Category — Environment

The RUAF’s Urban Agriculture Magazine 20 is out. “Water for Urban Agriculture”

• Sustainable Use of Water in Urban Agriculture
• Using Treated Domestic Wastewater for Urban Agriculture and Green Areas; The case of Lima
• The Use of Reservoirs to Improve the Quality of Urban Irrigation Water
• Adapting to Water Scarcity: Improving water sources and use in urban agriculture in Beijing
• Improving Decision-making on Interventions in the Urban Water Systems of Accra

Read the complete issue online here.

“All users have to do is click their location on the website map and choose their veggies. Once a person has started a garden, he or she can add a small carrot representing that garden to the World Map of Small Food Gardens. This map is configured to let browsers find ideas or connections with other gardeners for sharing tips, seeds, recipes, and whatever else they need to know or swap in quest of the perfect small vegetable garden.”

[Read more →]

from Makerere University Press, 250 pages
Editors: Donald Cole, Diana Lee-Smith and George Nasinyama (Will be going to press in the next few weeks.)

“In an era of global urban food crises and rapid, unplanned
city growth, how can urban agriculture be transformed from a
potential source of health risks into a vehicle for healthier
urban households and local environments?”

• A novel guide to integrating agriculture and public health into urban policy
• “Policy dialogue” to engage researchers and policy makers in support of agriculture-based livelihoods of low income urban families
• A science-based approach to dealing with public health and food safety concerns
• Essential reading for professionals and academics involved in agriculture and the environment, public health, and urban planning and management

[Read more →]

Hawk Visits and Eats Lunch at the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden from City Farmer on Vimeo. See HD version. Click screen.

Videos shot by Maria Keating.

Maria videos a hawk dining on a chickadee in our cherry tree at City Farmer’s garden. We can’t tell if this is a Coopers Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. For 30 minutes the hawk concentrated on his meal, while some crows looked on with interest and a black squirrel travelled its highway of branches nearby.

[Read more →]

Host-Pathogen interactions, Malaria Infection cell biology. See complete image here.

Published in Malaria Journal, 4 August 2008
By Eveline Klinkenberg, PJ McCall, Michael D Wilson, Felix P Amerasinghe and Martin J Donnelly

To investigate the impact of urban agriculture on malaria transmission risk in urban Accra larval and adult stage mosquito surveys, were performed.

There has been a resurgence of interest in the problem of urban malaria in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. Urban malaria is likely to increase in importance as rapid urbanization will result in the majority of Africa’s population living in cities in the near future. It is commonly assumed that urbanization leads to a decrease in malaria prevalence because it results in fewer Anopheles breeding sites, reduced biting rates due to the higher ratio of humans to mosquitoes, better access to treatment and better (mosquito-proof) housing.

[Read more →]

“During summer one Melbourne gardener, Marika Wagner, was struggling to look after her vegie patch under the somewhat arbitrary water restriction regime in Victoria - two watering windows a week is simply not enough to keep vegetables alive during a Melbourne summer!

“Like many others Marika rents her inner suburban home. For such people, those on a low income or for those who have a community garden plot, it is particularly difficult to grow vegies during summer.  For them systems such as water tanks are either out of reach financially or not worthwhile installing in a temporary situation.

[Read more →]

Sharon, head gardener at City Farmer, gives Tasha a tour of the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden. They look at the cob shed and oven, compost toilet, and bird baths.

Sharon is a passionate birder and even brings her dog’s hair for the chickadees who build their nests with it. Maria places colourful flower petals in the bird baths every morning for our pleasure as much as theirs.

[Read more →]

Tasha talks to Mike about natural lawn care at City Farmer. A push mower makes no noise, uses no gasoline and does not pollute the atmosphere. See what else you can do to become a green ‘Lawnranger’.

Visitors learn about alternatives to lawns at the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden. How about a waterwise native plant garden or replacing your lawn with a variety of classy ground covers?

[Read more →]

See a short-documentary on guerrilla gardening starring Richard Reynolds, the author of “On Guerrilla Gardening.” The piece basically shows the process, preparation and troops needed to go out on a gardening mission.
From Current TV.

Link with comments on Current TV here.

Report Published by the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands
July, 2008

“Currently, land being farmed in British Columbia produces just over half of our food requirements. There is, therefore, tremendous potential to expand agricultural production so that it plays a greater role in feeding our growing population. However, a major challenge we face is to effectively manage urban growth in a manner that protects existing farm operations and provides opportunities for the agriculture industry to continue to grow. Part of this challenge in ensuring urban and agricultural land uses can successfully co-exist will require that the interface between these land uses is effectively planned.

[Read more →]