FB.ORG – Nearly 40 years ago as I started my career in agriculture communications, the week leading up to Thanksgiving celebrated those who live on the land and care for critters (livestock), while recognizing the important partnership farmers have with consumers. Farm-City Week celebrated the harvest and the abundance of affordable and nutritious food available...
METRO.NEWS – THERE is growing evidence that being in natural spaces — whether while gardening or listening to bird song — has a positive effect on mental health. Being in nature is also linked to improved cognitive function, greater relaxation, coping with trauma and alleviating certain attention deficit disorder symptoms in children. However, most of these...
WMICENTRAL.COM – This has become a rallying cry by gardeners, natural landscape enthusiasts and ecologists. To let fallen leaves stay where they land in yards across America is becoming a popular trend. Not because homeowners and gardeners are lazy (so we claim), but because the leaves provide a protective habitat and ecosystem for the insects, critters and...
NEWS.CGTN.COM – China’s rural development still faces many contradictions and problems, such as the decline of farmers’ enthusiasm for growing grain, the increasing difficulty of farmers’ continuous income increase, and the aging of rural areas increasingly serious, the recently released “2020 China Agricultural and Rural Development...
On November, 30th people all over are celebrating National Mason Jar Day! This day celebrates the invention of the mason jar and its usability in homes everywhere. Since hipsters and homesteaders alike are making mason jars a staple, let’s drop some facts about mason jars and their fascinating past! “The origins of the mason jar started with John Landis...
INQUIRER.COM – The Life Do Grow Farm on North 11th and Dauphin Streets in North Philadelphia was carved out of the poorest part of the poorest big city in America. Once an illegal dump, set beside a SEPTA Regional Rail line, the two-acre plot is studded by trees — some in planters made of painted tires — and lined with beds normally thick with flowers...
NORTHCOUNTRYOUTLOOK.COM – Here are a few of my thoughts on things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving… Battery-powered tools – Many of you may know that I love my leaf blower for all the work it can do in places where it is difficult to rake without removing all the gravel or mulch. Over the years I have probably owned just about every incarnation...
NEWS.LLU.EDU – Families in San Bernardino will enjoy a Thanksgiving bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables they grew themselves thanks to Loma Linda University Health’s donation of a one-acre parcel to establish an organic community garden and outdoor activity center — aiming to improve nutrition and mental well-being among the underserved. The city of San...
GOODNEWSNETWORK.ORG – From an ag-tech startup named Plenty, a two-acre indoor vertical farm produces yields that would normally require a 720-acre ‘flat farm’—and it can be done with 95% less water. Saving water is critical in an agricultural state like arid California, where Plenty is set to supply fresh produce for 430 Albertsons grocery stores. The...
GOODMORNINGAMERICA.COM – Tony Hillery is on a mission to teach children in his Harlem community how to adopt healthier food habits. “It’s a simple formula here that if a child plants it, they will eat it,” he said. “Eighty percent of the time that they eat it, they’ll like it.” Hillery is the founder of Harlem Grown, an organization...
ISRAEL21.C.ORG – Greenhouses and urban farm factories are expensive to set up but pay off in higher yield, quality and market value, growing all through the seasons. Grain crops will always need large fields. But tomatoes, leafy greens, peppers, and strawberries are some of the many fruits and veggies that thrive indoors under precisely controlled conditions. Though...
TALLAHASSEEREPORTS.COM – On Monday, Oct. 19, Mayor John Dailey and the City Commissioners broke ground on the first City Farm TLH located in the Greater Bond area. In support of the City Commission’s five-year Strategic Plan and the Greater Bond Neighborhood First Plan, the pilot urban farm will help provide affordable fresh fruit and vegetables to the surrounding...
THESMITHSONIANMAG.COM – Imagine strolling through an urban public park, admiring the trees and flowers. Your stomach starts to rumble. You reach up and pluck a few greengage plums from the tree overhead, and munch them as you continue walking. Later, perhaps, you stop to help a group of volunteers dig up potatoes from the park’s root vegetable garden,...
THECROSSCUT.COM – I can’t really tell if I’m doing much,” says Julie, a new volunteer for the urban farming coalition Black Star Farmers. She’s holding a dull machete and a file, learning to sharpen tools before using them to break down more plant parts into compost for a garden flourishing in a sea of concrete outside the MLK FAME Community...
THENEWLEAM.COM – Gardening is a popular hobby in Indian cities. Although in the case of the majority of households there is hardly any space for gardening, the green urge and creativity of many people find an outlet somehow, even though this may be confined to a few earthen pots. The sheer joy of plucking a few home-grown coriander leaves, or a few mint leaves, ...
WISFARMER.COM – ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – As an astronomer and physicist, John Cannon’s work is literally out of this world. His expertise as the department chair at Macalester College in St. Paul is studying nearby low-mass galaxies. Cannon’s latest adventure off St. Paul’s Snelling Avenue is, quite literally, more down to earth: backyard...
FOODTANK.COM – The Finnish technology startup iFarm recently raised US$4 million to build vertical farms for more customers across Europe and the Middle East. Using these funds, iFarm aims to help entrepreneurs and businesses set up their own urban farms—at any time, in any place. iFarm, founded in 2017, develops autonomous farming systems to grow greens,...
SACMAG.COM – Imagine: A vacant lot transformed into a fruit garden. An apartment balcony repurposed as a tomato nursery. A backyard that functions as a grocery store. They’re all urban farms, producing food in the city—and literally changing the landscape in the process. Country and concrete can not only co–exist; they can also address food insecurity,...
FORBES.COM – The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently announced winners of the 2020 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards, which recognize excellence in historic preservation, adaptive reuse and the re-imagining of historic buildings for the future. The awards are given to distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations,...
POSTGAZETTE.COM – Pittsburgh City Council’s continued financial support of urban farming projects in the city is the right move at a time when food insecurity is on the rise nationwide fueled by the coronavirus pandemic and high unemployment. Council recently approved two transfers — $41,296 and $167,048 — to fund the CityFarms project, a concept to bring...
