Patrick Blanc’s Vertical Garden in Madrid

Vertical Garden

High Density Vertical Growth (HDVG) Garden: by Valcent

By: John Laumer

In Victorian times, houses were very narrow, multi-storied, and had a small "footprint" on the land. This left more land for private gardening, and commons, among other things. Then came the 1960s, and "ranch style" homes, with half-acre grass covered lots. By the 1970's anyone with a vegetable garden in a suburban or city back yard were "hippies," "weird," or "old fashioned."

The 1990's saw the boom of Mega-Mansions on postage stamp sized lots, weekly lawn-care crew visits, and still little vegetable gardening on a respectable scale, regardless of whether one lives in the city or the suburbs. Now we have an oil crisis overlain with a salmonella crisis: both of which the US Federal government seems incapable of dealing with. Vertical gardening might help change that.

...the system is designed to grow vegetables and other foods much more efficiently and with greater food value than in agricultural field conditions. The HDVG system demonstrates the following characteristics:* Produces approximately 20 times the normal production volume for field crops

* Requires 5% of the normal water requirements for field crops

* Can be built on non arable lands and close to major city markets

* Can work in a variety of environments: urban, suburban, countryside, desert etc.

* Does not use herbicides or pesticides

* Will have very significant operating and capital cost savings over field agriculture

* Will drastically reduce transportation costs to market resulting in further savings, higher quality and fresher foods on delivery, and less transportation pollution

* Will be easily scalable from small to very large food production situations

Original Article Here

Hardening Plants

Hardening is the process of conditioning a plant for growth outdoors. If plants produced inside are planted outdoors without undergoing a hardening period, their growth could be severely limited. Hardening is most critical with early spring crops, when adverse climatic conditions can be expected.

Hardening is accomplished by decreasing temperature and relative humidity gradually, and reducing water. This procedure results in accumulation of carbohydrates and thickening of cell walls. A change from a soft, succulent type of growth to a firmer, harder type is desired.

The process should be started at least 2 weeks before planting in the garden. Place plants outside in a protected area on warm days, and increase the length of exposure gradually. Do not put tender plants outdoors on windy days or when temperatures are below 45°F. Even cold-hardy plants will be injured if exposed to freezing temperatures before they are hardened.

The hardening process is intended to slow plant growth; but if carried to an extreme, significant damage can occur. For example, cauliflower will produce thumb-size heads and fail to develop further if hardened too severely; cucumbers and melons will stop growing entirely.

Original Article Here

Plants for Beneficial Insects

Ladybug on Tansy

There are a long list of beneficial insects that can aid our gardens and orchards. These insects reduce the number of pests by directly killing and eating the adults, larvae, and/or eggs of these pests. Beneficial insects may also use these pests as hosts for their own eggs and larvae - just picture the movie Alien, and you'll be right on track.

Cornflower (aka Bachelors button) is a stunning flower.

While there are a few of these beneficial insects that are completely predatory, the vast majority need food from other sources, namely and chiefly nectar and pollen. The smaller and more numerous the flowers that provide the nectar and pollen are, the more useful the flowers are for the beneficial insects.

Spike Speedwell comes in a variety of colors.

Following is a list of some more common plants that attract and sustain beneficial insects, but keep in mind that this list is not all inclusive. There are many other plants not listed here today. Also, remember Permaculture Principle One: Observe and Interact. Observe what is occuring in your yard and in your area. What plants are covered with Lacewings or Predatory Wasps? Consider growing more of these on your land. Also, keep in mind that many of these plants are beautiful in their own right and also useful in many other ways such as cullinary herbs, edible greens, root vegetables, medicinal plants, etc.

• ·         Basket of Gold
• ·         Buckwheat
• ·         Butterfly weed
• ·         Carpet bugleweed
• ·         Chamomile
• ·         Chervil
• ·         Chives
• ·         Clover
• ·         Cornflower (Bachelors button)
• ·         Cosmos
• ·         Coreopsis
• ·         Cinquefoil
• ·         Coriander
• ·         Dandelion
• ·         Dill
• ·         Fennel
• ·         Four-wing saltbush
• ·         Golden marguerite
• ·         Marigold
• ·         Mustard
• ·         Parsley
• ·         Queen anne's lace
• ·         Scented geraniums
• ·         Spike speedwell
• ·         Sunflowers
• ·         Tansy
• ·         Vetch
• ·         Wild carrot
• ·         Yarrow

Basket of Gold, a perennial alyssum, is a beautiful attractor of beneficial insects.

Original Article Here