Urban Agriculture

Today and yesterday I attended:

THE HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE ON WATER AND GLOBAL HEALTH AT THE UNITED NATIONS
(Source: http://www.theworldwater.org/)

It was a forum on issues of water and public health. For instance, according to the UN of all of the water in the world: 97% is salt, 2% is ice/glacial and only 1% is accessible for human consumption. Another tidbit - 45% of diarrhoeal diseases can be prevented by washing hands with soap and water. Fascinating and so effective!

One of the speakers was Dick Despommier, I love his This Week in Parasitism podcast. I was looking forward to hearing him speak about parasites and water because I knew he could make it really interesting. Well, I was even more excited because he spoke about agriculture. More specifically, he spoke about Vertical Farming. Kismet for me since I am currently working on a paper about urban agriculture and the impacts it has (can have) on environment (organic) and health (plant-based diet). While his ideas are a bit high tech for the developing world the models he showed were fantastic. Think of a parking deck inside of a greenhouse that creates its own energy with extra to sell (or give away).

I can't wait to see what the future will bring.

Fungus Update

So we lost the battle with the fungus.






BUT - I have planted new seedlings using the beautiful soil with compost from our yard, not those little peat plugs, and peat pots for easy transplanting. They seem to be thriving, cross fingers!


I planted More Kentucky Wonder Beans, Asian Foot Long Beans, Turnips, Radishes, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Oxheart Tomatoes, Black Krims, Round Zucchini, Peas and Corn. From the first batch a Beefsteak Tomato and a Banana Pepper survived along with one of the Butternut Squashes.

In the germination tank I have: Spaghetti Squash that is popping, Black Beauty Zucchini, Cucumbers, Balck Beauty Eggplants, Butternut Squash, Brandywine Tomatoes, Roma Tomaotes, Banana Peppers, Beets, and Yellow Peppers

The best part is that as soon as a seedling emerges I cut the pot out of the set and put it under the florescent lights to get it ready for planting in mid-May.

Winter Warriors

So as a newbie planting greens I didn't know that they could be so hardy and overwinter. we have a Spinach bunch and Two collards that started coming up in March...



And no, those are not rabbit or deer nibbling on the Collards, I can't just help myself taking a piece now and then









I have also planted two rows of Collards and am looking forward to the harvest.

Ode to Compost

This is an ode, luckily with no odor. This was the first year we really got appreciate our compost bin. Last year's trash is this year's treasure.

Before:

During:

This is Jared's compost bin, made from 16 feet of plastic netting. You can get at this Home Depot @ $10 for 25 feet. It works really well. That plant growing right in front is one of our collards that survived the winter.

During (a closer look):

And this is what it becomes... drum roll please!



Beautiful dirt - this is last year's compost incorporated into two sections of the garden.

SPRING!!

So the computer is back and here's the latest updates.

Spring has sprung! Crocuses a-plenty



It's also nice to see the Tulips coming out




We also get the sunlounge monster during this time of year

FUNGUS!!

Well. I saw the reviews and thought I had gotten through the worst but my little peat pots got fungus. As was suggested by my buddy at grownotes I moved the trays to a drier room. I guess being in a cold room with three fish tanks wasn't ideal... I have been removing the top layer of soil as the fungus builds. Will most likely be transplanting to larger peat pots this weekend.

jared's avocado

This is a small avocado plant that's kept in the window over the sink. It's such a pretty plant. I love the way it's coming out of the seed, splitting it in two. After seeing a few of the beans come up you can see the relationship it has to legumes.