Beth Carruthers's Blog (28)

(Reuters) - Disillusioned by the unfulfilled promise of the cities and feeling stifled by tough austerity measures aimed at coping with an economic downturn, some Portuguese are opting out and returning to the land.

More:
Portuguese plant seeds to cope with crisis

Okay - so not local, but a good sharing story.

Compared to canvas grocery bags or CFL light bulbs or even solar panels, larger "green infrastructure" projects such as roof gardens or permeable streets can be hugely expensive. It turns out, however, that they're actually not that expensive when compared to the costs of building more traditional infrastructure, and can even save money. According to a new study, governments are wasting billions of dollars a year by not going…

Planning is now underway for the B.C. Food Systems Network Gathering that is taking place from July 5th through the 8th, 2012. In preparation for the event, the Gathering Committee is putting out a request for:

proposals, workshops, roundtables and discussion topics;

potential sources for funding; and

ideas for making the gathering a meaningful and enriching experience for all.

This will be the 14th Annual Gathering of the BC Food Systems Network and we hope you will…

Our goal is to design, plant and grow an edible urban forest garden that inspires our community to gather together, grow our own food and rehabilitate our local ecosystem.

A Food Forest is a gardening technique or land management system that mimics a woodland ecosystem but substitutes in edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Fruit and nut trees are the upper level, while below are berry shrubs, edible perennials and annuals. Companions or beneficial plants are included to…

Nice example.

"Compass Green is a mobile greenhouse built into a truck, which runs on vegetable oil (natch). Handsome hipsters Nick Runkle and Justin Cutter retooled the truck, which was already fitted with Plexiglas display panels, to turn it into a biofuel-powered educational farm on wheels."

read more:…

As we pass the half way mark on Slow Food’s ambitious project, to create 1000 food gardens in Africa (580 and counting!) we look at what it takes to create a successful community or school garden. From the experience and expertise of those working on the ground in Thousand Gardens in Africa project, ten steps for a flourishing good, clean and fair garden that can be put into action anywhere…

A good looking course coming up at UVic this fall, taught by Val Schaefer, co-founder of the Institute for Urban Ecology at Douglas College and longtime partner on our SongBird project urban habitat program:  http://www.urbanecology.ca/2012/03/06/november-2012-er331-urban-restoration-and-sustainable-agriculture/

http://www.pfaf.org

Plants For A Future: A resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Plants For A Future (PFAF) is a charitable company, originally set up to…