Should Buffalo invest in vertical farms?

We haven’t had a video in a while, how about peeking in on the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Law’s Urban Agriculture Symposium? They have been kind enough to put a great deal of the proceedings online and have been at the forefront of discussing urban ag and law for at least 5 years.

-I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’ve never really seen a green infrastructure company campaign for a certain city to buy their product by talking about said product on tv. Maybe they are looking for government funding to make the Plantagon feasible for somewhere in the US? What the spokesperson says is true “we are living in a world where the pollution is increasing and acreage is decreasing.” But the opposite is true of Buffalo, with a decrease in population comes the need to shrink the city. Residential land can become agricultural once again. 

-Remember that Occupy the Farm movement in California? Of course you do! Well, it looks like a lawsuit against the occupiers has been dropped. 

-A model for all of North America, Chicago’s award winning Vanguard Weiss Memorial Hospital is highly accommodating to it’s neighbors, including embracing various payment methods, letting disadvantaged community members garden and growing more “ethnic” crops. 

Book review - Gardening Vertically by Noemie Vialard

Gardening Vertically, by Noemie Vialard was originally published in France in 2010, but has just recently been translated and is now available for the English speaking North American audience.

This book belongs on your shelf. The author, admittedly Patrick Blanc's close friend and frequent collaborator, begins the book with 40 pages devoted to the French green wall innovator. Detailing his style, methods and background, it reads a bit like an extended Blanc biography/promotional piece. Which is fine, we also get insight and an in depth look into his work and inspiration, complete with tons of pictures and full equipment, hardware and support lists to build your own Blanc style wall. With step-by-step instructions the last 100 pages are filled with other techniques (a few time honoured and others fairly recent) for your own DIY projects, included detailed plant lists for achieving the wall of your dreams.

The possible projects are exhaustively described, including the lifespan of the plants in the wall, maintenance requirements, prep time, planting time, the best locations and harvest times as well.
It's very handy as an all-in-one resource for anyone interested in the green walls, especially the mechanically inclined DIYer.

The greatest green roof website ever!!!

Behold! And tell me, this green roof tool isn't the coolest, most practical thing you have ever used!!! (Provided that you're in the USA and/or love green roofs.)

I would be remiss if I didn't remind Austinities to check out their 5th annual bug festival on Saturday. See how many of these insects you can sample!

The Times is busy with bees

-The New York Times has had a bunch of articles in the last two months about bees. From exploring the proliferation of bees and bee lovers, to reports on bees creating various forms of trouble.  Someone at the Times is definitely smitten. 

-I neglected to update everyone on the completion of the green roof debate in Toronto City Hall last month. On May 8-9, 2012 all three motions recommended for adoption by the Planning and Growth Management Committee were adopted. The big one is the establishment of a discretionary reserve fund called the 'Eco-Roof Financial Assistance Reserve Fund' to subsidize green roof installation for all industrial, commercial and institutional buildings.

-I love the fact that the Salvation Army has launched this program in Montana to help kids learn to farm, eat and sell their vegetables. If an organization like the Salvation Army can do it there, they could easily replicate the program wherever they have branches...which is practically everywhere!

A marijuana bust creates an aquaponics opportunity

In one of the stranger (yet strangely, logical) GILA stories I've read recently, a marijuana bust leads to the creation of an aquaponics operation. This novel resource allocation is just one of the many ways in which Philadelphia is trying to eliminate food deserts.
More from Philly. Two features were done last week on green infrastructure, one extolling the impressive and innovative stormwater management mitigation program in the City of Brotherly Love, the other exploring how California can use green infrastructure to solve some of its stormwater management woes.

-Let me set the scene and you tell me if you would want to live here. An affordable, eco friendly condo in dewy sweet Hawaii. Throw in a green wall AND the nation's first certified organic rooftop garden on an affordable home. Jealous yet? It's okay, Hawaii has other delights for you to sample from the comfort of your own home. Especially for those in Pacific island communities, the University of Hawaii now offers reasonably priced, online aquaponics classes! 160 students from 20 countries have singed up so far.