Permaculture in Zimbabwe

Take a trip around a permaculture farm in Zimbabwe and see how things are done there!

GILA word of the week: Compost Cuisine

One of these days I'll do another "best GILA websites". Allafrica.com, will definitely be on it. In the last week they've had great permaculture features. Check out this one detailing how students in ten schools split between Malawi (with some assistance from Norway) and Zimbabwe are getting a taste of entrepreneurism as they raise, harvest and sell fruits and vegetables.

-Yes, this story is too good to pass up. While looking into some green roof media I discovered a restaurant in Japan that serves dirt. Dirt in drinks, dirt in dessert, dirt as a dressing. A review of the restaurant points out that some of the dishes made use compost, not dirt. Duly noted. I've never heard of it before, but this can't be the only restaurant in the world...can it? Either way, I have to get there. One day...
While we're on the topic, it's probably a good time to talk about biosolids and ask your municipality if they are allowed in your compost.

-More research into the plants that are best for green roofs; in southern California a student's experiment suggests that the indigineous dudleyas may be a better fit than sedum species plants.

-Should the USA have an Office of Urban Agriculture? 200 of the nation's mayors think so.

Another green roof bylaw hits North America + trading paper for prickly pears

-Rosemont-Petite Patrie, a borough of Montreal, is the newest city to mandate  the installation of green roofs or green walls on buildings.

Congrats to Rosemont-Petite Patrie for joining the club. 

-Wednesday, May 2 tune in to Living Mandala for a free webinar on aquaponics with applied permaculture. If you're in the upstate New York area, you can try the hands-on workshop.

-This articles deserves some publicity. First of all, it’s written by a namesake....Kelven. I mean, it’s not how I spell it, but close enough. On the serious side it opens our eyes to how urban farming can be the key to survival for undernourished prisoners in Zimbabwe. 

 Lastly, in what I hope becomes a blueprint for urban agriculture and recycling around the world in Mexico City the Ministry of the Environment has set up a barter market where one can trade recyclable trash for credits at local farms.

In Zimbabawe, urban agriculture=environmental degradation

Over the last week we have seen some really interesting urban agriculture developments in North America and Africa.

-In Roanoke, Virginia, a 12 acre urban farm was scuttled by local opposition. In Vancouver, British Columbia, the protest seems to be less about the agriculture part and more about the misappropriation of funds or at least, one party doesn't like the projects which the other party is funding.

-In Zimbabwe, urban agriculture has become even more of a political football. The Harare City Council is enforcing the pre-existing ban on urban agriculture and police have been charged with razing any gardens defying the law. The reason? The farming is causing serious environmental degradation. Another political party claims ill-will towards President Mugabe is behind the push.

I totally, totally forgot about this. The Rocky Mountain Institute think there are big opportunities for this new energy era. With a book entitled "Reinventing Fire", you know they are shooting for the moon.
In their words "it offers a blueprint for a business-led transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to one based on renewables, saving $5 trillion without requiring new federal taxes, subsidies, mandates, laws or policy innovations that call for Acts of Congress."
I can't wait to read this book!

And lastly, here's a rendering of what that massive aquaponics facility will look like:

verticiel on the air + west coast living architecture crawl

I should probably have a weekly post featuring all the cool things cities have planned. But first tune in to the Green Majority radio show (CIUT 89.5 FM) Friday, February 12 at 10:30 am as verticiel Inc. drops by to talk about green roofs and Toronto's new Green Roof Bylaw.

On to the west coast, last week the City of Seattle proclaimed 2010 "Year of Urban Agriculture". Looks like they have a slew of activities planned so far.

On to Portland, where we get a primer on where to get urban agriculture and permaculture supplies.

Further south in San Fran, in two weeks the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter (AIA San Francisco) will present an exhibition highlighting vertical gardens in all their splendor.

There's a call for papersfrom the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) focusing on best practices in urban and peri-urban agriculture. Up to 2,500 words so don't get verbose!

And last but not least, we'll head to the mountains to spotlight Green Roofs Utah. I'll have to introduce myself, like a good neighbor should!

It's all about the visual + living architecture in Africa

I've had people ask before, what's the best permaculture website? Well, wouldn't you know it someone asked a similar question at permaculture tv, which, is a dynamite site in it's own right. The truth is, there's so much good information out there, aren't the interwebs wonderful?

Speaking of good websites, for those more visually inclined try Spezify, you can do a visual web search on your favorite living architecture topics.

For some great videos, check out Urban Omnibus on how the East New York Farmers market got up and running, a great primer for anyone interested in starting their own. And over at How Stuff Works to spy Stephen Brooks as he makes a nice salad from his urban foraging wanderings...in LA.
Seriously, there's rosemary growing between the sidewalk cracks?

Now we'll jet over to the Africa. A story from Zimbabwe which puts struggle in perspective.

The City of Johannesburg is putting it's weight behind a permaculture training institute to help combat the socio-economic impact of HIV.

Rwanda is starting an urban agriculture program to ensure food security. I'll do my best to keep up to date on all of these new projects, so many wonderful things happening all around the world.