Johanne Daoust in Toronto sent this TEDtalk link. We need more of this kind of thinking in the urban food movement. I particularly like Pawlyn's closing remark below.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said, "If you want to build a flotilla of ships, you don't sit around talking about carpentry. No, you need to set people's souls ablaze with visions of exploring distant shores." And that's what we need to do, so let's be positive, and let's make progress with what could be the most exciting period of innovation we've ever seen.
Johanne Daoust, who sent the Pawlin TEDTalk link, is a talented rooftop gardener in Toronto. Have a look at her rooftop garden where she is about to convert some of her raised beds to sub-irrigation planter systems (SIPs).
She will discover what many of us have found. SIPs grow healthier plants, are more productive and benefit the environment by saving water. You can see that Johanne is already practicing square foot gardening popularized by Mel Bartholomew. Sub-irrigation and square foot will be the perfect combination.
Hands-on, eyes-on experience is the best way to learn this subject. We will collectively benefit from the work of each of us as the knowledge base grows exponentially along with our fresh vegetables.
If you have not watched this video, you should. Dickson Despommier, the now (or near) celebrity Columbia University professor has probably gone a bit over the top with his farmscraper hyperbole. There is not much doubt that he is a skilled hypster but there can be unintended consequences from that.
Stewart Truelsen takes him to task in this Southeast Farm Press polemic titled "Who decides the future of farming, ranching?” This is not the only article that I have read recently with this point of view. There is definitely a pushback from the farming community and rightly so.
Professor Despommier has progressive ideas but he has perhaps taken them to a polarizing level that may be counter productive.
This is another item from Chris Beytes and Ellen Wells in the Acres of Buzz newsletter as they wend their way through the California Spring Trials.
Along with the "Mighty 'Mato", "Field of Dreams" is another candidate for your sub-irrigated planter (SIP) summer garden. These variegated leaf corn plants will produce ornamental corn that will look good next fall along with your pumpkins and ornamental gourds.
Now you can tell your friends that your "corn plant" grew corn because you have such a green thumb. Okay, bad houseplant joke.
If you have heard the term "farming concrete”, it is now a reality with no jack-hammer required. A new edible portable micro garden (with sub-irrigated planters aka SIPs) is officially opening tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 at PS 39 in Brooklyn. Just like kids, these little gardens can find their way into small spaces anywhere, even on driveways, balconies and rooftops.
I call PS 39 the "little school that could". It may be small, but the community of people who made this garden happen thinks big. It also took some big thinking and open mindedness by school principal Anita de Paz. We need many more school principals like her all across the country.
It is much too early in the Brooklyn gardening season for there to be vegetables to pick but the garden is already a work of art worth seeing. Even if you cannot make the opening tomorrow, stop by at any time and have a look. The garden is located in the front yard of PS 39 at the corner of 6th Avenue and 8th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Watch this video and you will see that start-up Gotham Greens is becoming a reality here in New York City. At about the 5:30 minute mark in the video you will see that their new rooftop hydroponic greenhouse is taking shape.
While this is happening a very similar type of business has started up in Montreal. Lufa Farms is now actually selling their produce. They also recently launched a redesigned website.
It will be most interesting to follow the progress of these two leading edge businesses. It is very possible that they will be competing right here in New York City and that would be a good thing. I leaned a long time ago in my corporate career that one of the best things you can have in business is good competition.
There is a lot of over-hyped Dickson Depommier in the video too. He probably has his head in the clouds but he has stimulated much lively conversation about modern method urban food production and that is definitely a good thing. "Sex and the City" yes but there is no future in "Dirt and the City".
Following is an excerpt from the widely read Acres of Buzz newsletter edited and published by Chris Beytes. A video also follows after the jump.
The particularly exciting news in this edition is about new grafted heirloom tomato plants named Mighty 'Mato.
The plants are heirloom tomatoes grafted onto rootstock that is typically used for hydroponic growing. The yields are projected to be four to five times greater. Does this sound like a natural for sub-irrigated planter systems (SIPs)? Hang on and stay tuned!
Chris: I wish we had more time to look at the various intros on the seed side, to give us an idea what we’ll see up the road. Alas, we just had too much else to see. Such as Plug Connection’s new Mighty ‘Mato grafted tomato, part of a new line called Super Naturals. Grafting is done with commercial varieties intended for hydroponic production, but this is the first time I’ve seen them offered for the home garden. The idea of grafting is to put a touchy variety, such as an heirloom, on a tough, vigorous, disease-resistant native rootstock. Juan St. Amant says grafting can increase the yield of an heirloom by four to five times! They’re starting with one variety, to see how it goes. They’re also looking at grafted peppers and eggplants. Hey, and we have video of it, too!
Last Tuesday we had a fantastic meeting at The FARM:shop in Dalston to talk about The People’s Supermarket with some very important people… our PR team! Arthur has had to tell the story of The People’s Supermarket over and over again in the past few months and we are trying to make his life easier. The discussion was fully recorded and the raw cut version will be available on our site soon.
