Gorgeous compost bill/wall/creation by Groves Raines architects.
”conceived as an extension to the garden at inverleith terrace, edinburgh (a detached house remodelled by GRA in 2003) the organic form embraces a 5 tonne boulder and provides a point of interest to both garden…
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
“Everyone will have a different approach to keeping a self-sufficient homestead, and it’s unlikely that any two 1-acre farms will follow the same plan or methods or agree completely on how to homestead. Some people like cows; other people are afraid of them. Some people like goats; other people cannot keep them out of the garden. Some people will not slaughter animals and have to sell their surplus stock off to people who will kill them; others will not sell surplus stock off at all because they know that the animals will be killed; and still others will slaughter their own animals to provide their family with healthy meat.
For myself, on a 1-acre farm of good, well-drained land, I would keep a cow and a goat, a few pigs and maybe a dozen hens. The goat would provide me with milk when the cow was dry. I might keep two or more goats, in fact. I would have the dairy cow (a Jersey) to provide the pigs and me with milk. More importantly, I would keep her to provide heaps and heaps of lovely cow manure to increase my soil fertility, for in order to derive any sort of living from that 1 acre without the application of a lot of artificial fertilizer, it would have to be heavily manured.”
Infographic: Home gardening in the USA
Source: MNN
![gardensinunexpectedplaces:
Via contained:
Localize It: PodPonics Grows High-Tech Organic Produce In Shipping Containers — Fast Company
As fuel prices go up, the cost of shipping produce thousands of miles away rises accordingly. In the past few years, a number of companies have attempted to capitalize on the increasing hunger for locally produced food — we’ve seen rooftop farming startup BrightFarms and Brooklyn hydroponic farming startup Gotham Greens, just to a name a couple.
[Atlanta-based] PodPonics started in 2010 when founder Matt Liotta — a serial entrepreneur who has launched Internet, software, and telecom startups — noticed that demand significantly outstripped supply in the local food business. “[My work] in Internet, telecom, and agriculture is all pretty similar in that the goal was to find a mature industry and come up with a disruptive technology,” he says. “If you wanted to produce fresh produce at the point of consumption in a way that was economically viable, what would you have to invent to do it?”
Liotta decided to use recycled shipping containers as “grow pods,” which are outfitted with organic hydroponic nutrient solutions; computer-controlled environmental systems to regulate temperature, humidity, pH levels, and CO2; and lights that emit specific spectrums at different points in the day. The system provides the exact amount of water, lights, and nutrients that a crop requires—so there is no wasted energy (though the pods are still hooked up to the power grid). In a 320 square foot area, PodPonics can produce an acre’s worth of produce. The pods can be stacked on top of each other for more efficient use of space.
Full story: Fast Company. Photo via PodPonics.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpe586aScJ1qdzdaso1_r1_1280.jpg)
Via contained:
Localize It: PodPonics Grows High-Tech Organic Produce In Shipping Containers — Fast Company
As fuel prices go up, the cost of shipping produce thousands of miles away rises accordingly. In the past few years, a number of companies have attempted to capitalize on the increasing hunger for locally produced food — we’ve seen rooftop farming startup BrightFarms and Brooklyn hydroponic farming startup Gotham Greens, just to a name a couple.
[Atlanta-based] PodPonics started in 2010 when founder Matt Liotta — a serial entrepreneur who has launched Internet, software, and telecom startups — noticed that demand significantly outstripped supply in the local food business. “[My work] in Internet, telecom, and agriculture is all pretty similar in that the goal was to find a mature industry and come up with a disruptive technology,” he says. “If you wanted to produce fresh produce at the point of consumption in a way that was economically viable, what would you have to invent to do it?”
Liotta decided to use recycled shipping containers as “grow pods,” which are outfitted with organic hydroponic nutrient solutions; computer-controlled environmental systems to regulate temperature, humidity, pH levels, and CO2; and lights that emit specific spectrums at different points in the day. The system provides the exact amount of water, lights, and nutrients that a crop requires—so there is no wasted energy (though the pods are still hooked up to the power grid). In a 320 square foot area, PodPonics can produce an acre’s worth of produce. The pods can be stacked on top of each other for more efficient use of space.
Full story: Fast Company. Photo via PodPonics.
A “mobile garden dress,” created by environmental artist Nicole Dextras for the Vancouver International Children’s Festival.
The Mobile Garden Dress was conceived as a self-sustaining garden and portable shelter for the new urban nomad, complete with pots of edible plants and a hoop skirt that converts into a tent at night. This garment is 100% compostable and recyclable.
(via Soiled and Seeded)
W. Eugene Smith: A Walk to Paradise Garden, 1946
“Smith’s war wounds cost him two painful years of hospitalization and plastic surgery. During these years he took no pictures and whether he would ever be able to return to photography was doubtful. Then one day, during his period of convalescence, Smith took a walk with his two children and even though it was still intensely painful for him to operate a camera, came back with one of the most famous photographs of all time: “A Walk to Paradise Garden.” This memorable image was to serve as the final picture in the famous “Family of Man” Exhibition.” (Source)
Nice and simple. I think lining them with some builders fabric (wire mesh with ~1cm x 1cm openings and figuring out a front enclosure would be good additions. Might need some supports or bracing to make sure the sides don’t get pushed out when the compost gets piled high.
We now have a 2-bin compost system! The pallets were free, the zip-tie fasteners ran me about 25 cents, and it took less than 15 minutes to build.
by Tiny Eglington
– Tiny Eglington’s method, educator Geoff Lawton
This is a photo report of a vegetable garden built for Ann Foster in Condobolin, NSW Australia, which shows basic steps that allow you to build your own permaculture veggie patch.
Needs:
You don’t need much, but you…
