The Little Green Garden did not have an easy start. This small community garden was first developed in 1997 in the Bronx as a Housing Preservation and Development site. Soon after, however, in 2008, HPD needed the urban garden‘s site for housing, and the Little Green Garden had two choices: move or shut down.

But instead of moving to a completely new space (or pulling up its roots forever), the Little Green Garden ended up moving into an existing space, which had been occupied by another community garden group since 2005, called the Rock Garden. When the Little Green Garden joined the space, the two groups became one, and the real work began.

From a simple community garden, the two groups became a true urban farm, growing pounds of fruits and vegetables, hosting a variety of seasonal events for the community, and even becoming educators in the world of growing and gardening for all ages. Studies have shown that taking pride in an urban green space like a garden is linked to crime reduction, but even more, the garden has created a true community–one that is ready to give back to the rest of the Bronx.

The Little Green Garden / Rock Garden has become one of several groups contributing to Bronx Hot Sauce, a self-defined “community development project dedicated to developing and maintaining community gardens and green spaces throughout the Bronx,” developed by Chef King Phojanakong, of Filipino Kuma Inn and Tito King’s Kitchen.

Bronx Hot Sauce is made exclusively from Serrano peppers grown in community gardens throughout the Bronx. The sauce company donates pepper seedlings to the farms at the beginning of the season, only to buy back the fully mature peppers at fair trade prices at harvest time. Through their partners at GrowNYC, Bronx Hot Sauce was able to train farmers at the garden in sustainable growing practices, including farmers at the now thriving Little Green Garden.

This exchange of knowledge, time, and work has created a nucleus within the community, and one that is sure to continue for years to come.

Related on EcoSalon
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Urban garden image via Shutterstock

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Just because you crammed into the tightest corner of the city without any view of foliage or semblance of nature in sight doesn’t mean a garden is off the table. All you need is a window and a few supplies to start growing your own herbs and veggies. Here are 5 tips to get started.

1. Find a Spot

Choose windowsills, fire-escapes or balconies that are under the sun for at least 5 hours per day. If plants can catch the rain too, even better! You can keep more delicate herbs indoors while fruits, veggies and greens with more brawn and thicker skin can grow outsider.

2. Choose a Size

Do not overcrowd plants. Containers for herbs should be at least 15-centimers wide, while larger greens (e.g. lettuce), veggies (e.g. carrots) and beans require more space, so you should plant them in a pot at least 25-centimeters wide. Pots should also be deep, so that the roots can grow freely. The deeper the pot, the more successfully your plants will grow.

3. Support Growth

Bean stalks and other tall plants often require something to climb up. Be ready to support their growth by finding a stick to stand upright next to the plant’s stem as it continues to get taller, using a string to tie the stalk or stem to the stick.

4. Go Compost Shopping

Use compost that is fit for containers versus actually land, as these composts are better able to hold onto moisture and are equipped with extra nutrients to buffer plant growth.

5. Layer Wisely

Put stones at the bottom of the pot before packing in soil. This way, you can prevent soil from becoming too saturated with water at any given time. The stones drain the water from the soil. Use your finger to test whether you water too often or too much – poke your finger into the compost and it should be slightly moist just below the surface, not drench and swimming in water.

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image: Selena M.B.H

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For millions of Americans who find themselves in food deserts, getting their daily apple is tougher than usual.

The USDA defines a food desert as an impoverished region of the country where thousands of people can’t regularly access healthy, affordable, and organic foods due to lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and personal transportation. And the constant availability of fast food restaurants in these food deserts certainly doesn’t help America’s rampant obesity epidemic.

U.S. cities lacking in fresh fruits and veggies aren’t limited to the big city expanses of Los Angeles, Oakland, Detroit, or Chicago; in fact many small towns in the heart of the nation suffer just as much from lack of fresh greens.

Here are some big ideas for providing resources to help food desert dwellers around the nation enjoy the taste and benefits of farm-fresh produce.

1. 100 Yards of Harvest After having to sack its football program due to low enrollment, Paul Quinn College, a small liberal arts college near Dallas, Texas, transformed their vestigial football field into a huge farm. Today, staff and students (and in collaboration with PepsiCo Inc.) at Paul Quinn cultivate the WE Over ME Farm, growing collard greens, heirloom tomatoes, swiss chard, mustard greens, and more. The cornucopia of food harvested from the farm is then distributed to local charities, grocery stores, community markets in surrounding Dallas, and the college students, who get to enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

2. Mobile Markets  Some 550,000 Detroit residents suffer from an imbalance of healthy food options  — grocery stores are few and far between compared to fast food restaurants. Mobile food co-ops that bring the farm to the city, like Detroit’s Peaches & Greens, go the extra mile in ensuring people get the foods they need at affordable prices. And in California’s rural valleys, California’s Second Harvest Food Bank exists to travel 63 sites throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

3. Urban Aggies It’s not “Green Acres” on 5th Avenue, but it’s close. Urban farming initiatives are on the rise, educating and empowering big-city communities to grow their own produce. City Slicker Farms of West Oakland organizes and encourages folks like Abeni Ramsey to start up independent urban farming enterprises of their own. And in Chicago’s South Side, Iron Street Farm provides seven acres of farmland to the community. – J. Scott Donahue

This article appears courtesy of Sierra Magazine

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Image: urbanists

The post Revitalizing Food Deserts: 3 Ways to Bring Healthy Food Where It’s Needed Most appeared first on EcoSalon.

image: Percita

Interest in urban farming has generated creative uses of space, with many rooftops turning into skyscraping gardens. And another trend is filling in green building tops: sod roofs.

While a food-producing rooftop’s payoff is pretty obvious (and delicious!), what are the benefits to one covered in grass, shrubs and flowers? Quite a few, according to Chelsea Green. “The temperature moderating effect caused by 5 to 6 inches of earth on the roof helps keep a house cooler in summer and warmer in winter, especially in extreme climates; 14 inches of decomposing straw will have the same effect while adding some insulation for a while. Such roofs are therefore a prime choice for cold-climate houses built with a high degree of insulation for maximum comfort.” There’s also the benefit of wind and noise protection: “A city house built with bales and covered with an organic roof will become a peaceful retreat at any time of day, even in areas with dense traffic. On particularly windy sites, such a roof anchors the house to the ground physically as well as visually.”

image: roger 4336

And while an edible rooftop or urban garden is more expensive and requires constant maintenance, a sod-covered roof can be particularly affordable and self-regulating. It can also extend the life of the roof and help mitigate storm runoff damage.

Sod roofs attract birds, who can help to keep pests away and, of course, bring you many moments of beautiful contemplation. Green rooftops can clean the air, which benefits you and your neighbors.

image: pnwra

Almost 10 percent of all of Germany’s rooftops are green and regulations in Tokyo, Toronto and Switzerland require specific sized roofs to be green. And here in the U.S., reports World Changing, Chicago has begun planning and installing more than 200 green roofs throughout the city.

Need some sod rooftop ideas? Here are a few favorites:

From Malung Hembygdsgård in Sweden.  

Norway has quite a few.

This site is full of gorgeous sod rooftops!

Apartment Therapy loves green roofs.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

The post Redefining Urban Gardens: Greening Roofs with Sod appeared first on EcoSalon.

It seems more and more people are doing just that, and even in urban areas. Let’s take a look at some growing trends.

Fruit/veggie/herb gardens

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People are really digging into the idea of growing their own produce. Why settle for a boring lawn or shrubbery when you can walk a few steps to your backyard into an edible forest of fresh onions, chard, spinach, lettuce and squash? As one recent article in the Denver Post put it, “soil is the new oil,” and last year seed sales seriously sprouted, according to USA Today. Because let’s face it – with the growing uncertainty of our times with tech, financial, and housing bubbles crashing left and right, oil prices rising and the value of the dollar falling, self-sufficiency is sounding better and better.

And yet, why only rely on your own garden? In an interesting interview with Carol Deppe about her new book The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times, Carol mentions humans’ need to be both self-reliant and interdependent. By sharing ideas and tools, we all become more self-reliant and better survivors. It is in just this way that urban citizens are joining together to trade excess fruit and vegetables from each other’s yards. Numerous trading hubs are popping up in the Bay Area, for one. Check out VeggieTrader, a “classifieds” website for easy produce trading!

Thinking about starting your own garden? For inspiration, consider these 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow at Home or perhaps start small with an herb garden.

Worms

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As people become more experienced in the ways of gardening, it’s natural to take it to the next level. In fact, rumor has it that “vericomposting,” aka. worm composting to create your own rich compost or “black gold” is becoming a popular new trend. Earthworms are our friends. They break down the soil, helping it breath and stay loose so plants’ roots can better grow.

I was dually impressed by a friend’s earthworm “collection” when I was visiting out in Colorado. Healthy soil translates into healthy plants – no doubt – as said friend proved with an incredible tomato and squash garden. My favorite was hearing Will Allen, an urban farming genius from Milwaukee, speak at a PopTech conference in Maine. His slide show included images of worm composting that were mind-blowing. Yes, even worms can knock your socks off. Or maybe it was the resulting “black gold” that I really wanted to sink my hands into.

Bees

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Beekeeping has been gaining popularity, most surprisingly in urban areas. In March of this year, New York lifted a ban on beekeeping and the city of Toronto boasts an impressive urban rooftop beehive haven atop the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The hotel then provides its very own fresh honey harvested from its roof to satisfy restaurant diners. Genius!

Urbanites, such as Cameo Wood in the Bay Area, have turned keeping hives into a profit, selling fresh local honey to the community at Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper. Occasionally, beekeeping can cause conflict in city neighborhoods, as when a small urban farm in San Francisco had their beehives attacked.

Many beekeepers are simply gardeners who want bees to pollinate their flowers and vegetables. Worried about bee population declines, they’ve decided to take nature into their own hands. For more buzz on backyard beekeeping for beginners read on here.

Chickens

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There has been a lot of backyard chicken talk over the years. It seems in certain circles, chickens are all the rage. Sadly, my neighbors recently decided to end their urban chicken care-taking, so I no longer sip my morning coffee to the sound of the birds murmuring and ruffling their feathers. While most homeowners would consider the maintenance required for keeping chickens more work than its worth, those who have them beg to differ. For example, chickens can be fed just about any old scrap from the kitchen table, and in fact, the more variety in their diet, the more nutritious the eggs they lay.

Nobody seems to have exact numbers, but Backyard Poultry, a Wisconsin based magazine, boasts upward of 80,000 current subscribers (up from 15,000 four years prior) and numerous chicken websites are gaining surprising traffic, such as backyardchickens.com and urbanchickens.org.

Let’s face it, nobody refutes the superiority of a fresh egg to the alternative, and considering that recently Wright County Egg, an Iowa company, had to recall 380 million eggs in August for salmonella issues, keeping your own chickens just might be worth looking into.

Given the level of interest, I’m surprised that we haven’t seen any urban Chicken Coop Co-ops sprouting up. Seems like a perfect way to share in the labor and the egg-bounty. Any community organizers out there up for the challenge?

Aquaculture

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Why stop at chickens? Considering the sad state of our oceans and declining and poisoned fish populations, it makes sense to take a shot at farming your own fish. Sound fishy? Not to Will Allen (if I might reference the genius one last time) who has barrels of tilapia and perch at his Growing Power green houses, making aquaponics look easy. But could you do it at home? Apparently, fish farming in the backyard is a indeed a growing trend, although, I have yet to hear of anyone I know delving this deep. Let us know if you have encountered any local, urban (or suburban) fishmongers!

Be it a few herbs on the back deck, chickens or a full-fledged aquaponic system, may you too find the optimal self-sufficient gardening option for your very own backyard.

Images: Sbocaj, Salvadonica, Chianti, Tuscany, PopTech, fishermansdaughter, Svadilfari, grifray

The post 5 Urban Farming Ideas for Your Own Backyard appeared first on EcoSalon.

In a tight urban space, committing to compost isn’t the easiest of feats. But in Washington, D.C. residents will soon be able to reap the benefits of composting without dealing with its difficulties.

Launching this spring, Compost Cab will provide customers with a bin which can then be filled with all kinds of compostables. Once a week, Compost Cab will pick up the organic material and compost it for you. For every 50 pounds of organic waste that Compost Cab collects from a customer, the customer is entitled to five pounds of fresh compost and one pound of worm castings in exchange. That’s a screaming deal for you and your plants.

For those who don’t have yard or garden space but still want to take part in the composting effort, Compost Cab will donate the customer’s share of compost to Engaged Community Offshoot, an urban farm that aims to provide people from all walks of life with sustainable, fresh produce.

But D.C. isn’t the only area with composting services. In Northampton, MA, residents can take advantage of composting services offered by Pedal People, with your organic waste being collected by bike. Same goes for the people of Philadelphia, who can call on Pedal Co-op to pick up their kitchen waste.

Are you an urbanite with a creative way of composting? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Image: SaltyGrease

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“Come do it again,” Tekla Kostek would beckon to the teenage girls at our ballet academy in Los Angeles as they stood with one hand on the hips of their leotards, their other hand self-consciously brushing back the wisps of hair escaping their buns.

“You have to understand,” I remember she once told us, “You do the moves that look ugly. I don’t want to see the steps that you’ve already mastered.”

I had finally made it to the highest level offered at that academy – the coveted Level 7. Then, I stopped improving. The headmistress guided us through the same exercises every day. She gave some corrections, especially to the girls who showed the most promise, but we had ample time to stare in the mirror and pinch the skin around our waists. Then a new teacher came to town.

Tekla Kostek, who trained at the National Ballet School in Canada. At age 25, she had just come from working five years in the corps at Boston Ballet.

I would watch Tekla Kostek before class, drinking a coffee and taking her cigarette break – her lean, elegant body – the ideal classical body I did not have. But when Tekla, whom I came to know affectionately as “TK,” saw my keenness to train, she took me under her wing for prima ballerina bootcamp, giving me the attention and coaching I craved. In TK’s classes I did not have time to scrutinize myself in the mirror – instead, I came out of TK’s classes having changed the hue of my leotard with the soak of sweat, contemplating new theories about a leg extension, or how to hold my arms in a way, as she would explain, from a trapezius muscle extension.

Now, 10 years later. I am the age that TK was when she was my teacher. I recently moved back to Los Angeles, and I hoped to re-connect with my former teacher. Little did I know she had become a yogi.

Not a “yogi” in the pretentious sense; a sharing, open and practicing yogi who would make me oatmeal and tea in her home and tell me about her recent three-month journey in India.

On a sunny Friday afternoon at her home in Echo Park, TK brews me a cup of chai. The house she lives in was built in 1907, and has a contemplative artist’s vibe, as we sit at a round wooden table and she reflects on the time she knew me.

“You teach what you know, which for me was the old-school style. My approach was, “˜I’m going to give you something totally impossible.'” She says that in many ballet classes teaching people steps as if it is an impossible challenge of beauty that they will never get right is “inscribing negativity.”

And then I start to learn more about her perspective as a ballet teacher. After she taught me ballet, TK went on to teach ballet at Loyola Marymount University and became a principal dancer of Los Angeles Ballet. In her time teaching, she has realized that in ballet classes, we “compartmentalize the body” by focusing on technical aspects of that wrapped posé or extension of the leg and these are thoughts that feed the mind. Rather, a ballet teacher should do drills to simply creating patterns in the body through repetition – so the dancer doesn’t even have time to think.

She moved back to Boston for 2006, where she taught ballet at the University of Massachusetts. There, she had her students shout “I am Great” affirmations in class.

“You come to really interesting results,” she says, “when you get rid of “˜you’re not good enough.’  This is because your way of thinking about yourself becomes your reality. In dance, by thinking we are not good enough, we are ingraining into our muscle memory this idea of lack.”

Upon returning to Los Angeles, TK began teaching ballet again at Loyola. In 2008, she went to France on a music tour with her husband, Antoine Salem, who is a musician. “We smoked and drank our way through France, but when I came back and returned to yoga class, I realized I couldn’t be a hypocrite; it’s all about the breath. I quit smoking.”

TK went through a yoga teacher-training course at Exhale in Los Angeles and in November 29, 2009, left for India to seek her teacher’s guru, Paramahamsa Nithyanada.

She observes, looking back, she was “always really interested in meditation. How do you recreate that bliss experience that artists operate out of?”

What she experienced in India she had always understood at an intellectual level, but finally had the opportunity to live it at Nithyanada’s Life Bliss Engineering program at Bengaluru, India. Just the name of this program would have made me roll my eyes and giggle a bit, if it had not been TK telling me about it with a serious glow.

She recounts a sample day for me:

• 5am wake up
• 5:45am breakfast (South Indian satvik food)
• 5:45 – 8:30 asana practice (vinyasa kria)
• Afternoon of Puja (lecture/workshop)

She says that sometimes they would meditate through the whole night, because the meditation was so invigorating.

After a month in India, she appealed to her friends for help to stay on and complete the three-month program. She was surprised by an outpouring of generosity and raised a total of $2,000 from her friends along with encouragements; they told her that she was doing what they had always wanted to do. At the end of the program, her husband, Antoine, came to travel with her for two weeks in India.

Sitting across from TK as we chat about her journeys, we look out over a front garden that will soon sprout rows of corn and other vegetables. Since her return from India, she has “taken the pace down,” for moments like these with friends, “moments of sharing.”

“I want to be more aware of how I contribute,” she says. She does this by having quieter, more homebody days.

Her main livelihood continues to be ballet; in two weeks she will start rehearsal for Los Angeles Ballet. This past month she has been staying in, eating rice, beans and oatmeal. Her current project, Oatmeal28, will be a raid around town to use the vegetables from her urban garden to provide a healthy vegetarian fast food option to the late night music and art scene in Los Angeles. She also plans to write a book with her husband about artists teaching methods, inspired by Kenny Werner.

Her main disciplines now are writing and meditation, which she combines for her blog, Marriage Morals and the Urban Guru.

An afternoon conversation has taken us late into the evening. I’m no longer so concerned about being a beautiful ballerina, but rather, interested in being able to live my life according to deeper ideals. Many young adults have become jaded or cynical, at odds with what post-college life has yielded them. I look to my former teacher, my friend, TK, and now I marvel at her own growth.

As she sits back in the flowy kulats she brought back from India, and we share our experiences, I find that once more, TK has inspired and pushed me to keep dancing – from the inside out.

The post Tekla Kostek: Prima Ballerina to Urban Garden Yogi appeared first on EcoSalon.

Gardening is hot, hot, hot. And why not? Planting a few seeds on your deck or in your backyard yields delicious, organic results – and money savings, too. Besides, April is National Gardening Month! You know the basics of how to start your own vegetable garden, but where do you go from here? Here are some crops that even the least green thumbed among you can tackle, and tips on how to make them flourish.

Tomato

Originating in South America, this plump red herbaceous perennial is rich in nutrients like niacin, potassium and phosphorous, antioxidants like lycopene, anthocyanin and carotene, and vitamins A, C and E. Tomatoes can add a juicy shot of flavor to a variety of dishes, such as salads, sandwiches and pasta.

After the last frost of winter has thawed, pick a spot in your yard that receives ample sunlight and test the soil’s pH level – you want between 6 and 7. (To increase the Ph level, add lime. To decrease it, add sulfur.) Spread compost over this area and mix it with the soil. Dig a hole for each seed, leaving at least a foot in between for growth, cover them and firmly pat down the soil. Water them with a spray bottle a couple times per week.

Radish

Existing in shades of red, purple and white, these root vegetables were first cultivated thousands of years ago in Europe. Radishes are a great source of potassium, folic acid, magnesium and calcium, and are commonly used in salad dressings or as a garnish for salads.

Radishes thrive in soil with a pH level of around 6 or 7. Till a sunny patch in your garden and plant the seeds ½ inch below the soil’s surface with one inch of space between each. Water them lightly every couple days. Radishes are fast growers and should be ready to pull in several weeks. Don’t wait too long, or they’ll begin to deteriorate.

Zucchini

In the late 1800s, spontaneous mutations of summer squashes yielded the first zucchini in Italy. Typically shaped like a cucumber, this yellow or green vegetable is low in calories and chop full of potassium, folate and manganese. Zucchini can be boiled, fried or steamed as a tasty side or stuffed and baked as a delectable entrée.

In a mound of composted soil a foot high and a couple feet wide, sow several zucchini seeds. Space each mound approximately 3 feet apart, water them heavily every other day and wait for them to sprout in a couple weeks. They should be ready to harvest about a month later.

Beet

Evolving from wild plants in the Mediterranean, the beet, or beetroot, has a fleshy root that can be boiled and eaten plain, tossed in a salad or used to make borscht. Betaine, one of the primary nutrients in this deep red or purple vegetable, is known to improve cardiovascular health.

Clean and strengthen the seeds by soaking them in water at room temperature for a day. Plow the soil and remove any stones from the top 3 feet. Plant each seed 2 inches apart and water them at least once every day.

Carrot

This biennial root vegetable was first domesticated during the 10th century in modern-day Afghanistan. Rich in vitamin A, antioxidants and dietary fiber, the carrot’s orange color is a result of the carotene it synthesizes when growing. Carrots are equally delicious as a healthy snack, in a side of steamed vegetables or even baked into a cake.

Leaving several inches in between holes, dig less than an inch deep and plant a couple of seeds in each. Make sure that the soil stays moist but remember to water the carrots less as they begin to reach maturity.

Spinach

Early forms of this annual flowering plant were first found in the ancient world on the Indian subcontinent. High in both iron and calcium, this green leafy vegetable is eaten plain, cooked in a quiche, used as a pizza topping and made into a chip dip.

Turn over the soil with compost and plant seeds less than an inch deep, placing them at least 2 inches apart to give room for growth. Sow the soil a couple more times in the first month and keep this area well-watered.

Peas

Dating back to the Neolithic Age in Jordan, Syria and Turkey, peas grow in the seed-pod of a legume. A good source of vitamins A, B and C, these small green spheres can be roasted for a tasty snack or thrown into stir-fries, casseroles and soups.

Cultivate the soil with nutrient-rich compost. Keep in mind that your soil must drain well in order for peas for flourish. Space each seed several inches apart and sow them one inch deep. Freshly planted seeds require ½ inch of water every week, while more mature plants need a full inch.

Pepper

Native to Central and South America, these green, yellow, red or orange vegetables range in flavor from spicy to sweet. Containing nutrients like thiamin, folate and manganese, peppers can be stuffed with rice and meat or give salads, salsa and pasta a zesty kick.

Till the soil with both compost and Epsom salts, which will make it rich in magnesium to help the peppers develop healthily. Since they grow best in warm soil, sow the seeds a foot or more apart in raised beds. Water them frequently, keeping the soil moist, or they may taste bitter once harvested.

Lettuce

Enjoyed in ancient Egypt as an aphrodisiac, lettuce is a good source of folic acid and vitamin A. Used as the primary ingredient in most salads, this green leaf vegetable, of which there are dozens of common varieties, can also be stuffed with various ingredients to make a lettuce wrap or top sandwiches, hamburgers and tacos.

When cultivating the soil with nutrient-rich compost, break up any chunks and remove debris. Make sure that seeds are planted between 8 and 16 inches apart and water them every morning. Avoid doing so at night because this could cause disease.

Onion

Archaeologists have traced the first known onions back to the Bronze Age in early Palestinian settlements. Rich in dietary fiber, folate and vitamin C, these bulb-shaped vegetables add flavor to an assortment of foods, like dips, soups, salads, casseroles and much more.

Plow the soil a foot deep and get rid of debris. Use parasitic nematodes to prevent maggots and cutworms from destroying the crop. Plant the seeds a couple centimeters deep and several inches apart. Weed this area frequently but gently and provide them with about an inch of water every week.

P.S. Bring out that green thumb with the complete guide to composting and tips for healthy soil.

Images: Ron1478, Manjith Kainickara, clayirving, whitneybee, Nikki L., colorline, ms.Tea, Mzelle Biscotte, John of Austin, bcballard, Darwin Bell

Source: wikipedia

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