a sack. Next up is a broader article about the urban farming movement across Africa, but starting off in Nairobi.
Okay, back to the...is there a nickname for North America? Edible geographygoes for the gusto with links galore and a preview of the USDA's Food Atlas. Bring a life vest before you decide to dive into this data.
Kongjian Yu in Harvard Design Magazine details how future cities "will be new garden cities.. emitting low or no net carbon, productive and conservation-minded. Rainwater will no longer be discharged from municipal pipes but will be retained in local ponds and supplement groundwater. Green spaces will be full of crops and fruit trees, instead of ornamental flowers and fruitless trees. Rice and broomcorn will ripen in the fields of communities and schools. In the harvest season, animals and humans will take pleasure together. Architectural surfaces will support photosynthesis. The roofs will be fish-raising ponds, with the functions of heat preservation, energy saving, and food production. Cellars will be great mushroom factories.” Sign me up.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the magazine'ssynopsis.
Speaking of roundup, lots of info from the plateau continent in the last few weeks, including some rainwater recovery programs in Tunisia, sponsored by
International Development Research Center (IDRC-CANADA) and urban agriculture developments in Morocco.
Further down south there are a couple from Kenya. Run by an Italian NGO and Nairobi based grassroots initiative, the first story features the farm in a sack. Next up is a broader article about the urban farming movement across Africa, but starting off in Nairobi.
Okay, back to the...is there a nickname for North America? Edible geographygoes for the gusto with links galore and a preview of the USDA's Food Atlas. Bring a life vest before you decide to dive into this data.
Kongjian Yu in Harvard Design Magazine details how future cities "will be new garden cities.. emitting low or no net carbon, productive and conservation-minded. Rainwater will no longer be discharged from municipal pipes but will be retained in local ponds and supplement groundwater. Green spaces will be full of crops and fruit trees, instead of ornamental flowers and fruitless trees. Rice and broomcorn will ripen in the fields of communities and schools. In the harvest season, animals and humans will take pleasure together. Architectural surfaces will support photosynthesis. The roofs will be fish-raising ponds, with the functions of heat preservation, energy saving, and food production. Cellars will be great mushroom factories.” Sign me up.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the magazine'ssynopsis.
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