Metropolitan Gardening

R emember the article about the instant spring window box ? Well today was the day to pick the first fruits from the window and mix them into a stir fry. Two very happy hot peppers came indoors and we washed them well. It's amazing eating your own fresh produce from the window. A neighbor chatted with us about their flower box up above and we discussed the garden next door.

B K Farms in Brooklyn is a shop for urban farming gear, design, installs, projects and info. While they lead with hydro my gut is telling me what they are really selling is urban agriculture under the cover of  hydroponics. But you never know with hydro, right? I met Marco originally when he was at a competing shop in the Bronx. He was knowledgeable when I met him - Marco's new job transformed the man into a urban farming dynamo. His excitement and enthusiasm for BK Farms was so compelling I wanted to post a piece on the work they are doing there. Unfortunately due to someone stealing my bike the day I was headed over there this ended up as an email interview. CURSE YOU NYC BIKE THIEF!

Dr. Chaoui. being interviewed on CSI-liveby "youandmedia", website of the Center for Social Innovation. (photo supplied by UFO ) U rban Farms Organic, Inc. is essentially research and development conducted by Hala Chaoui, PhD who is the Principal and an Agricultural Engineer. The work has focused on an alternative to composting that could solve enormous problems in the disposal of food waste as well as create a fantastic resource for gardening. There's a good UFO blog link for the gist of the material but I wanted to get more clarity about what the product was that was being developed. Also because the Center for Social Innovation interview was streamed live I couldn't find the video link to download it. The story is a bit hard to grasp but worth the read. Technically speaking concepts are moderately complex. On a related note Dr. Chaoui's doctoral thesis was on removing earthworms from vermicast aided by an electric field. She is an innovator in vermicast...

Perennials and Gazing Balls C ara Dafforn runs U-Relish Farm in Indianapolis. Metropolitan Gardening got a chance to interview her over the last few days and found that she had an urban garden as well as the farm. In the garden she has five raised beds and a perenial patch as well as a three tree orchard. A pear and two apples. She explained that the last few years has been tough but she's making lemonade and keeping her spirits up by gardening and working on her farm.