blockhill - forest garden experience & education

North Canterbury

Reinventing the parking structure

Reinventing the parking structure

A look at possible urban farming in the post petroleum future, making the most of the situation and thinking about survival.

The voices in the peak oil conversation have made it clear to me that problems with the production and transportation of vegetables will demand more food to be grown closer to the point of consumption - back yards, roof tops, window sills and so on.
Kunstler believes that cities will contract, and those on the coast (exposed to sea level rise) are certainly likely to, as are those that require air conditioning or heating to make the climate bearable.

June 21, 2010
  Urban  Future  Farming 
Farming USA

Farming USA

I listened to a recent edition of the podcast "2 beers with Steve" in which he discusses small scale local agriculture and the failings of mechanised, chemical based industrial farming.

In order to better visualise the rise of the mega farm I put together this graph (click to view larger) that depicts changes to US farming over time.
It would be interesting to get hold of similar statistics for NZ.
March 15, 2010
  Farming  History  USA 
Water smart design and land use

Water smart design and land use

Plan for dry and survive drought with carefully designed and implemented rainwater catchment systems built directly into the landscape. Three core elements to mitigating the effects and impact of drought:
  1. Identify and intercept water flows to keep moisture on the landscape
  2. Improve soils ability to absorb and retain water
  3. Reduce the impact of hot, dry winds
Find out how simple land use patterns and strategic planting can achieve all these benefits and more.
  water  rain  land  farm  service