Image courtesy of New York Sun Works
I came across an interesting article yesterday, describing a very cool (mini) sustainable floating farm called ‘The Science Barge’.
According to the Science Barge Website (which is part of the New York Sun Works Sustainable Engineering site):
The Science Barge is a prototype, sustainable urban farm and environmental education center. It is the only fully functioning demonstration of renewable energy supporting sustainable food production in New York City. The Science Barge grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with zero net carbon emissions, zero chemical pesticides, and zero runoff.
Here are some more tidbits I gleaned from the site…
- The farm is solar, wind and biofuel-powered, and uses rainwater and purified river water for irrigation.
- The crops on the Science Barge are grown hydroponically
- It uses seven times less land and four times less water than field crops.
- Future plans may include designing similar systems for New York City rooftops. Studies suggest that New York could potentially meet its demand for fresh vegetables with via rooftop gardens!
If I lived a little closer to New York City, this is definitely something I’d love to go see! It sounds like a really cool system.
Hopefully demonstration systems like this will actually lead to more ‘real world’ initiatives - but I guess only time will tell.
Technorati Tags: science barge, urban farming, sustainable agriculture, sustainable living, hydroponics, solar power, biofuels, wind power, alternative energy, rainwater, rooftop gardens, green roof
Written by Compost Guy on May 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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I first heard about the New Alchemy Institute while learning more about one my all-time my ‘eco-heros’, Dr. John Todd (Ocean Arks International). Dr Todd and his wife Nancy (along with William McLarney) founded the institute in 1969 on a 12 acre former dairy farm in Cape Cod (source: Wikipedia). Their goal was to “do research on behalf of the planet”. They explored organic agriculture, aquaculture, ‘bioshelters’ and waste management - all with a primary focus on sustainability.
As fascinating as the research sounded, I’ve never really read all that much about it - and had no idea, until very recently, that there are quite a few New Alchemy publications available online. Not too long ago I was trying to track down information relating to harnessing the heat energy from (thermophilic) composting, when I came across a website dedicated to the New Alchemy Institute. The site was put together by ‘The Green Center Inc‘. From their website:
The Green Center Inc., is a non-profit educational institute that evolved from the New Alchemy Institute. Green Center is the custodian and distributor of publications of New Alchemy’s ecological research conducted from 1971 to 1991.
The Green Center’s New Alchemy site is a fantastic resource if you are interested in this sort of stuff. Here are a few titles of the publications they have available for free in PDF format:
“A Study of the Energy Efficiency of Intensive Vegetable Production”
“An Integrated Fish Culture Hydroponic Vegetable Production System”
“The Composting Greenhouse at New Alchemy Institute: A Report on Two Years of Operation and Monitoring”
Apart from all the great free info, you can also order New Alchemy publications from the website as well. I highly recommend you check it out!
For a bit more of an overview of the New Alchemy’s purpose, here is an exerpt from the Green Center website (originally found in the Bulletin of the New Alchemists, Fall 1970)
“Among our major tasks is the creation of ecologically derived human support systems - renewable energy, agriculture aquaculture, housing and landscapes. The strategies we research emphasize a minimal reliance on fossil fuels and operate on a scale accessible to individuals, families and small groups. It is our belief that ecological and social transformations must take place at the lowest functional levels of society if humankind is to direct its course towards a greener, saner world.”
“Our programs are geared to produce not riches, but rich and stable lives, independent of world fashion and the vagaries of international economics. The New Alchemists work at the lowest functional level of society on the premise that society, like the planet itself, can be no healthier than the components of which it is constructed. The urgency of our efforts is based on our belief that the industrial societies which now dominate the world are in the process of destroying it.”
Technorati Tags: new alchemy institute, organic agriculture, living machines, composting, greenhouse, green house, sustainable agriculture, aquaponics, aquaculture, food production, bioshelter, dr. john todd, ocean arks
Written by Compost Guy on April 14th, 2008 with no comments.
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A short time ago I received an e-mail from a gentleman named Bailey, letting me know about his new backyard farming site. I hate to say it, but given the fact that he was requesting a link exchange without having contacted me before, I suspected I wasn’t going to be all that impressed with his site (I’ve become skeptical in my old age - haha).
I was definitely wrong, and I’m really glad I took the time to check out the site!
When I visited Ecoyardfarming.com, I quickly realized that Bailey and myself have a lot of similar interests! His website covers a wide array of topics - all of them near and dear to my heart! Aside from the overall theme of backyard farming, Bailey writes specifically about vermicomposting, aquaponics and mushroom growing, just to name a few of the topic areas.
Here is a blurb from his Home page:
My purpose in creating this site is to share my experiences and knowledge in growing and cultivating a variety of “backyard” foods in an organic and ecologically friendly manner. I will be introducing some fun and exciting new areas of food production that most folks have never heard of!
Stay tuned as I will be posting regularly on ways to grow a variety of foods that are healthier and tastier, have greater yields in less space, are chemical free, protect and enhance the environment, and are cheap and rewarding to grow. My own Florida backyard will be “the laboratory” to experiment with a variety of exciting new “backyard farming” adventures. Of course, many of these ideas are applicable on a larger farming operation and not just restricted to a backyard “home grown” setting.
I am particularly interested in the idea of permaculture, wherein a number of “inputs” and “outputs” of the farming (and property maintenance) process are utilized in such a way that practically nothing goes to waste. It is imperative that we get back to a sustainable approach to living (if we desire to save both nature and ourselves).
As I think I’ve mentioned previously, one of the great things about blogging is that it’s a great way to meet really interesting, like-minded individuals. Connecting with Bailey is a prime example of this, and I’m certainly glad he got in touch! I’ve added his RSS feed to my reader and am looking forward to becoming a regular reader of his blog!
If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you check out EcoYardFarming.com. I think you’ll be glad you did!
Technorati Tags: backyard farming, homesteading, aquaponics, vermicomposting, composting, vegetable gardening, sustainable living, growing mushrooms
Written by Compost Guy on January 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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Images courtesy of Shea Gunther
I thought that I was a little bit ‘out there’ for trying to compost during our cold winters, but my eco-buddy Shea Gunther makes me feel like a bit of a light-weight! He has decided to live in a teepee all winter long - and in Maine, no less! (winters in Maine are almost certainly more severe than here in Southern Ontario).
Now before you conclude that he is completely out of his mind, I should probably point out that this ‘teepee’ (also spelled ‘tipi’, btw) of his is no ordinary pup tent! It is a serious structure (two, in fact!) created by Colorado Yurt Company. Oh, and did I mention that he has “power, an internet connection, a full bathroom and kitchen, and wood stove” (and his cat, Fee, to keep him company)?
All joking aside, this sounds like a seriously cool adventure and I’m going to be very interested to see how things pan out for Shea. I wasn’t able to find any winter pictures on his website yet, but hopefully he’ll post some fairly soon (I assume there must be at least as much snow in Maine as there is here right now, but I could be wrong).
Don’t let the semi-rugged living conditions fool you though. It sounds as though Shea is still very busy with his various online endeavours. Aside from providing teepee-living updates on his blog, he will also be planning out his ‘Gunther Green Home‘ - a ’super eco-friendly’ home that he’ll be building in the spring of 2008. Here is a brief blurb about that:
I’m building a super green home starting in the Spring of 2008 called the Gunther Green Home. It will be net-zero, producing as much energy as it uses with solar panels and wind turbines using the power grid as it’s battery. The Gunther Green Home will use straw bales for the walls and passive solar for the heating with a food fired masonry stove backup. We’ll use local and natural materials. The home will have a green roof, an ice cooled food storage room, and a secret passage or two.
I also recently learned that Shea (along with a couple of other eco-friends, Chris Baskind and Michael D’Estries) is involved with a fun new website - Snarfd, described as “a daily collection of the web’s coolest, oddest, and most beautiful destinations.” I spent some time on the site recently and found it very entertaining!
[UPDATE]: Just in case you miss the comments section of this post, Shea has informed us that he is no longer living in his tipi, but that he still works there (that’s still pretty rugged if you ask me). Other great things have happened in his life, leading him to abandon the project (with good reason!) - read all about it >>HERE<<.
Technorati Tags: tipi, teepee, yurts, rugged, roughing it, shea gunther, sustainable, green home, snarfd
Written by Compost Guy on December 11th, 2007 with 4 comments.
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I’ve written a fair amount about Patti “The Garden Girl” Moreno on the EcoSherpa blog, but she definitely deserves some mention here as well. Patti has been a real inspiration ever since she burst onto the green scene with her ‘Urban Sustainable Living’ videos last year. She seemed to vanish for awhile (I think she was busy with her film production company), but I was very pleased to see her resurface quite recently - this time with some great news to share.
Apparently she has partnered with FarmersAlmanac.com and will be creating lots of new videos in her series!
In her latest newsletter she provided a sneak peak of her new website (looks like it’s going to be very nicely done!) and also shared some links for a few of her videos. I’ve included them here.
Who is Garden Girl?
What is Urban Sustainable Living?
Raised Beds in the City and Hoophouses
Kifo the Garden Gnome
It sounds as though there will be plenty more videos on the way, along with a completely revamped website! I will continue to share new videos and updates here on the blog.
Technorati Tags: patti moreno, garden girl, sustainainable living, composting, raised beds, gardening, urban farming, farmers almanac, homesteading
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Written by Compost Guy on September 25th, 2007 with no comments.
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