It’s Not a Fairytale: Seattle to Build Nation’s First Food Forest. Forget meadows. The city’s new park will be filled with edible plants, and everything from pears to herbs will be free for the taking. Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more. All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest.
“This is totally innovative, and has never been done before in a public park,” Margarett Harrison, lead landscape architect for the Beacon Food Forest project, tells TakePart. “The concept means we consider the soils, companion plants, insects, bugs—everything will be mutually beneficial to each other,” says Harrison. “Anyone and everyone,” says Harrison. Source: Take Part. Urban Greening May Reduce Crime Rates in Cities. Urban planning is not only important to the strategic design behind a city's infrastructure, but now one study finds that the landscaping itself which emphasizes urban greening and the introduction of well-maintained vegetation, can lower the rates of certain types of crime such as aggravated assault, robbery and burglary, in cities.
According to a Temple University study, "Does vegetation encourage or suppress urban crime? Evidence from Philadelphia, PA," researchers found that the presence of grass, trees and shrubs is associated with lower crime rates in Philadelphia. "There is a longstanding principle, particularly in urban planning, that you don't want a high level of vegetation, because it abets crime by either shielding the criminal activity or allowing the criminal to escape," said Jeremy Mennis, associate professor of geography and urban studies at Temple.
"Well-maintained greenery, however, can have a suppressive effect on crime. " Read more at Temple University. No Time to Grow Food? Company Will Plant a Garden for You. Farmyard, a Phoenix-based company, installs and helps maintain gardens for their clients. Photo: Kathryn Sukalich, Earth911 You know that saying, ‘Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime?’ This sentiment is pretty fitting for a new service available in the local food and gardening movement. Farmyard, a Phoenix-based company, has a unique business model that not only provides fresh, organic produce through a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, but also visits the yards of those interested in growing their own food, helps install gardens and follows up to ensure clients are properly tending to their crops. At its core, learning to garden requires that people alter the way they think, both about what they eat and how they interact with the world around them.
“We’re so used to having that grocery store mentality, having everything all the time no matter what,” Rebecca Kidwell, co-owner of Farmyard, told Earth911. Fukushima meltdown appears to have sickened American infants. Fallout from that Fukushima meltdown thing a couple years back? It’s not just the Japanese who are suffering, though their plight is obviously the worst.
Radioactive isotopes blasted from the failed reactors may have given kids born in Hawaii and along the American West Coast health disorders which, if left untreated, can lead to permanent mental and physical handicaps. Children born in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington between one week and 16 weeks after the meltdowns began in March 2011 were 28 percent more likely to suffer from congenital hypothyroidism than were kids born in those states during the same period one year earlier, a new study shows. In the rest of the U.S. during that period in 2011, where radioactive fallout was less severe, the risks actually decreased slightly compared with the year before. After entering our bodies, radioactive iodine gathers in our thyroids. Their findings may be only a tip of an epidemiological iceberg. So stay tuned. Citywide Commercial Composting: Then and Now. Access to citywide commercial composting is still largely limited in the United States, but we’ve come a long way in recent years.
Composting now recovers more than 20 million tons of waste annually, according to the most recent EPA data available. In a recent report submitted to the EPA, the nonprofit research organization Econservation Institute identified more than 180 commercial and residential food scraps collection programs across the nation, in communities with populations less than 200 on up to ones with more than 600,000.
Composting recovers more than 20 million tons of waste annually, according to the EPA. Despite these encouraging numbers, recovered organics still amount to less than a third of the material that could be composted – meaning we still have a lot of work to do. So, how has commercial composting evolved? Food Forest Comes to Life in Seattle. Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more.
All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest. “This is totally innovative, and has never been done before in a public park,” Margarett Harrison, lead landscape architect for the Beacon Food Forest project, tells TakePart. Harrison is working on construction and permit drawings now and expects to break ground this summer. The concept of a food forest certainly pushes the envelope on urban agriculture and is grounded in the concept of permaculture, which means it will be perennial and self-sustaining, like a forest is in the wild. The Living Stage by Castlemaine State Festival. The Living Stage By Castlemaine State Festival Successfully funded on 08 March 2013 Payment portal is now closed Any questions about how Pozible works, check out the supporters FAQs.
You may also like the following projects. A$3,904 Pledged 7 Days left A$1,580 Pledged A$50 Pledged 60 Days left A$5,145 Pledged 11 Days left A$240 Pledged 19 Days left. How to Build Your Community From the Food Up. By Natural Blaze You might be amazed to find out that the price of one ounce of gold could put you well on your way to food independence, or even toward creating a small business. Let's take a quick look at some practical solutions that can empower individuals and local communities by returning to the land, as well as redefining what "returning to the land" really entails. There is exciting progress being made even in areas hardest hit by the current economic crisis. Current agricultural techniques such as aquaponics and vertical farming have reduced the space that is required for self-sufficiency and are providing extremely cost-effective methods of food production.
This first video highlights the benefits of producing low-cost, healthy food to begin a process of community building that combines economic concerns, health, and education to start a positive feedback-loop of empowerment. This second video discusses what can be offered by a small-scale aquaponic system. Free Water | Andrew Brown. Noam Chomsky: Authentic Democracy Is Being Dismantled. States Ban 'Sustainability' and Hobbit Homes?! Climate Activist DeChristopher Barred From "Social Justice" Work. Blue Marble readers will recall the story of Tim DeChristopher, a Utah climate activist who posed as a bidder at a December 2008 Bureau of Land Management auction. DeChristopher was the highest bidder on thousands of acres of public land, much of which bordered national parks and monuments. The 27-year-old bid $1.79 million on more than 22,000 acres that he had no intention of actually buying. The government took a hard line on his act of protest, bringing him up on felony charges for mucking up the auction.
DeChristopher ended up with a two-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine. After serving 15 months in federal prison, DeChristopher is now living in a halfway house. DeChristopher had been offered a job with the church's social justice ministry, which would include working with cases of race discrimination, sex discrimination or other injustices that fall contrary to Unitarian beliefs. See our review of a new documentary about DeChristopher and our 2009 interview with him. 20-foot URBAN FARMS : Compact, Versatile, Aquaponic Systems. How to Plant a Honey Bee Friendly Garden | The Adventures of Thrive Farm.
In the winter of 2006 the honey bee population began to die out. Since then, as much as 70% of some bee populations have died as a result of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Seventy farm grown crops, about one-third of our natural food supply, rely on honey bees for pollination. Imagine peanut better without jelly. If the honey bees disappear, so will the grapes and the strawberries, along with many of the other foods that have become not only favorites, but staples of the modern diet. You can help restore the honey bee population with a bee friendly garden. Instruction Honey Bee Friendly Plants Attract and nourish honey bees with nectar producing plants. Long Blooming Flowers Plant long blooming plants, or a variety of plants that will bloom at different times throughout the spring and fall.
Honey Bees Need Water Provide a pond, a fountain, or some other fresh water source. Native bees will make their homes in sand Provide a space in your garden for native bees to make their home. Like this: 6,000 lbs of food on 1/10th acre - Urban Farm - Urban Homestead - Growing Your Own Food. Windowfarms - Vertical Garden for Growing Herbs and Vegetables at Home. Grow your own sack garden - Humanitarian Aid & Relief | The World Concern Blog. Our staff in Chad have been teaching people living in refugee camps there how to grow sack gardens. It’s a great way to improve a family’s diet by adding fresh vegetables with less water needed than a typical garden. Since spring is a time many people are thinking about gardening, we thought we’d share these instructions for growing your own sack garden!
If you do, please share it with us! We’ll be sure to share how things are growing in Chad too. Our agronomists first learned about sack gardens from Manor House Agricultural Centre in Kenya, and we learned more about various container and urban gardening methods at ECHO Global Farm. Materials needed: A burlap or plastic sack (we use discarded food aid sacks, which make perfect sack gardens, especially for symbolic reasons)Soil mixed with organic compostRocks for irrigationA cylindrical bucket or tin, open on both ends (we use seed tins or vegetable oil tins, but a coffee can would work well too) Instructions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Researchers suggest one can affect an atom's spin by adjusting the way it is measured. One of the most basic laws of quantum mechanics is that a system can be in more than one state – it can exist in multiple realities – at once. This phenomenon, known as the superposition principle, exists only so long as the system is not observed or measured in any way. As soon as such a system is measured, its superposition collapses into a single state. Thus, we, who are constantly observing and measuring, experience the world around us as existing in a single reality. The principle of superposition was first demonstrated in 1922 by Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach, who observed the phenomenon in the spin of silver atoms.
Spin is the intrinsic magnet in quantum particles, and when a particle's spin is in superposition, it points in more than one direction at the same time. (Instead of the north and south of magnets, these are referred to as up and down.) Dr. The reason for this "action-at-a-distance" is that the spins of the measured atoms and the emitted photons were entangled. Lucid Dreaming Tibetan Dream Yoga. Ananda Bijam Yoga | This WordPress.com site is a Yoga Bijam. The Ananda Bija Way, Relating to Hatha Asana Padmasana This site is fully intended to address an alternative holistic approach to Yoga Sadhana. For our purposes to begin, let’s accept Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, since they are the most authoritative statement on Ashtanga Yoga. From that basis alone I feel there’s much to consider about Yoga; Since the current perception seems to be that yoga means asana. So let’s first address an Ananda Bija approach to Hatha Yoga Asana.
When beginning a practice of yoga asana it is, to a degree, quite natural & understandable to experience tension or even a struggle. A few points re: any yoga & asana practice. True yoga is from the heart, observing & recognizing what is; seeing where tension restricts us & knowing we can slowly, consciously let it go bit by bit. Muscles respond as clay does, they both must be warmed up perhaps kneaded too, in order to become soft & stretchy. So set the body free naturally like when you stretch & yawn. Om Tat Sat Like this:
September 2011. The Green Man, the foliate head, a composite of foliage and face, can often be found in West European churches and cathedrals, sometimes entirely made of leaves, often a face surrounded by leaves and/or vines. Sometimes hidden in dark corners, or high up in the ceiling, hardly visible from ground level. In pre-Christian mythology, he represents the vegetation, returning year after year, like the ebb and flow of nature, the spirit of the eternal cycle of nature and irrepressible life.
The name ‘Green Man’ was first used by Lady Raglan, UK, in an article on folklore in 1939. There are at least four of them at Avioth. The first ‘recorded’ Green Man in a church dates from the sixth century: in Trier, Germany, the capitals of some columns from a Roman temple representing a Green Man were reused in the church replacing the temple. Green Men are found throughout the Roman Empire but none of them seems to date from earlier than the first century. Avioth, another Green Man. Brenda Peterson: Killing With Sound: What Happens When the Whales Stop Singing?
Close your eyes. Your world is now only sound -- the rain, the traffic, that far-off siren. In this acoustic world, how you navigate, find food, your children, or mate, all depends upon how well you hear. Imagine that as you search in the darkness for a crying child, a horrifying drone, loud as a rocket, suddenly blasts sound pulses like shockwaves through your home. There are no noise-cancelling headphones to stop the U.S. Navy's 235-decibel pressure waves of unbearable pinging and metallic shrieking.
At 200 Db, the vibrations can rupture your lungs, and above 210 Db, the lethal noise can bore straight through your brain until it hemorrhages that delicate tissue. If you're not deaf after this devastating sonar blast, you're dead. This is the real life of marine mammals destroyed by the U.S. Ken Balcomb has researched multi-generations of the resident orca pods in the Pacific Northwest. Scientific American calls military sonar, "rolling walls of noise. " A deaf whale is a dead whale. The Works of Sir Thomas Wyatt. Juana Inés de la Cruz. Watch Dreams That Money Can Buy, a Surrealist Film by Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger & Hans Richter.
'Lights Have Entered Us': George Oppen's Words About Hope in Grief - Joe Fassler. The Poor People's Solution to Creating Police Accountability In Chattanooga. A Concerted Effort To Help the Homeless Move Into and Fix Up Abandoned Properties | Cleveland Real Estate News.