Down On The Urban Farm

The Urban Ecoist brought my attention to a site containing a summary of the city codes across the country affecting the raising of chickens:

The City Chicken

So Much Ground, So Little Time.

That's the lament of many homeowners who wish they could turn a few square feet of their backyard into a source of fresh fruits and vegetables. I've often herd people wonder out loud if they could simply hire someone to do it for them. In San Francisco, now you can.

Trevor Paque calls his business 'MyFarm'. He and his helpers currently farm 55 backyards. For time-starved residents, MyFarm is a way to get organic produce grown steps from their kitchen without having to touch a trowel. For yardless neighbors, it lets them effectively buy a share of their neighbors' gardens.

Click Here to read the story.

Actually, Blogger Dave probably won't be doing much of the farming. The green thumb in the family belongs to Blogger Dave's Wife, Merry Ann.

The landscapers are done. Part of their work was to create two raised beds for vegetables. (Yes, the raised beds were necessary. Six inches below ground level it's like concrete.) The black tubing you see is T-Tape and it's connected to the automatic irrigation system. It's a couple of months late, but we are going to try:

Beets
Carrots
Leeks
Peas
Swiss Chard
Romaine Lettuce

One-third of an acre planted with corn, squash, green beans, broccoli, pumpkins and sunflowers where grass once grew at San Diego City College is an urban farm project that could revolutionize residential landscaping throughout the county, says Karon Klipple, an assistant math professor.

Click Here to read the article.

For an average lawn, a mower works just fine, but for fire-prone slopes or polluted landfills, an increasing number of cities are turning to a rugged biological machine: the goat.

Click Here to read the entire Wired story

The Urban Hennery has issued The Dark Days Challenge.



The challenge will run from November 15 to March 15. The Rules:

1. Cook one meal a week featuring at least 90% local ingredients.
2. You define local - the standard definitions range from 100, to 150 to 200 miles.
3. Ingredients can be things you grew and preserved yourself, sourced from local farms and markets, or purchased at the store
4. Write about the meals you cook, your challenges finding ingredients, why you’re eating local or whatever else strikes your fancy for each recap. Photos are optional.
5. Include friends and family in your sourcing and eating as possible.

Saturday November 1 marked the re-opening of Tonopah Rob's Farm Stand.

While the automobile manufacturers struggle, restaurant tables go empty, and banks are having trouble keeping their doors open, there is no recession at Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm. Arrive early for best selections.

Visit Rob's Blog for more information.

According to AZSustainability.com, Dan Rees, owner of AZ Biodiesel says:

You told us…………”appointments are lame”

So………….no more appointments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the map to our Gilbert location for you to get fuel:

http://azbiodiesel.com/contact.htm

And just to celebrate……..biodiesel now $2.50 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!!!!! lower methanol prices allowed us to lower our price again!!!

Thanks everyone!
Dan

EcoGeek brings us news of a new billboard is going up in the middle of Times Square that will be powered with 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels instead of the usual electricity. When it's windy and sunny, the billboard will be able to generate enough electricity to light up.

Click Here to read the article

This list of vegetables for sale Saturday is just so good:

• White cloud eggplant


• Japanese eggplant


• Purple beauty eggplant


• Lilac bell peppers


• Stoplight assorted bell peppers - red, yellow, green, and orange


• Jalapenos - purple, red, yellow, orange, and green


• Anaheim chilis


• Espanola hot peppers


• Baby bells


• Big Jim’s - peppers!


• Collard greens


• Tonopah salad mix - a mix of spicy greens


• All Lettuce Mix


• Baby arugula


• Radishes


• Bok choi


• Frozen tomatoes - they are nearly all gone


• Cilantro


• Basil


• Dill


• Rosemary


• Fresh Flowers


• Green beans - only 60 pounds, they will go fast - you’ve been warned


• Turnips


• Lemons



Just one note: Rob says the farm stand will be closed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and will open again Saturday December 6

Every year the New Oxford American Dictionary selects a word as its Word of the Year. This year's word: Hypermiling.

Read more about it on the Oxford University Press Blog

When the city of Battle Ground, WA proposed a municipal ordinance banning livestock, the area's urban farmers fought back.

Click Here to read the story.

Lighter Footstep has this great list of ten sure-fire handmade gift ideas, most costing under $20.

Must Have Romaine Lettuce! THough it is a little late for a fall garden, the landscapers are done, the T-Tape irrigation system is in, and the soil is ready. IN the Days of Yore, one got out the seed catalog. These days you can just go online.

We went to Burpee.com.

Garden Rant brings us news that Johnny's Seeds has put their seed catalog online in the form of a high-end PDF (though it looked the same to me).

It occurs to me that this is another area where it does not take much effort to be a little greener: forgo the paper seed catalog in favor of the online version.

According to Ecotality Life California has unveiled plans for a network of electric car charging stations.

Click Here to read the article.