The Elizabeth Street Garden’s paved paths meander around a granite balustrade from the early 20th century, limestone lion statues, benches and beds of roses and daffodils. For years, the half-acre of green grass and leafy trees, tucked in between Spring and Prince Streets in Manhattan, has been a lush backdrop for fashion shows, photo shoots, games of hopscotch...
1. If it’s getting cold and you have tomatoes still ripening on the vine — save your tomatoes! Pull the plants up and bring them inside to a warm dry place. Hang them up, and the tomatoes will ripen on the vine. 2. Companion planting is an excellent way to improve your garden. Some plants replenish nutrients lost by another one, and some combinations effectively...
I am jumping on the companion gardening bandwagon with both feet this year. I have experimented with companion planting in small ways in my gardens over the last several seasons and I am 100 percent convinced that the system is the way to go. The basic idea behind companion planting is as simple as it is sensible: many plants grow better near some comrades than they...
Houseplants make a wonderful addition to our home’s décor and improve the indoor air quality. Those with pets, however, may struggle with keeping plants safe from curious pets and the pets safe from indoor greenery. The good news is you can grow an indoor garden even when you own pets. Yes, some do love to dig in the soil or even eat our favorite houseplants,...
COIMBATORE: A piece of open space reserved (OSR) land near a busy residential area at Thudiyalur, which was overgrown with thorny bushes and stinking of garbage, is now producing organic vegetables, thanks to a city-based NGO. Local residents, who used to avoid the place at any cost, now find a stroll through the vegetable garden refreshing. NGO Helping Hearts had...
If you’ve always wanted to start your own herb or vegetable garden but don’t have the yard space or the “green thumb” to pull it off, there’s now another option. The OGarden Smart is an indoor gardening system that grows up to 90 plants at one time—20 of which are edible. Strawberries, celery, kale, bok choy, green beans, cayenne pepper,...
Milwaukee’s past is often seen through the lens of industry and big factories, but “Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming,” now at MSOE’s Grohmann Museum, shows there were more ways to grow a city. Milwaukee was a frontrunner in gardening dating back to the late 1800s, laying the groundwork for the urban farm visionaries of today. Guest curators...
East Side youth nonprofit Urban Roots will spend 2019 celebrating its 50th anniversary. The urban agriculture organization will kick off celebrations with an event at Summit Brewing Company, 910 Montreal Circle in St. Paul, on Wednesday, March 6, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The organization has grown substantially over the past half-century, starting with one small garden...
Gardening can seem like a daunting task. When do you plant? What should you plant in your area? How can you effectively grow produce? When you start asking the questions, it may become too overwhelming to tackle. But don’t walk away from the idea of a balcony overflowing with greenery just yet, because the team at The Green Conspiracy understands your angst. The...
As part of its growing support for urban agriculture, the Recreation and Park Department plans to launch a new garden resource center in the southeast part of San Francisco to provide supplies, plant starters, and advice for community gardeners. The site would include a fruit tree nursery, orchard space, and space for managed beehives. Mei Ling Hui, Rec and Park’s...
In a world faced with the conundrum of mountains of waste and obesity for some and dire shortages and malnutrition for others, the future of food is the main dish on today’s global menu. A key ingredient is a trend in ever more imaginative forms towards urban agriculture, a multi-faceted recipe already being pored over by some 800 million people globally,...
Some children garden at the knee of their parents or grandparents, and by the time they are young adults and ready to start their own plant adventures, a lot of the horticulture comes naturally. But such lucky people are thinner on the ground than in previous generations, I suspect, even though there has never been a more urgent time to introduce younger folks to...
Insects are important wildlife often overlooked in urban habitats. What we do notice are the cockroaches, ants, and mosquitoes in and around our homes. All too often we reach for the insect spray. But not all insects are pests – a wide variety of them help keep our cities healthy. They pollinate plants, feed other wildlife, recycle our rubbish, and eat other insect...
Newswise — Feb. 18, 2019 – Soil is all around us, in cities and rural areas. But some soil becomes contaminated. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Feb. 15 Soils Matter blog post summarizes common contaminants and the risks they carry. “The biggest risks for soil contamination are in urban areas, and former industrial sites,” writes Lauren Svejcar,...
LOS ANGELES, CA – Pens and paper are the typical supplies for many high school students, but that is not the case at Arroyo High School in El Monte. Students growing their skills in garden club Found in part by Eco Urban Gardens Helping students learn about agriculture, nutrition The school is part of a growing program, founded in partnership with a local nonprofit...
Our ancient relatives, Homo heidelbergensis, were constructing shelters at least 400,000 years ago, and architectural innovation has been a defining feature of societies since then, changing to suit the needs and desires of the builders and occupants as they evolved. From energy-efficient designs to community-based spaces, these seven designs could help shape the...
One of Santa Clara’s biggest and most unique affordable housing projects in the pipeline promises to offer a blend of urban living and farm life. The City Council last week granted final approvals to a housing project on a six-acre plot of land across the street from Westfield Valley Fair mall. The project, known as the “Agrihood,” will to provide 361 new...
What is interesting about this younger generation, who are stereotypically labeled as harsh critics of our current food production system, is that on the surface most only seem to want to voice their dissatisfaction vicariously. It is easy and safe to go after genetically modified apples and Roundup in your Cheerios via your Facebook and Twitter accounts. What is...
Only the Northern line tube trains rumbling through tunnels overhead provide any clue that Growing Underground is not a standard farm. The rows of fennel, purple radish and wasabi shoots could be in almost any polytunnel, but these plants are 100 feet below Clapham High Street and show that urban agriculture is, in some cases at least, not a fad. The underground...
Plants use their roots to “listen in” on their neighbors, according to research that adds to evidence that plants have their own unique forms of communication. The study found that plants in a crowded environment secrete chemicals into the soil that prompt their neighbors to grow more aggressively, presumably to avoid being left in the shade. “If we have a...
\
