First Lady Michelle Obama and White House chef Sam Kass tell the story of the first garden on White House grounds since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden during World War II. This new garden was planted in the Spring of 2009 with the help of local elementary school children and has yielded a constant supply fresh produce for the First Family and White House events.
Quote by Graham Burnett
“Permaculture is revolution disguised as organic gardening.”
—Graham Burnett from ‘Permaculture – A Beginners Guide”
Growing your own food is exciting, not only because you get to see things grow from nothing into ready-to-eat fruits and veggies, but you also don’t have to worry about the pesticides they might contain, and you definitely cut down on the miles they—and you—have to travel.
If you’re up to the challenge—and it really isn’t much of one—growing your own food can be so rewarding. And so much cheaper! Just be sure to choose the right planter or container, learn how to maintain it properly, and go find yourself some seeds! (Or starter plants.)
Here’s a starter list of all the crazy things even urban gardeners, without space for a garden, can grow at home.
About this talk
By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans — and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems.
About Willie Smits
Willie Smits has devoted his life to saving the forest habitat of orangutans, the “thinkers of the jungle.” As towns, farms and wars encroach on native forests, Smits works to save what is left.
Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.html
Urban farming is a growth industry in New York city’s concrete jungle and with little open land free, agriculturalists and beekeepers have taken to the rooftops to pursue their passion.
Andrew Cote uses the emergency fire ladder to climb up to the roof of his East Village building, where he tends to 250 bee hives.
Cote, a professor of Japanese literature doubles up as president of the New York City Beekeepers Association, and is happy the city authorised beekeeping in mid-March after an 11-year ban.
‘The city wants to plant one million trees, and the trees need to be pollinated,’ Cote told AFP.