The Art of Espalier - Episode 1.mov. Espalier. Espalier (ess-PAL-yer) is the practice of controlling plant growth so that it grows relatively flat against a structure such as a wall, fence, or trellis.
In the 17th Century, espalier originally referred to the frame or trellis on which the plant was trained. Today, espalier refers to both the plant and the horticultural technique of actually training the plant. Espaliered plants can be used to create a focal point and as a form of art. In an area where space is limited or where a plant is needed to accent a large blank wall an espaliered plant can be an outstanding landscape feature. A mature espalier plant will catch the eye of almost any visitor to your home. Plant Selection An espaliered plant can be a high maintenance addition to the landscape --- so limit the number of plants you plan to espalier. Many nurserymen sell container-grown plants that have been trained to grow on a trellis. Prepare the plant site as you would for any other plant.
Growing Rice with Aquaponics. It is a common fact that growing rice requires enormous amounts of water and other nutrients too.
The paddy fields are always laden with water. A very recent branch of science known as aquaponics is fast emerging as a step to grow in-house a part of the rice consumed in homes. Aquaponics is the amalgamation of aqua culture, which is fish farming, and hydroponics, growing crop plants and vegetables without any soil. In this system, the water that contains the fish excreta and waste is circulated to the plant bed. The plant takes up the nutrient from the water, which is toxic for the marine life.
Extreme Urban Gardening: Straw Bale Gardens. Here’s a very simple technique for gardening in tight spots and in places with no/terrible soil (from the arctic circle to the desert to an asphalt jungle).
It’s also a great way to garden if you have limited mobility (in a wheel chair). What is Straw Bale Gardening? You simply plant your garden in straw bales. General Motors and Partners Create Detroit Urban Garden Using Repurposed Shipping Crates. GM’s metal shipping crates were repurposed into raised beds.
Photo: John F. Herbs at a Glance. Plant terrarium basics. Companion Planting. Insect Hotels. Insect Hotels Provide a home to pollinators and pest controllers.
Tidy gardens, lawns and lack of dead wood, mean less and less habitat for wild bees, spiders and ladybugs. A wildlife stack can harbor numerous beneficial insects and amphibians. A Bridge to Nature: Barreau & Charbonnet's "Volet Vegetal" Urban Gardening Concept. Posted by Ray | 27 Aug 2012 | Comments (3) All images courtesy of Barreau & Carbonnet; 'gif' it a second to load.
17 Apart: Growing Celery Indoors: Never Buy Celery Again. Remember when we tested and shared how to grow onions indefinitely last week?
Well, at the same time, we've been testing out another little indoor gardening project first gleaned from Pinterest that we're excited to share the successes of today — regrowing celery from it's base. We've figured out how to literally re-grow organic celery from the base of the bunch we bought from the store a couple weeks ago. Live Green - The Houses That PET Plastic Built. Eco-minded architects and designers are making treasure out of trash by recycling used PET bottles into beautiful, sustainable, buildings.
Eco-minded architects and designers are making treasure out of trash by recycling used PET bottles into beautiful, sustainable, buildings. One of the wonderful things about being recycle-minded is that every piece of trash is an opportunity to recreate something wonderful. At least, that’s the way I felt when I saw testaments to the miracle of recycling — houses, cisterns, furniture, bus stops and even entire schools — made from recycled PET plastic bottles. Eco-tec, an award-winning Honduran company, has used recycled PET plastic bottles for construction of houses, water tanks, and even schools. Green walls create new urban jungles.
UK company Biotecture have created a green wall for the side of Edgware Road Underground station in London which sits near the busy, and very polluted, Marylebone Road.
It is hoped that the new wall will help eradicate some of the air pollution in the area. Buildings with green walls are popping up all over the UK thanks to companies like Biotecture. This one is on a library in the town of Grimsby in northeast England. Green wall pioneer, Patrick Blanc created this flourishing facade for the Musee du quai Branly, Paris in 2005. He also oversaw the creation of a vetical garden on the side of the CaxiaForum, Madrid in 2007. The WestBlaak Building (bottom left) in Rotterdam was recently fitted with a green facade which its developers, Rotterdam Climate Intiative, hope will cover large sections of the car park. London (CNN) -- Vertical gardens are cropping up all over cities these days, transforming drab urban facades into vibrant jungles of color. Garden & House. December 20th, 2011 The Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa designed this “Garden & House” in Tokyo on a very small lot of just 8 x 4 m.
It doesn’t really have a facade or walls: vases, planters, concrete benches, plexiglass railings, full-height windows and curtains form the boundary between inside and outside. Grow Your Own Super Fruit: The Pomegranate. By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter This year I have made a commitment to be more hyper-local in my food choices. I have decided not to eat anything out of season that I have not canned or frozen and I will not eat anything exotic that I have not grown myself. But when I made this personal commitment I did not think about one of my favorite fruits and that is the pomegranate. Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment. Impress Your Loved One: Grow Your Own Chocolate. By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter Around Valentine’s Day the worry of what to give that special person is throbbing in ones head.
A nice dinner is always a great start to that special day dedicated to couples. Commercials show giving diamonds as a way of expressing ones love but I have another way that may take time but shows true commitment, love, and can address those cravings that we all have had some time in our lives. One may ask what could that be. Well the answer can be found in the candy aisle and it is . . . chocolate. Restaurant + REIT = Urban Pop Up Farm on Stalled East Side Construction Site. A stalled construction site in Kips Bay is probably the last place you’d expect to find a 6000-plant farm.
But at 430 East 29th Street, Riverpark Farm is making a statement about how urban space can be utilized in innovative ways. Recycled shipping containers become organic grow pods for urban centers. Wouldn’t it be great to have access to locally grown, organic lettuce in your market all the time – no matter where you live? And I mean, really local … grown, say, right in or near your urban center, without the use of arable land — and without the need to ship lettuce from California to the east coast — saving natural resources, shipping, time … while providing fresh organic lettuce on a steady basis.
Matt Liotta, founder of Atlanta-based start-up, PodPonics, aims to offer the ability to grow organic hydroponic lettuce locally in specially outfitted recycled shipping containers. These computer-controlled environmental systems have a bunch of great features: Window Farms Lets Green Thumbs Grow Fresh Veggies Indoors Window Farms – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World. It all started when Britta Riley decided to build a mini-garden in a Brooklyn window, creating a low-maintenance and self-sufficient alternative to consuming. We’ve been fans of Window Farm‘s edible gardens for long while, and just in time for the holiday season the team has evolved their fantastic gardening systems to create a brand new stand-up version of their original microfarms.
These mini-gardens can hang in columns or stand on the sill, allowing you to grow fresh vegetables, herbs, and leafy treats in practically any space. Britta Riley‘s vertical hydroponic Window Farm systems are a boon for space-starved urban dwellers looking to start their own garden. In their latest form the gardens are made from environmentally-friendly plastic and wire. The Window Farm team is featuring special offers through their Kickstarter page, and they even offer a varied selection of seedlings (at an extra cost) which can be shipped to your door.
. + Window Farms. How to Turn a Pallet into a Garden. Good news and bad news. The World’s First Vertical Forest: An. Nano Vent-Skin of Micro-Wind Turbines. Memphis Teacher Ordered to Dismantle Urban Garden. Photo Credit: glabber, Stock.xchng. Small Urban Space Rain Gardens. Rain gardens aren’t just for homeowners with large tracts of land. The Rise of Urban Farming and Other Varieties of Sustainable Ag. My newest buzzword for 2011 is CSA. I'd never heard the term until recently, but now it seems to be popping up all over, as is interest in sustainable agriculture and urban farming. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture -- the practice of signing up with a local farm for weekly produce and, in some cases, meat and dairy. Hijacked Regulatory Agencies Do the Bidding Of Big Ag in the War on Natural Food.
Michigan Woman Faces 93 Days in Jail for Planting a Vegetable Garden. Photo Credit: Julie BassUPDATE: Charges have been dropped by the city of Oak Park. Spinach or the slammer?: Defiant front yard gardener faces jail time. Sparing or sharing? Protecting wild species may require growing more food on less land. In parts of the world still rich in biodiversity, separating natural habitats from high-yielding farmland could be a more effective way to conserve wild species than trying to grow crops and conserve nature on the same land, according to a new study published on September 2, 2011 in the journal Science.
The study, by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, collected information on more than 600 species in southwest Ghana and northern India, two parts of the world where demand for agricultural land is putting ever more pressure on wild species. The researchers measured crop production as well as the abundances of birds and trees in forests and in various types of farmland. "Farmland with some retained natural vegetation had more species of birds and trees than high-yielding monocultures of oil palm, rice or wheat but produced far less food energy and profit per hectare," said lead author Dr Ben Phalan from the University of Cambridge. Locavore-dom taken to the extreme—by bike.
Gardening Allotments Lead to "Staggering" 51% Fall in Anti-social Behaviour. Bay Area farming: Urban farms are springing up across the Bay Area - latimes.com. Is This the Future of Farming? - Sarah Rich - Technology. Container Gardening For Urban Apartment Dwellers. Urban Gardening: Indoor and Balcony Gardening Tips. Madrid's Green Wall is Flourishing as is the Caixa Forum. Vertical Garden Design. Firm wants to turn Eiffel Tower into "giant tree".
Guerrilla Grafters: Splicing Fruit-Bearing Branches Onto City Trees. Guerrilla grafters: splicing fruit onto a city's trees.