Garden Hand Tools | Ergonomic Garden Tools | Garden More. Hurt Less. On Growing All Your Own Food « Homeplace Earth March 6, 2012 by Cindy Conner I am often asked how much space it would take to grow all one’s food. That depends on a lot of factors. I can only address the issue from the sustainability of also growing all the compost crops to feed back the soil. With the world population now topping seven billion, using the least area for this project is high on the list of considerations. Limiting your diet to only what you could grow in the least area, sustainably, brings nutritional challenges, with the most limiting nutrients being calories, calcium, and protein. The USDA has interactive diet planning information at Most likely you would want to expand on this diet. Then, of course, there’s dairy. Our local newspaper just had an article about a family with 13 children, including four sets of twins, who were born between 1954 and 1974. Permaculture ethics call us to care for the earth, care for the people, and return the surplus. Like this: Like Loading...
MODERN HOMESTEADING A Plan for Food Self-Sufficiency Planning a garden in advance can help you enjoy local, homegrown food year-round! Estimate how much to grow or buy and learn how to achieve food security with these guidelines. Backyard Chicken Facts - 5 Things No One Told Us A few facts that might help you decide whether or not to get chickens for your backyard. Best Guard Dog for Your Homestead Read guard dog training tips and advice on guard dog breeds best suited for your needs. Build This Predator-Proof, Portable Chicken Coop Our newest low-cost portable chicken coop plan makes raising backyard chickens easier for just about anyone. Deep Litter Chicken Manure Management Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the deep litter system and how you can manage a small flock’s manure easily and efficiently. Home Cheesemaking: From Hobby to Business Artisan cheesemakers who aspire to make their passion a profession will face many challenges on the way to establishing a successful business. Live on Less!
Organic food grows on acre of New York City rooftop Updated 2010-08-27 2:39 PM No room to garden? In New York City, farmers are looking skyward to grow fruits and veggies, turning rooftops into gardens that help feed the Big Apple's residents. Brooklyn Grange, an organic farming business, is using a 40,000-square-foot rooftop (nearly an acre) in Queens to grow hundreds of thousands of plants. Its website says tomatoes are among its biggest crops but it also grows salad greens, herbs, carrots, fennel, beets, radishes and beans. "The building was constructed in 1919 and is built like a rock. Brooklyn Grange sells its produce to local restaurants and directly to consumers at weekly farmstands. See photos of: New York City, Queens
Striving Toward Sustainable Will there be farms in New York City's skyscrapers?" By 2050, it's estimated that 80 percent of the world's people will live in urban areas (currently, 60 percent do). The population will have increased to about 9.2 billion, much of it in the developing world [Source: New York Magazine]. Many experts contend that unless drastic measures are pursued, the world could face dramatic shortage in both food and arable land. Famine and ecological catastrophe are among the possible dire consequences. Enter vertical farming -- farming in skyscrapers several dozen stories high. The key to vertical farming is space. By converting from "horizontal farming" to vertical farming, humanity would never have to worry about running out of arable land. These farms would also be located in the urban areas where most of the Earth's population will be living. Because vertical farms would exist in the communities they serve, crop selection could be altered to fit the local community.
Global Food Disparity: A Photo Diary In an increasingly globalized world, it’s still sometimes shocking to see just how disparate our lives are compared with other human beings around the world. A book of photographs by Peter Menzel called "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats" ("©Peter Menzel www.menzelphoto.com. Ten Speed Press, published in 2005) makes a relevant point with great irony: at a time when hundreds of millions of people don't have enough to eat, hundreds of millions more are eating too much and are overweight or obese. In observing what six billion eat for dinner the authors note, "Today, more people are overweight than underweight." It is these cultural differences, emphasized and reinforced by the author, which exemplifies the lifestyles and dietary habits of people around the world. You can buy the book here. Meet the The Manzo family of Sicily. Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07.
Singapore's 'supertrees' spark green thoughts 18 June 2012Last updated at 12:04 ET By Saira Syed Business reporter, BBC News, Singapore Kenneth Er, chief operating officer of Gardens by the Bay and a forest ecologist, explains what the project seeks to achieve They look like they belong on another planet with their wiry canopies and greenery where the bark should be, but the man-made "supertrees" that sit against the backdrop of Singapore's central business district mimic the qualities of trees here on earth. Seven of the 18 structures are fitted with solar panels that convert sunlight into energy. They are part of an energy-efficient green space called Gardens by the Bay that has cost 1bn Singaporean dollars ($784m; £504m). "It provides a green lung for the city rather than just having high rises everywhere," says Kenneth Er, chief operating officer on the project and a forest ecologist. He hopes that people leave the garden with a sense of "how to recreate nature's balance". Emissions debate 'Disadvantaged' 'Extremely vulnerable'
One Community Pod 1 Details In accordance with our four-phase global change strategy, we are open source project-launch blueprinting the earthbag village (Pod 1) first as maximally affordable sustainable housing. We will showcase this as an artistic, durable, easy to build, and completely ecologically friendly and sustainable home model that can be constructed for under $1000 per structure from materials that can be locally sourced or easily and affordably shipped anywhere in the world. Betty Lenora: Earthbuilding Instructor and AuthorBiko Casini: Sustainable Building Expert, Permaculturalist, and Journeyman MasonDoug Pratt: Solar Systems Design Engineer (see our Energy Infrastructure Hub) Douglas Simms Stenhouse: Architect and Water Color ArtistJohn Chambers: Experienced Earth BuilderScott Howard: Sustainable Building Expert and Owner of Earthen Hand Natural Building Earthbag Construction Village (Pod 1) Layout – Click to Enlarge Earthbag Village Space-planning for 3-Unit Clusters – Click to Enlarge