Posts from — August 2011

By John Jackson
JJ Books
3rd Revised edition edition (May 23, 2011)
236 pages

A Little Piece of England, tells the tale of how the author’s family, living in a sliver of countryside in London’s commuter belt, came, over some ten years, to make itself, in its ‘spare time’, self-sufficient in its requirements of milk, meat, eggs, vegetables and some fruit.

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There are at least 150,000 allotment plots in the UK and demand for them has been increasing in recent years, prompted by a growing interest in home grown fruit and vegetables Photo: Alamy

Dossiers have revealed a catalogue of disputes among allotment gardeners, from plot holders sleeping overnight in their sheds to the poisoning of prize-winning vegetables.

By Jasper Copping
The Telegraph
07 Aug 2011

Excerpt:

The saboteur
A dispute between allotment holders in Beckbury, near Wolverhampton, has its roots in a vegetable growing contest.
Peter Glaze planted his six hopefuls for the competition in secret locations this year after accusing a rival, Barry Truss, of putting his foot through a pumpkin and upending his shallots. Other holders have even accused Mr Truss of using his dog to sniff out pumpkins hidden from him.

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Katie Stagliano distributes her garden bounty to folks in need in Summerville, S.C. Photo by Adele Starr.

Girl Finds Goodness in Gardening

By Sandy Summers
American Profile
August 2, 2011

Excerpt:

Katie Stagliano, 13, gives new meaning to the word sharecropper.

The founder of Katie’s Krops oversees six gardens that have produced tons of vegetables for soup kitchens and other charitable organizations in and around her hometown of Summerville, S.C. (pop. 43,392).

Katie’s Krops took root in 2008 when Katie brought home a cabbage seedling for a third-grade science project at Pinewood Preparatory School.

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Image from Final Design Presentation Boards by R. Hedlof.

Master in Architecture Thesis

By Rachel Hedlof
June 9, 2011
Master in Architecture
Portland Graduate School of Architecture
University of Oregon

Abstract:

Local food and agriculture in the Portland Metro Region has a strong cultural presence due to its support by chef- farmer collaborations, local food marketing promotion, and community supported farmer’s markets. The number of small farms on the periphery of Portland is increasing, supported by their close contact with the city due to the urban growth boundary. Agriculture within city boundaries has also shown continuous growth through support by community and civic organizations.

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Sisha Ortúzar on NYC’s Most Urban Farm.

The Riverpark Farm, created under the direction of Chef/Partner Sisha Ortúzar, is already supplying fresh produce to the adjacent Riverpark restaurant, making innovative use of one of New York City’s 600+ stalled construction sites

Press Release:
New York, August 3, 2011 – The Riverpark restaurant and the Alexandria CenterTM for Life Science – New York City today announced the creation of New York City’s most urban farm, the 15,000 square foot Riverpark Farm at Alexandria Center. The Farm’s large scale, direct connection to the restaurant, highly urban location, and operation within one of the city’s 600+ stalled construction sites distinguish it from all other urban farms in New York. The Farm is a landmark example of the temporary alternative use of a stalled site to stimulate local interest and economic activity, benefit the environment, beautify an area, and engage the community.

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Above the streets of Berlin

July 26, 2011 Reuters – Urban farming is a trend catching on in cities around the world and now residents of Berlin, Germany are embracing the hobby as a way of bringing calm to the hectic city life. Jim Drury reports.

Volunteer Kristine Zylstra-Moore with Fruit Share picks crab apples at the residence of Mike and Christine Smith in Winnipeg, July 27, 2011. The Winnipeg harvest organization launched last year with 10 volunteers and 20 picking locations in one neighbourhood; this year, 125 volunteers have already signed on, as have 50 locations. Photo by John Woods/The Globe and Mail.

An international movement to make use of urban-grown fruit that is normally left to rot has burst into full bloom.

By Jessica Leeder
Globe and Mail
Jul. 29, 2011

Excerpt:

In Toronto, nearly 20,000 pounds of fruit was harvested last year, each haul divided among volunteers, homeowners and community partners, including shelters and food banks. But figuring out what to do with the abundance, much of which accumulates during a couple of short months, is an ongoing preoccupation every harvest organizations faces.

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Part 1

Produced by Friends of the Earth Adelaide, Australia

Tracing the history of food gathering and production on the Adelaide Plains, from the Kaurna Aboriginal nation to present day backyard gardens, An Urban Orchard is a celebration of growing and sharing good food.

In the inner southern suburbs of the city of Adelaide, South Australia, local residents meet to share the bounty of their backyards.

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Author holding her book.

A memoir of a year feeding her family from her suburban garden

By Spring Warren
Seal Press
Published March 15, 2011
336 pages

Permaculture Media Blog says:
When Spring Warren told her husband and two teenage boys that she wanted to grow 75 percent of all the food they consumed for one year—and that she wanted to do it in their yard—they told her she was crazy. She did it anyway.

The Quarter-Acre Farm is Warren’s account of deciding—despite all resistance—to take control of her family’s food choices, get her hands dirty, and create a garden in her suburban yard.

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Jody Noble-Choder holds Attila-the-Hen outside her coop in Pittsburgh. Photo by Kris Maher/The Wall Street Journal

As Hobbyists Feather Own Nests, City Dwellers Flock to Tour Backyard Henhouses

By Kris Maher
Wall Street Journal
Aug 2, 2011

Excerpt:

“Some chicken people are coming out of the closet,” said Ms. Noble-Choder, a corporate lawyer who organized this summer’s first Chicks-in-the-Hood Pittsburgh Urban Chicken Coop Tour. She paid $1,200 for her coop, which has heated roosts and an automated door opener, but many coops are humble do-it-yourself affairs requiring little more than a few two-by-fours, some chicken wire and straw. Seven families displayed their coops, and adults paid $5 each to go on the self-guided tour. Between ticket and T-shirt sales, the fledgling group took in more than $1,800, which it donated to a food bank.

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Watch the video here.

Fears about food safety have prompted some young Chinese professionals to try growing their own

By Martin Patience
BBC News, Beijing
Aug 3, 2011

Excerpt:

Juggling their iPhones with spades, a group of young professionals are getting their hands dirty – digging vegetables.

During the week, they are teachers, PR consultants, and computer programmers. But at the weekend, these city slickers return to the soil.

“We’re worried about food safety,” says He Liying, explaining why they grow vegetables.

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Volunteers from City Slicker Farms helped install raised beds in Laura Blakeney’s yard to avoid contaminated soil. Photo by Nate Seltenrich.

Urban farming has become hugely popular in the East Bay, but lead and other heavy metals in the soil pose potential health risks. Meanwhile, there’s little consensus on what to do about it.

By Nate Seltenrich
East Bay Express
Aug 3, 2011

Excerpt:

These are the dilemmas that cities and urban gardeners now face. Yet organizations like City Slicker Farms are working hard to develop safe, practical solutions to soil contamination. Since 2005 the organization has set up 170 backyard gardens, including about 140 in West Oakland, all at no cost to the recipients. The initial step is always a soil test. While few lots exhibit truly dangerous levels, most are elevated and require some form of remediation — typically, covering the soil with mulch and growing vegetables in raised beds.

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Growing food with a view

It’s always exciting to see a food garden growing in a unique location. Brad’s large deck is six floors up at roof level with a spectacular view of False Creek and downtown Vancouver. A large variety of containers grow herbs, fruit and vegetables, and two compost bins make soil for the garden.

Casey O’Leary of Earthly Delights Farm. Photo by Laurie Pearman.

Recently, the City of Boise’s Planning and Development Services formed an Urban Agriculture Committee

By Tara Morgan
Boise Weekly
Aug 3, 2011

Excerpt:

But these recommendations, while still open for debate, have upset some of Boise’s few existing urban farmers.

“It just seems backwards to me to impose all these regulations before you’ve even come up with a way to help people farm,” said Casey O’Leary of Earthly Delights Farm.

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Tara Tracy

The Cecil Whig
Aug 2, 2011

Tara Tracy has been named the Urban Agriculture Manager at the Delaware Center for Horticulture, following a rigorous national search by the nonprofit based in Wilmington’s Trolley Square neighborhood.

As head of Urban Agriculture, Tracy is responsible for developing and implementing food production and community gardening programs, including: TheDCH’s Urban Farm at 12th & Brandywine on Wilmington’s northeast side, the greater Wilmington area’s Urban Farm Coalition; and 23 community gardens in New Castle County.

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Image via The Wall Street Journal.

Herbs and vegetables common in Latin America, such as yerba buena (“good herb”), cilantro and tomatillos, grew alongside Italian staples like basil and tomatoes next to African-American classics like collard greens.

By Sophia Hollander
Wall Street Journal
Aug 1, 2011

Excerpt:

The 2.5-acre plot is actually a working farm in the heart of the Bronx called La Finca del Sur, yielding 30 pounds of produce a week at peak harvest. Wedged between Metro North tracks, the Major Deegan and the Grand Concourse, it is the largest of a growing network of farms across the Bronx that health and government officials say will soon rival Brooklyn and Manhattan’s more celebrated web of local food producers.

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Urban gardening in Paris: the greening of bollards, which are placed in areas to prevent vehicular access.

Potogreen

Excerpt from Gavroche, June 22, 2011

Ces derniers temps les poteaux anti-stationnement sont au centre de toutes les attentions, en effet après les « potobos », les « poteaux cyclopes » et les poteaux végétalisés de la rue Dénoyez à Belleville, voici que débarquent dans les rues du 2ème arrondissement les « potogreen », bientôt peut-être des « poteaux roses » rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie?

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Thesis submitted for completion of Master of Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability

By Tara McNerney, Maarten Dankers, Luke Callahan
School of Engineering
Blekinge Institute of Technology
Karlskrona, Sweden 2011
85 pages

Abstract:

This thesis explores how to overcome barriers to growing food in yards in cities of North America’s Pacific Northwest Coastal Region, to help build towards a more sustainable society. We used a survey and interviews to investigate what barriers prevent people with access to yards from growing food, or prevent them from increasing the amount of food grown in their yards, and how these barriers can be overcome.

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Thiruvananthapuram, formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the “Evergreen city of India”. Photo: Kowdiar Palace, the residence of the Maharajah of Travancore in Trivandrum.

25 grow bags will be given to each household

The New Indian Express
Aug 01, 2011

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Horticulture Mission-Kerala is embarking on an ambitious mission, that of extending vegetable farming to as many households and areas as possible.

The project would see the launch of rooftop vegetable farming in nearly 15,000 households under the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and municipalities under it. It would be formally inaugurated on Tuesday.

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“I Love Gardening”

Designed by the popular cartoonist Mike Jupp

“It all seems to be happening down in the allotments.” 1000 pieces.

See the puzzle here.

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