Talk about smart. This social entrepreneur grows plants on vacant lots in the USA, which are harvested as dyes for garments, which are in turn woven by women in India.
-This is the first article about horticultural therapy, that I've read, detailing how it helps young people!
-Farmscape Gardens is the very definition of "under the radar". They maintain 400 gardens in California, but very few people outside the state (according to my unscientific poll!) have heard of them.
-According to a new research paper by a team of Australians,
just 40 seconds looking at nature can sharpen the mind. Last week
seemed to be the time to drop hard core research, because a literature
review revealed that despite almost 12,000 relevant studies there needs
to be more emphasis focused on finding a direct relationship between
food security, nutrition and urban agriculture.
And
last, but not least, what would happen if you combined the features of a
green roof and cool roof? You get the cool green roof and a total game changer.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
The future of farming today
What will farming look like in the future? At Expo Milano, which kicked off last week, the architects at the US pavilion think vertical farming will be key. This year's Expo theme is "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". $60 million was raised to put the pavilion together!
-Dubai has a vision for 2020 and has set aside over half a billion dollars to green 12,000 hectares of land (which would be 8% of their total space) with landscaping and horticultural projects.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Quezon City signs incentives for green roofs and green walls
Quezon City, the Philippines largest city, recently approved tax discounts for residential, industrial or commercial buildings which install green roof or green walls! This makes it the first, and only municipality on Earth, to offer incentives for both green technologies!
Last week was filled with so many big news stories...
-In Montreal an organic farming initiative was launched to cultivate vacant land. The hope is by 2019 to have an operation "the size of 55 football fields"!
-Across the province in Quebec City the first rooftop farm on a homeless shelter began it's growing season. It will supply about 1/3 of its growing needs.
-In Wisconsin, the Aquaponics Innovation Center opened last week. With the help of $677,000 in federal funding, the "center will provide education and resources for economic and workforce development". If you're really interested in a career in aquaponics as a career, have a peek at this new job site.
-Yesterday was National Permaculture Day in Australia. I'll have a roundup later in the week on the best activities in Oz.
-A new agrihood is sprouting up in North Carolina on 230 acres of functioning farmland. The developers envision educational events for students, in addition to the working community farm.
-The vertical farming sector is growing every day. However for most people some of the most basic facts are hard to find out. For instance, how big is vertical farming or indoor farming worldwide? In China, according to one researcher, they grow 25% of their food indoors already!
How much does it cost to start a vertical farming operation? In South Korea at least we know it's roughly 10 times the cost of a standard, glass greenhouse.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Ball parks going green
But there are plenty of other ballparks embracing the latest in green technology. A new team in Tennessee has its own green roof and LEED certification to boot. And an IKEA in Copenhagen is getting in on the fun as well with it's green roof serving as a multi-purpose sport field
Of all the sports, soccer seems to be the trendsetter, as teams have adopted green roofing prominently in 2010 and 2012.
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