Clay Pot Irrigation — A Simple Adaptation Of An Ancient Technique

Photo Credit: Permaculture

(Permaculture) Want to conserve water but still want to make sure you aren't under-watering your garden? Want to establish a simple greenhouse irrigation system? Clay pot irrigation can save 50-70% of water without depriving your plants.

Plant these 6 perennial vegetables once, and reap their harvest year after year

(Tree Hugger)
By Derek Markham

Traditional backyard gardens tend to be full of annual vegetables that need to be started year after year from seed, and while those veggies can be well worth the time and labor it takes to grow them, planting some perennial vegetables in your garden and yard can end up putting food on your plate for far less effort.

Unless you live in a region with a year-round growing season, your tomatoes and peppers (which are perennial by nature) will need to be planted anew each spring, because they can't handle the cold temperatures of winter, but there are other vegetables that can overwinter in many place and spring back to life as soon as soil temperatures are warm enough. By dedicating a garden bed or two to perennial vegetables, especially in a polyculture with other perennials, you can pack a lot of food production into a small area.

Roof Farm-Topped Whole Foods Set to Open in December

(Inhabitat) Whole Foods has announced that it will be opening its long-awaited Gowanus store on December 17th this year. In addition to putting the usual organic and artisan products on it shelves, the new location at 214 3rd Street will bring the local food trend to new heights with a 20,000 square foot rooftop farm right on top of the building. It doesn’t get more local than that!

The rooftop farm was made possible thanks to a partnership with Gotham Greens, a Greenpoint-based rooftop farm. The two organizations are calling the endeavor the first commercial-scale greenhouse farm and say that it will help reduce the carbon emissions spent on transporting food from far away sources. The elevated greenhouse will grow high-quality, pesticide-free produce all year round to be sold at the bustling supermarket below.

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Political and corporate elite shun GM food on their own plate

With a sad twist of irony, corporate and government elite dine on safe, organic food while the masses, those very people who are supposedly represented and protected by their governments, are poisoned by hidden genetically modified organisms, pesticides and dangerous contaminants. The presidential family demands organic food in their kitchen, yet behind closed doors, shake hands with the biotech industry. China's top brass is fed by an exclusive, gated organic garden while the rest of the population consumes GM food, steroid contaminated meat and dairy laced with melamine. Even Monsanto's own employee's command non-genetically modified food in their canteen. Access to clean, organic and healthy food is not a given right anymore -- it has become a political battleground with the average citizen suffering the loss.