Inside Urban Green

The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges

The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges is an excellent resource if you or your son or daughter are in the process of selecting a college. I am planning to use it to contact all New York City metro area schools about some ideas I have for on-campus urban greenscaping programs.

via www.princetonreview.com
(download the guide - 4-part PDF)

This is a guide to 286 U.S. colleges and universities that have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to sustainability.

While it differs from our Best Colleges guidebooks in that it does not report information based on our surveys of students attending the schools, it very much embodies our philosophy that finding your “best fit” school means looking at everything from the school’s academic offerings to its extracurricular options and now, even its commitment to going green.

We recognize that there is a rising interest among students in attending colleges that practice, teach, and support environmentally responsible choices. Among the almost 16,000 college applicants and parents of applicants The Princeton Review surveyed for its 2009 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 66 percent of respondents said they would value having information about a college's commitment to the environment. Moreover, of that cohort, 24 percent said such information would “very much” impact their decision to apply to or attend the school. Read more...

McGill University Edible Campus

via www.youtube.com

Note: There is loud background music in the video. Check your sound.

The website that hosted the McGill University Edible Campus slideshow went out of business. Thanks to jardinssurtoit this video shows them all.

Another Canadian Rooftop SIP Edible Garden

SP Photo by Richard Marjan, The StarPhoenix

These are sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) producing fresh vegetables on the roof of the Pinnacle  condominium in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada. A group of students from the University of Saskatchewan were inspired by the work of The Rooftop Garden Project and McGill University Edible Campus in Montreal. Rooted is the name of their student urban gardening group.

Why is it that we do not have more rooftop and ground level SIP edible gardens like this here in the U.S.?  It starts with education. We desperately need new educators who have not been indoctrinated by the retrogressive horticulture programs of our land grant institutions. It is a huge bureaucracy whose dogma is not easy to overcome.

Excerpts from the StarPhoenix article...

"It's nice to see people that are interested in this type of thing. I just wish we could get the knowledge out," said resident Les Hodgson. He helped tend the plants and wants the project to continue. "It just takes care and water. Why not use the top of your roof? There's nothing up there," he said.

The Rooted group built the containers and residents did the weeding and watering. Best estimates people could provide at least one-quarter of their produce needs throughout the growing season with rooftop gardens. Much of the produce from this project was donated to the Childhood Hunger and Education Program (CHEP) and Interval House.

"It makes a huge difference just in terms of well-being and the carbon footprint if we're able to grow our own food," Best said. "The food doesn't have to travel anywhere, except maybe downstairs."

The project also created a "hang out" space at the top of the building. With no shortage of volunteers tending the plants, the garden also grew a sense of community among the residents.

"I think it should be on every roof that's safe," Thair said.

"I think what gives life meaning is a sense of connectedness to your community," he said. "From my perspective, the main benefit is people working together."

McGill University Edible Campus Project

There is a very informative interview with Vikram Bhatt, Director of the McGill School of Architecture’s Minimum Cost Housing Group (MCHG) in the McGill Reporter. 

“This isn’t a about fighting against parking lots and plazas,” said Vikram Bhatt in the middle of a fertile patch of radishes, carrots, sunflowers and pumpkins that thrives on the east side of Burnside Hall where but a few short years ago only concrete and a rock basin could be found. “This is about working together to make better use of our city spaces.” ...Read more...

I call what he said here urban greenscaping. He goes on to talk about the McGill Edible Campus project done in partnership with the Rooftop Garden Project (part of the Montreal based NGO Alternatives). The Edible Campus is an outstanding project in support of local food and I've blogged about it before. 

2009 McGill Edible Campus Garden Starts

It was good to see that the McGill University edible campus garden is continuing into 2009. The project is a partnership with the Rooftop Garden Project, also in Montreal. This is my model of what a 21st century community garden should look like. 

They have done an outstanding job of documenting the project with pictures. It is a joy to see the campus and community involvement that includes both the young and old. 

The Rooftop Garden Project is a leader in the use of recycling to make sub-irrigated planters of many configurations. For example, you can see tote boxes and half barrels in the photo above. 

More information about the Rooftop Garden Project. 

Guide to Setting up Your Own Rooftop Garden - Scroll down for free download (PDF)

More about the McGill University edible campus. 

EarthBoxes Coming To A MIT Garage Roof

Planning the MIT garage roof EarthBox garden

McGill University sub-irrigated container garden - rooftop in the background

There will be an EarthBox garden on a garage roof at MIT this summer. What a great idea that was pioneered by McGill University in partnership with the Roof Top Garden Project in Montreal. 

Gardeners on the roof
Vegetables, flowers to grow atop West Garage in sustainable agriculture exercise

Going green, giving back
Each plot will consist of one EarthBox, a low-cost, compact and water-efficient growing container that's about the size of a large suitcase. The EarthBoxes will be available for purchase, at a discount and complete with soil and fertilizer, through MIT's Endicott House. While there is no fee for a plot, gardeners must supply the EarthBox, soil and plants. Read more...

There could be (should be) one of these gardens on every campus in the country. All it would take is some student sweat equity and a relatively small amount of money. 

One of the many advantages of sub-irrigated box, bed and bucket gardens is portability and their incremental nature. There is no need to make a big decision to till a plot of land with all the complexities involved regarding land acquisition, possible soil contamination and need for soil amending. 

Just start with one or two boxes, beds or buckets. Keep it simple and watch both the vegetables and garden size grow.   

The only thing that prevents this from happening is lack of knowledge and leadership.

McGill Edible Campus Garden

BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Ideas

If you haven't seen it before, this is a slideshow of the sub-irrigated box and bucket edible garden on the campus of McGill University in Montreal. 

It is a most impressive community effort on the part of The Rooftop Garden Project and McGill University students.