Inside Urban Green

EarthBoxes on the Smart Home Upper Deck

Photos by Ron Wolford

Thanks again to University of Illinois cooperative extension educator Ron Wolford we have more photos of the EarthBoxes installed at the Smart Home on the grounds of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

It is significant to note that the EarthBoxes used in this leading edge project were donated by The Growing Connection, a unit of the UN Food And Agriculture (FAO) organization. This wouldn't have happened without the help of the UN, an interesting commentary about the state of urban horticulture in America.

Look down from the deck and see corn and tomatoes growing in EarthBoxes on the entrance steps to the museum.

Smart Home: EarthBoxes on Rooftop Deck

EarthBoxes on rooftop deck, (May 22, 2009) originally uploaded by Cook County Master Gardeners at Museum of Science and Industry.

EarthBoxes on Rooftop Deck, (May 22, 2009) originally uploaded by Cook County Master Gardeners at Museum of Science and Industry.

These photos of EarthBoxes at the Smart Home on the grounds of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago are from early May this year. These are immature plants only starting their life of abundance and productivity.



I will soon post photos that are more recent. They will clearly demonstrate the robust growth of the EarthBox plants and the bounty of fresh vegetables they produce with so little effort. Do not attribute these extraordinary benefits to the EarthBox alone. They are generic benefits of sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) including those that are home made.

Even those of low income can access the benefits of SIPs. All it takes is education, which is currently in short supply. We desperately need competent educators in the field of modern urban greenscaping.

We can thank The Growing Connection (a UN FAO organization) for donating the EarthBoxes, the Cook County Master Gardeners and the leadership of University of Illinois cooperative extension agent Ron Wolford for these valuable photographs. While Chicago has a long way to go, it is clearly on the right path. It is arguably the urban greenscaping leader of the United States. 

I will not stop asking the question of why this same type of modern urban greenscaping is not taught to people of all ages, all across the country. It is particularly disturbing that horticultural institutions in my home city of New York are essentially mute on the subject.

In my professional view, it is malpractice of high order. Unfortunately, there is little or no peer review within the system. On the surface, it appears to be a cabal of mediocrity if not incompetence. 

The Future is Now and it is About Education

This is a favorite photo because it tells a story far better than my rhetoric in just one frame. It represents what should be happening all across America. It represents enlightenment and open mindedness in a field far too prone to the opposite.

At the right is the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, to the left is the forward looking Smart Home, at the center are master gardeners, on the steps are young students and in the foreground are sub-irrigated EarthBoxes (prior posts).

These students will know more about growing edible plants in the city than most garden writers and horticulturists I read in my daily research. They are the urban greenscapers of the future and we need them badly. More importantly, they are the future teachers we need to staff community college certificate programs in all of our cities.  

Chicago should thank a forward looking extension program agent named Ron Wolford for encouraging the use of sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) and teaching young people about them. He is one of very few USDA extension program agents who get it. I know of no other one like him.

Ron not only gets it about modern greenscaping methods, he gets it to the point of having a Facebook page and Tweets regularly. Ron is obviously in tune with the modern world. I can learn from him. Like many of us, I have a Facebook and Twitter membership but have not done anything with them. Stay tuned. They are definitely on the agenda along with convincing a New York City community college to start an Urban Greenscaping certificate program. Maybe we can get Ron Wolford to help.

PONG Potential on the Steps of a Museum

Bret Harte kid with Mother and Brother harvest onion, originally uploaded by Museum of Science and Industry's Smart Home Garden.

It's unlikely that many would think of planting a vegetable garden on the steps at the entrance to a museum, but it is a reality. This is the EarthBox garden at the entrance to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It is adjacent to the Smart Home that also has an EarthBox Garden. 

Portability of these planters makes outreach possible. If this was a PONG, this family could not only take some vegetables home, they could take an EarthBox garden as well. Obviously some administrative details would have to be worked out, but if could be done. It's a matter of policy rather than technology. 

The potential of PONGs (prior posts) to help eradicate center city food deserts is enormous. 

Sub-irrigated Planters(SIPs) - Boxes, Beds or Buckets - Grow fast, grow good, save water, save time, eat clean...go green!  

EarthBoxes: Smarter Kids, Smarter Home

NOTE: The video shows sprinkling water with a can. This is done only to water in seeds or new plants. Other than that, water is never poured from the top. Water rises by capillary action from a reservoir at the bottom.  

It was good to read in an EarthBox newsletter (see below) that the EarthBoxes are moving from the entrance steps of the Museum of Science and Industry to the Smart Home itself. That is where they should have been last year. 

Thanks to the Growing Connection and the master gardeners working with them, the planters will be integrated into the living environment of the Smart Home. With this accomplished, the home will be a lot smarter than it was. 

Also, think about the fact that the kids from the Bret Harte Elementary School are going to know something that most horticultural academics seem to be missing. 

These students are learning at an early age that sub-irrigated planters like the EarthBox will produce plentiful and delicious vegetables with no need for tilling the land. They’ll know they can grow food anywhere in the city where there is six or more hours of sunlight. All of this is hopeful for the future if we can just get them to teach their parents.  

This is from a current EarthBox newsletter. 

This past Earth Day (April 22), the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois brought in a group of 40 fifth-grade students from Bret Harte Elementary School to help upgrade an exhibit called "Smart Home: Green + Wired, Powered by ComEd." 

This modular three-story home is located literally in the Museum's backyard. It showcases the various ways that green living can easily be integrated into the typical household, and is touted as the city's "greenest home." Well, the kids from Harte Elementary helped make it greener, as they assisted master gardeners in planting 80+ EarthBoxes with vegetables, herbs and flowers. The EarthBoxes will green the patio rooftop, as well as the garden on the ground.
 
The plan is for the students to maintain the planters and care for the plants over the next few months. The students will be connected with kids from a sister school in an underdeveloped country by means of The Growing Connection, where they'll track their progress, and exchange gardening stories and growing tips. 

The Smart Home is a Lot Smarter This Year

Photos by Moco Loco

This is the Smart Home designed by Michelle Kaufmann. It’s on the grounds of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. The house will be a lot smarter this year because it will have EarthBoxes and a vertical garden. Last year it did not. 

When the exhibit opened last year, EarthBoxes were added as an after thought on the entry steps of the museum. Whoops! 

You can see the steps in the background to the right. It was an oversight but thanks to The Growing Connection (a UN FAO organization) and the local master gardener program, the error was remedied. 

This year the EarthBoxes will be an integral part of the Smart Home rather than an add-on nearby to the home. Bravo! I'm looking forward to photos and will post them. It will be most interesting to see where they are located. There are several possibilities including the rooftop.

From the museum's website: 

SMART HOME: GREEN + WIRED, Powered by ComEd

RE-OPEN AND UPDATED for 2009!
March 19, 2009 – Jan. 3, 2010
The “Greenest Home in Chicago” re-opens March 19, 2009. The home—designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs™ and built by All-American Homes™—will showcase the ways people can make eco-friendly living a part of their lives, and will also focus on what the future may bring to consumers. Discover the new Smart Home interior, featuring bold colors, fresh green stories, products and furniture. New and unique home technologies are also on display, courtesy of WIRED magazine. 

Explore the home’s updated landscape, which offers techniques for urban gardening, including vertical gardens and EarthBox planting.