Month: March 2014

GARDEN POOL

Posted on

Image

 

Garden Pool started as one family’s blog to document converting an old backyard swimming pool in to a closed-loop food-producing urban greenhouse and has evolved in to a non-profit organization.
The GP (short for Garden Pool) was a one of a kind creation invented by Dennis McClung in October of 2009. It is truly a miniature self-sufficient ecosystem. Rather than keeping our creation to ourselves, we have decided to share it with others. Garden Pools are being built all over the world offering an easy and sustainable solution to current food production challenges.

Garden Pool is dedicated to research and education of sustainable ways to grow food. Our mission as a non-profit is to develop better ways to grow food and help others do the same. Our operations are based in Mesa, Arizona at the home of the original Garden Pool.

 

 

MORE INFO: http://gardenpool.org/

ORTO E RICICLO

Posted on

stORTO-statt’accuORTO

orto sociale legato alla cooperativa sociale L’Aquilone, aperto a chiunque abbia voglia di fare o anche solo di trascorrerci del tempo. Accanto alla terra da coltivare troverete tavoli e cucine da campo, forni in terra cruda e bici macchine!

Image

 

Bicicletta motrice per il recuper dell’acqua

Image

 

Il mandala con i camminamenti in sacchi di iuta.

 

 

 

Image

 

La cucina Economica, realizzata con i telai delle finestre.

 

 

 

Image

 

I letti caldi con i sacchi di iuta per coibentare e le finestre recuperate da un restauro.

MORE INFO: https://www.facebook.com/pages/stORTO-StattaccuORTO/376678252448788?fref=ts

HOW TO: SUNFLOWER GREENS

Posted on

Image

STEP 1:  Preparing a little greenhouse/garden bed

  1. Purchase some whole sunflower seeds that are meant for human consumption (Not the kind you feed the birds with).  I order my seeds from the Sprout People, but I am sure there are other places you can find them as well. 
  2. Save one of those white plastic food containers with clear plastic tops that you get from ordering take-out food and poke a few holes in the bottom with scissors or a pen (If you don’t order take-out then you could always use a regular plant pot that has drainage).  Save the plastic top to use as a cover while the seeds are under the soil and then you can use the top as a drip tray as they start to grow bigger.  (As you can see below I saved two of the clear plastic tops so I could have a top and a drip tray at the same time – We order a lot of Thai take-out because bringing a 3 year old and a 1 year old to a restaurant is just not fun!)
  3. Get organic potting soil and fill the plastic tray up to the rim (or about 3/4 full).  Now you have a little greenhouse/garden bed all set up for your seeds.

Image

MORE INFO: LINK

BAG CROP: EASY WAY, BEST GOALS!

Posted on Updated on

1920084_10151904029761861_1289288943_n

TAKEN FROM LINK

This worked well for me for many years – it’s a simple, weed-free way to grow lettuce, spinach and even radishes. Take a 2 cubic feet bag of potting soil (I used Miracle Grow), rumple it around quite a bit to loose the soil, poke quite a few holes in the back side for drainage, then lay the bag on a smooth surface that will allow drainage and not get too hot, and cut out the top, leaving about a 4 or 5 inch border all around. Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more, then carefully, and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. I put my salad green seeds in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes, added some cornmeal, shook it all up to mix well and sprinkled them out of it. I put the cornmeal in there to allow me to see that I had covered the soil evenly. If doing radish seeds or spinach, just make lines the depth mentioned on the seed pack, plant the seeds and cover appropriately. For salad greens I sprinkled a lite covering of soil over the cornmeal and seeds and then spray-misted to water them in. I put my bags on metal sawhorses and grates to make them waist level. This kept the bags off the hot concrete and I didn’t have to bend over when cutting my salad. When harvesting, just use a pair of scissors and cut what you need – don’t pull the plants out. Same goes for spinach – they will grow back almost magically overnight, and you can’t tell where you cut. Spray mist the seeds and plantlings at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bags are not as deep as a regular in-ground garden. I just kept mine moist, but not sopping wet.

— conAshley Rasmussen