Inside Urban Green

Sub-irrigated Raised Beds » Ready Made Kits to Convert

This is an interesting collection of raised bed gardening kits. Any and all of them could be sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) with some simple modifications.

The results would be in the range of 50% more fresh produce with a water saving in the range of 90%.

The key design components:

1. Water tight container. Line with plastic sheeting if necessary.

2. Water & oxygen reservoir(s) - corrugated perforated drain pipe, or inverted nursery flats or recycled plastic food container with holes punched in the tops and bottoms.

3. Overflow drain hole(s) when used outdoors.

Of course if you are a woodworker you can make your own but these kits are handy for time-short people who can afford them.

Here is a Flickr photo set showing very simple methods to make sub-irrigated raised beds and other types of sub-irrigated planters (SIPs).

A Flickr Photo Set & Slide Show » Portable Micro Gardens (PMGs) Using the Sub-irrigated Planter (SIP) Method

This looks like a traditional raised bed planter but it is not!

This portable micro garden (PMG) is equipped with a simple to make sub-irrigation system. It is far more effective and productive than a top watered raised bed. That includes those that are drip irrigated. 

Think of these PMG systems as intensive care units. They benefit from the best of two worlds. Nature provides the sunlight for photosynthesis and technology provides water and oxygen for the root system.

All three are critically important for growing healthy plants and the production of abundant fresh food.

From the Center for Urban Greenscaping (CuGreen)

photo: NYCEDC

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Sub-Surface Irrigation System Could Yield Big Benefits for Crops

These are the very same benefits of sub-irrigated planter systems (SIPs) that are capable of producing an abundance of fresh food for people living in cities with limited space, but an abundance of contaminated soil.

"Sub-surface irrigation reduces water loss from evaporation that occurs from above-ground applications and places water in the root zone where the crop can make most efficient use of its presence,” Cothren said. “This system also eliminates runoff associated with furrow irrigation."

While others are pursuing science and technology to produce crops more productively while conserving precious water, we have crop mobbers hugging dirt and playing fantasy farmer. 

Whatever happened to New York the smart, savvy, sophisticated city? I remember it well from my younger days...but the memory is fast fading. 

via agnews.tamu.edu

COLLEGE STATION – A Texas AgriLife Research sub-surface irrigation study could reveal ways that will lead to higher crop yields and save water annually.

Dr. Tom Cothren, AgriLife Research crop physiologist and professor at Texas A&M University in the department of soil and crop sciences, is leading a project that uses a drip system to deliver water to plants rather than traditional furrow irrigation.

"Sub-surface irrigation reduces water loss from evaporation that occurs from above-ground applications and places water in the root zone where the crop can make most efficient use of its presence,” Cothren said. “This system also eliminates runoff associated with furrow irrigation."

The Saturday Feature: She Turned Her Roof Into A Farm! - NYPOST.com

It was great to see the New York Post cover Gary Buiso's fine article about Frieda Lim's Slippery Slope Rooftop Micro-farm.

A tree may indeed grow in Brooklyn — but Frieda Lim is using her Gowanus rooftop to grow lemon verbena, echinacia, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and other delicious produce.

via www.nypost.com

Slippery Slope Rooftop Micro Farm In The News

                                        Community Newspaper Group / Gary Buiso

It was nice to see Frieda Lim's Slippery Slope Rooftop Micro Farm here in Brooklyn get some news coverage in the local media.

It is one of the most progressive and unique rooftop gardens in the New York metro area. We will no doubt see it in the news again. Incidentally, Frieda will be with us at the SIP Seminar next Thursday. We already have an interesting group registered. Be sure to attend if you live nearby. 

via www.brooklynpaper.com

A tree may indeed grow in Brooklyn — but Frieda Lim is using her Gowanus rooftop to grow lemon verbena, echinacia, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and other delicious produce.

More than that, Lim is aiming to lend a helping hoe to other budding farmers who want to raise crops a few stories above the pavement.

Lim’s Slippery Slope Farm — it is technically in Gowanus but on the edge of Park Slope — will offer design solutions, product development ideas along with solutions for combating aphids and spider mites.

Her method relies on the work of urban food activist and Bay Ridge resident Bob Hyland, whose blog, insideurbangreen.org, advocates sub-irrigation planters as a more efficient and modern way to grow food.

The system is different from traditional gardening, which relies on top-down watering, and instead uses a growing environment that can be any box or container as long as it is outfitted with a water and aeration reservoir at the bottom.

SIP Furniture: A Peek Into The Future

via www.metrovegetable.com

Who would recognize that these plants are growing in EarthBox sub-irrigated planters (SIPs)? A company named Metro Vegetable is making fine-furniture planters that hide them. It is located in North Carolina, a traditional furniture manufacturing center of the U.S. that has been hard hit by Asian competition (especially China).

Note that this is the same design concept used by Cabbage Patch Garden a business started by a carpenter in Minneapolis. The difference is that Cabbage Patch Garden is marketing them as edible gardens rather than just furniture.

The Color Green Is Still Atop Toyota Roofs

The Bloomberg Administration may favor white roofs but green roofs are still alive at Toyota in Japan. Amsterdam urban planning organization The Pop-Up City explains.

Incidentally, did you know that Toyota also has a floriculture business?

via popupcity.net
Website: Toyota Greenification Business

Today I stumbled upon some of Toyota’s so-called ‘greenification’ mission. Initiating several projects such as the Roof Garden Corporation, the Japanese car brand aims to contribute to the improvement of the urban environment. 

A Rooftop Plaza Garden That Could Have Been SIPped

Denny Park Apartments from robert mccadden on Vimeo.

I've lived in a wide variety of homes over my lifetime including some large houses during family raising years. Watch the video. Does this look like low-income housing to you? I haven't seen the living accommodations but based on the rooftop plaza I'd be happy to live here.

My reason for posting about it is to point out that the entire rooftop garden could have been done using basic principles long used in the interior plantscaping business.

This project cries out for the use of sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) as "growing inserts" concealed inside all of the overly large planters that were used. Professional interior plantscapers have long used SIPs inside decorative planters. It is "plumbing" that is hidden from the eyes of occupants and visitors.

Meet Maximilian Kemper, Talented Landscape Architect And Urban Greenscaper

via www.youtube.com

Max, come to New York. Dublin is a great city but 8 million people in the Big Apple need you.

Just stay out of Times Square and off the Staten Island Ferry and you'll be fine.

via www.glda.ie

Maximilian Kemper

Max founded MAXIMIZE DESIGN following an internationally acclaimed Silver-Gilt winning show garden at Bloom 2008.