Swiftlet breeders, eyeing the lucrative edible nests market, have taken over 8.3 per cent of some 3,500 pre-war buildings in George Town, Malaysia.

Sabah To Prepare Guidelines On Proper Swiftlet Farming – The nests are built entirely from threads of the bird’s saliva, and are collected for the famous Chinese delicacy bird’s nest soup.

KOTA KINABALU, April 9 (Bernama) — The Sabah Local Government and Housing Ministry will prepare guidelines for proper swiftlet farming in all of the 24 districts in the state.

Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor said today this was because the state cabinet had decided to ban swiftlet farming in the city and town areas.

[Read more →]

A Visit to Cuba

By Roger Doiron
Kitchengardeners
April 13, 2010

Cuba is not only an island nation in terms of its geography, but also its economy and politics as a result of the US embargo and the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s largest source of trade and aid until the Berlin Wall fell in 1991. Cut off from the world’s pipeline of food, oil, chemical pesticides and fertilizers, Cuba embarked upon an ambitious program to grow as much of its own organic food as possible in the 1990s during what was known as the “special period.”

[Read more →]

Children’s gardening book

By Annie and Veda
As told to Justine Kenin
Photographs by Becky Lettenberger
Tenley Circle Press, Ltd.
May 1st, 2010

(Washington D.C. April 6, 2010) Tenley Circle Press announces its latest children’s book to engage hand, eye, ear, taste bud, nose—and imagination. We Grew It – Let’s Eat It! is a story by D.C twins Annie and Veda who learn about gardening, and growing their own food.

NPR’s Justine Kenin chronicles the story by her twin 5 year-old daughters as they learn about the White House vegetable garden and wish for a garden of their own. How do you garden if you live in a city apartment? Watch the sisters and senior gardener Ida work and play their way through planting, tending, and harvesting in a neighborhood Community Garden. Then comes the fun of preparing and eating simple, tasty, homegrown food.

[Read more →]

Opinion by Michael Levenston
City Farmer
April 13, 2010

(Note: My wife thinks this is too obvious a point to make.)

City and country farmers, who produce our food, will never see their crops replaced by bits and bytes. Food has to be grown and delivered to our lips. The work of the farmer is as important now as it ever was.

CD’s can be downloaded in an instant, digitized movies are watchable on our phone screens, and now Kindles and iPads are selling fast, threatening the end of the paper book. However the peaches, fish and pasta we eat cannot be transformed into digital form.

[Read more →]

Royal Visit to Allotments – Queen Mary and King George V – 1914

Shot of King and Queen along with Mayor and probably Mayor’s wife; heading up a group of people on this tour; walking along through a garden. Pan as they pass rose bush. Next a man is holding up a piglet. The Queen laughs, pats the critter and scratches its ears.

Shot of the King and 5 other men standing in a garden. George points with his cane at what seems to be a huge prize lettuce. Pan to Queen. Then CU Queen Mary in a line with others; looking down at something.

Note: Queen Mary looks positively jolly in some of these shots! Location of events unknown – somewhere in Britain.

See the film here.

More films on the next page.

[Read more →]

Panorama of Dar es Salaam city a few minutes before dusk. Photo by Benjamin William Mkapa

Urban Farming – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

By Afton Halloran
Afton Halloran is a urban agriculture project officer with Sustainable Cities: PLUS Network Africa Project.
This Day
April 13, 2010

Excerpt:

Examples of innovation on the behalf of farmers in Dar es Salaam include the zero-grazing method of livestock rearing as it reduces the amount of land needed to graze. Zero-grazing cattle reduce soil compaction, soil erosion and other environmental stresses caused by over-grazing.

A direct result of this method is the milk we drink from peri-urban areas in Dar es Salaam. Other farmers have designed vertical poultry “apartments” to provide more space to raise chickens in the city.

[Read more →]

A public lecture by Doug Farr – March 2008

From the website posted April 13, 2010:

This evening, Doug Farr is going to talk about integrating sustainable urbanism and agriculture on the urban edge.  Having evaluated the sustainability of East Fraserlands, a project along Vancouver’s river edge planned by DPZ, Farr has been commissioned by Century Group (this evening’s sponsor) to consider opportunities for sustainable solutions at the suburban/rural edge in the Southlands of Tsawwassen.  For those who care about the future of this region, this is a must-hear lecture.

[Read more →]