This personal micro-farm is one of the most fabulous I have seen on the web. It's hard to believe that it is growing on a concrete driveway. The miracle of this garden is due to the unique functionality of sub-irrigated planters (SIPs), in this case EarthBoxes.
There is arguably no method of growing food in the city or suburbs that is as productive, water conserving and user-friendly as SIP growing.
I discovered this jewel of a garden on Flickr. The location is not stated, but my guess is Southern California. The grower and photographer is Anita Canfield who deserves a standing ovation in my opinion. She has done us all a public service by publishing her garden. Incidentatlly, her auto-irrigated garden is going into its fourth year this summer.
What if everyone in the country knew how feasible a garden like this is. Sure, it took some serious work to do what Anita has done but it wasn't the backbreaking type of work required to do this as in in-ground garden. There was no need for shovels, spade forks and hoes to create this gem. There was also no exposure to the health hazard of often-contaminated city soil.
It seems clear that if these methods were more widely known, we would significantly alter the local fresh food supply in the U.S. Is this why the USDA through its Extension Program ignores the subject. Is there a USDA strategy to protect commercial farms or is the education program out of date due simply to mismanagement.
Whatever the reason, as consumers we have a very serious governance problem with the use of our taxes relative to the local urban food supply. We are not getting the information we deserve. Am I stating the obvious?
View the entire photo set on www.flickr.com