Garden Crops | PinoyEcoFarmer

Urban Agriculture: Your Own Edible Rooftop Garden

Apr 19

In an era of soaring food prices and fastfood mentality, it is good to know that there are urban communities who still practice community farming/gardening. Communities in the cities can take advantage of the remaining spaces and transform them into productive areas where members can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“Guide to Setting Up Your Own Edible Rooftop Garden” is another published reference on urban agriculture that we can learn from. This is a valuable resource for those who want to give it a try.

Gardening on rooftops in ever-increasingly dense and sprawling cities is an original way to take back unused and sterile spaces like rooftops, patios and balconies and to transform them into livable spaces that are lush, productive and purifying. In addition to embellishing the urban landscape with food-producing gardens at the tops of buildings and producing fresh food, these new spaces for the community enable us to reduce the ecological footprint of the houses and institutions of which we are an integral part. Recovering and decontaminating water, cultivating organic food, composting organic waste as well as filtering and cooling down air are all part of a mindset to make our established landscape more sustainable. Therefore, in the current context of environmental degradation, over-consumption and junk food culture, taking care of ourselves and our environment enables us to take a step down the path to healthy cities and communities.

Rooftop gardening means taking up an inspiring, ecological and productive activity, and developing new links with the food chain, the seasons, the environment and the community. This utopia’s vision is to turn the city into a garden and its inhabitants into gardeners.

Click on Cover Page to download.

A Reference on Tomato Growing

Apr 13

Tomatoes are undoubtedly one of the all-time favorite garden crops. They are easy to grow and requires just a little space. It can be a little intimidating though for amateur farmers/gardeners but planting and growing can be a breeze with some helpful references.

I found this interesting book “Tomato – A Guide to the Pleasures of Choosing, Growing and Cooking” (GAIL HARLAND SOFIA LARRINUA-CRAXTON) and had fun reading it. The book includes topic on – A tomato for every climate, Where should I grow my tomatoes?, Preparing the soil, Seed or plantlet?, How to sow seeds, Reaping the harvest, and many more.

I will definitely grow my tomatoes using this as my reference and hope that I get the pleasures as well.

Click on Cover Page to download.