Inside Urban Green International

How Eco-Green Are These Red Tomatoes?

This is a rather amazing story of cold climate tomato production. Now we have Maine tomatoes to go with Maine potatoes.

Although I no longer buy tomatoes, I'm curious to try these that are grown hydroponically in stonewool.

I am forewarned however by this quote from the article. “They don’t make a tomato that my grandmother would have liked,” Mr. Papadopoulos said. “They make a tomato that my son would like or my daughter would like.” What an interesting comment this is about the evolution of our taste buds, or "no-taste buds" if you will.

I lived in Miami in the early '70s which was right about the time growers in Homestead switched from "eating tomatoes" to "shipping tomatoes". That was a sad day in the U-pick fields. Enter the age of grow your own in sub-irrigated planters (SIPs).

Article via NY Times
Slideshow via NY Times

An icy mixture of rain and sleet fell on the glass roof of Greenhouse Two at Backyard Farms here, but as its big blue door slid open and the warm, green, celery smell of tomato plants wafted out, it was summer.

An EarthBox, Tomatoes And Kids Having Fun

Find some sun, plunk it down and watch them all grow!

via www.jennifersanborn.com

Just to prove that I’m not the only one I know who’s succeeding with the EarthBox planter and tomatoes, here are two of the cuties in the family, posing in front of the tomato plants that Mom and Dad are remembering to water.

Education Week: Why Boys Fail

Hey, I have a great idea. Let's get them all into school gardens and teach them dirt gardening. That way they can always get a job in a Home Depot garden department so they can buy more stuff from China.

via blogs.edweek.org

Duncan has every motivation. Given the campus gender imbalances we see -- 57 percent of four-year degrees going to women, 62 percent of two-year degrees -- there is no way President Obama can achieve his 2020 goal of raising U.S. education attainment to the top of world rankings without engaging the boys.

The math here is simple: either work on the gender gaps or give up the goal.

LED Lighting News From AeroFarms

Photo via www.aerofarms.com

Having lived and worked in a field for so many years where light is clearly the limiting factor, it is exciting to read about the emerging technology of LED plant lighting. It feels like the dawn of a another dimension of the digital age of urban greenscaping. 

It is a pleasure to see this work moving forward here in my home state of New York. I believe it is particularly important that the information is coming from a consumer, albeit a commercial consumer, rather than a supplier.

As AeroFarms has discovered, there are many wild and unsubstantiated claims being made about LEDs, particularly by hydroponics suppliers. It is important research and I hope it leads to much future success for them. 

Recently we announced the installation of our one-of-a-kind LED testing array. Our press release provides a good overview of the importance of this equipment, but we thought we would dive into some of the deeper technical details in our blog today.

A Garden Patch At Home Denied To Many

Photo: a customer submitted photo from the Garden Patch Grow Box website

There are millions upon millions of urbanites and suburbanites who do not have a backyard with access to dirt who could have a "garden patch" at home like this dad and daughter.

They could, if they knew about it. Sadly, most of them don’t thanks to a horticultural education system fixated on dirt gardening and pots with drain holes.

It is truly a national disgrace that this situation exists. It is even more reprehensible in that the majority of this information comes from taxpayer supported USDA Extension Programs and land grant institutions.

Here is just one of the hundreds of examples I find in my daily research. It is from the University of Illinois College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences titled “Tips and tricks for container gardening”.

As is almost always the case, it contains the admonishment to be sure your container has a drain hole. There is not one word about “self-watering”, or more accurately sub-irrigated planters (SIPs).

What is even more amazing is that the Extension Program educator who wrote the article was recognized for her wisdom in solving a kids gardening project problem back in 2007. What was her solution? EarthBoxes! Does she now have a case of amnesia? You can read the article here.

Is the lack of progressive information from these institutions ignorance or is it public policy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture? Either answer is unacceptable but in my view the latter would be the more egregious of the two. 

EarthBox Gardening Progress

If you're new to sub-irrigated planters, this is a good blog to follow the progress of growing in SIPs like the EarthBox.

From Austin, Texas.

via gardening.pineapplepalace.org

More From The Design World: Plant Table Torture

Just in case you're looking for a table to go with the chair. Moss interesting!

via www.inhabitat.com

From The Design World

Gosh, what will they think of next? Careful!

via www.designlaunches.com

A Home School Family Teachs Their Kids With EarthBoxes

This is about the winner of a recent EarthBox gift certificate drawing. If you are not familiar with it, the Earthbox is a sub-irrigated planter (SIP) that is ideal for growing fresh food in urban environments.

It's a good business idea to have a drawing for educators (see below) but even better that the winners are supported with a user forum. 

I also admire the EarthBox relationship with The Growing Connection, (TGC) a subsidiary organization of the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Their fine work in support of urban food production education is known by very few Americans. Our media gives TGC little or no credit or publicity for the valuable service they perform here in the U.S. and in emerging economies.

The Incredible Edible Urban Jungle

"The incredible edible urban jungle" is the title of this slideshow.

How did they manage to miss sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) like the EarthBox, Tomato Success Kit, Garden Patch Grow Box, DIY SIPs and soda bottle SIPs but include so many artsy-quirky but impractical methods of producing food in the city? Perhaps wearing blinders helps.

via www.grist.org