Growing 144 spinach plants on 16 square feet

Someday I'd like to have a garden consisting of a small number of square-foot container gardens.  They are an extremely efficient and practical way of growing food in the city.  Putting this into perspective, six 4'X4' container gardens (amounting to a total of 96 square feet - small enough to fit into any city backyard), provide enough space to grow 864 spinach plants.

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The beginning

There is a large greenhouse at the farm I just moved from a few days ago.  When I first moved out to Huron County in early September I figured the best way to use the greenhouse would be to build a container garden - extending the growing season and allowing me to put my agricultural curiosities to work.  After seeing the success of the square-foot garden I planted at the Hamilton Katimavik house last June I figured I would take the square-foot concept to the next level.

After finding used wood buried in the barn I began to draw out how the square-foot container would look. I had never built a container garden before but the practicality and efficiency of the square-foot gardening method makes a lot of sense when dealing the limited resources to construct the container - wood, geotextile, gravel and soil.

Square-foot gardening has an entire methodology behind it which can easily be gleaned from the internet.  For a few good online resources for square-foot gardening click here and here.

I read on a few of these sites that on a 1 square-foot piece of soil it is possible to grow 9 spinach plants.  9 X 16' (the standard number of feet used in square-foot gardens) = 144.

I almost didn't have enough seeds!

An experiment in community and human-scale food production

 There is an apple orchard 20 minutes west of the farm that I am currently living on.   For the last couple of years, only a few select species of apples had been harvested.  The rest had been going to waste.  This year we organized our efforts and created an apple gleaning event that saw approximately 19,000 apples harvested and divided between a group of 45 friends and family members.  About half of the harvest was then processed into cider – making approximately 1000 litres.

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The purposes of the event were to understand the production process, create a fully cooperative event, enjoy food which would otherwise be going to waste and to have a good time.  And we did.  Friends and friends of friends all packed in cars came from London, Hamilton, Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough and Ottawa.  Most arrived Friday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. 

6 crates picked, 3 used for apple cider

While Friday night was spent relaxing and preparing, Saturday was production day.  Within 3 hours we had the majority of the apples picked and on their way back to the farm where they were later processed.  While some people bottled cider, some were boiling apples for apple sauce while others made dinner for everyone at the event.  All the while a few good glasses of cider and whiskey were joyfully passed around.

The production line included 4 stations:  People at Station 1 moved apples from the large crates into the 'pulper'.  Once a full bucket of apples was pulped (about 1 minute) others would move the bucket into the greenhouse where there were 3 different cider presses set up (station 2).  The person who brought the pulped bucket of apples from the pulper would hand off the bucket to those at the cider press and within 3 minutes the entire bucket would be pressed into a large pot.  Once the entire pot of cider was filled from those at Station 2, the pot would be poured into a large barrel (Station 3).  Here, as people from Station 2 were pouring their newly pressed cider into barrels, people at Station 3 would siphen the cider from the barrel into a small 1 - 2 litre jug.  Anyone at Station 4 would put a cap on the jug, and thus concluded our cooperative assembly line!  It was definitely the sweetest assembly line I've ever been apart of.

People left on Sunday with cars full of apples, cider and lists of drop off locations to those who couldn’t make it.  

Community Apple Cider Production Facility - Seaforth, Ontario

Niagara Grape Glean!

Have you ever considered how much locally produced fruit must go to waste every season? The landscaping company I’m currently working for has a client who owns a grape vineyard in Niagara. Due to major construction, the grapes weren’t being harvested this year.

What a perfect opportunity!

Although I was too busy with work to head down to the vineyard and see the glory for my own eyes (endless grapes) we processed the last of the grape supply into grape juice just last week.

From the amount of grapes in the picture we produced grape juice, grape jelly, grape jam, raisins, fruit leather, and had a bunch of grapes leftover.

If you’re in the Hamilton area let me know if you want concord jam.  I can hook you up.

In defence of Suburbia (well, kind of...)

                                                                               

Introducing > The Suburb of Ancaster

When we think of the phrases "walkable neighbourhood" or "active transportation" what often comes to mind is the revitalization of urban streets as opposed to suburban streets.  In Hamilton, like in many North American cities, walkable neighbourhoods are an urban issue - concerning the city core.  In our attempts to advocate for walkable neighbourhoods and active transportation we often exclude suburban neighbourhoods from the discussion. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm sure this is an issue in many larger North American cities: As living downtown becomes less of a pubic safety issue and more of a trendy convenience, it is suburbia that has to deal with the imbalance (i.e.: aging/inefficient/oppressive infrastructure).

I'm seeing this trend already in Hamilton.  Ancaster's situation relative to downtown Hamilton is a perfect fit for this scenario.  To most Hamiltonians, Ancaster is where the rich live.  They live in a sea of large stucco houses on either side of the 403.  They commute to work.  They live up on the Mountain, looking down on the rest of the city, a couple hundred feet below.  They are also probably arrogant, stuck-up, is what the going stereotype would suggest.

This passed Winter at the Hamilton Transportation Summit I met someone who works with the  Ancaster BIA and a newly formed group called Preserve Ancaster Village.  She told me all about the City's plans to widen one of the main roads which runs through Ancaster.  The City, she told me, plans to widen Wilson St. from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, cut down a bunch of trees which line the sidewalk, get rid of the grass barrier between the sidewalk and the road, and add roundabouts making pedestrian crossings almost impossible while making it easier for cars to speed through the suburb.

Knowing the amount of attention the once-neglected inner-city neighbourhoods of Hamilton have been getting in the past couple of years I assumed that not many Hamiltonian's were too concerned about suburban road-widening projects.

I was right - my new friend from Ancaster assured me that not many people were in opposition to the City's plan, nor did many people know of it.  Not only are suburban neighbourhoods not a fad (unlike rough inner-city neighbourhoods), but community engagement in suburbs is weak.

In the last couple of months I've been working with Preserve Ancaster Village.  Their current agendas include forming a group of citizens in Ancaster who will represent the City's opposition in the Wilson Street road-widening issue.  My involvement with Preserve Ancaster Village has been to help them efficiently organize and affectively communicate the groups' agendas.  This information will strengthen their argument when approaching City Hall. 

It's been pretty cool working with them, though the one thing that I have learned is this:

As North American's increasingly become city dwellers - moving from sparse suburbia into dense urbanicity - I feel as though suburban social issues will become neglected and overseen; just as issues in our inner-cities once did.

Whether a road is widened in a run-down neighbourhood in the inner-city or in an exploding suburb on the fringe makes some but little difference - it is a struggle either way, one where pedestrians and cyclists will have to deal with the consequences of being structurally oppressed.

So the question I am left with after all this is: do we punish suburbia or do we defend suburbia?

Waterfront Development, West Harbour and Rheem

Proposed developments just left of the rail yard

The Stadium debate of last Summer and Autumn left waterfront development plans stagnant and many buildings purchased by the city vacant.

 

Though many suggest it's situation relative to the Harbour is ideal for recreational use, the nieghbourhood surrounding the old Rheem factory is left not knowing what the future holds for it.

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The West Harbour has been on the radar of the City for many years.  As time has gone on (and as all the industry in the North End has closed down) the waterfront is beginning to seem much more appealing than it once did.

In the last decade the City and the Waterfront Trust have been investing in a handful of waterfront development projects - the most recent (and popular) being the developments at Pier 8 including the Williams Coffee Pub and the newly acquired Discovery Centre.

The City has purchased a number of houses and warehouses around the West Harbour, further west of Pier 8.

With the stadium not being built here it leaves this area without a plan.  My guess is that the buildings which the City had anticipated demolishing will sit for a few more years until the City opts for demolition, leaving the lots vacant for another decade or so before they decide to turn much of this area into parkland - extending the recreational use of the West Harbour further west.

For now, rows of houses are boarded up and warehouses empty until a decision is made.

Biking downtown in timelapse!!

Today I rode my bike down to the property management office.  This is what the bike ride looked like.

Listor Block Progress...

Almost done.  Last week they brought down the building to the left of Listor, 2 weeks ago traffic calming devices went in.

Glad that the City decided to go ahead and restore this giant building.  It was one of downtown's largest vacant buildings until not too long ago.  A little historical fact - this building was the first indoor mall in North America!

Before - February 2007

After - August 2011

On Leadership & Silliness: Derek Sivers @ Ted Talks 2010

Had to post this... found it on a friends blog.  Valuable lessons!

As a side note, this video has been edited since I uploaded it to the blog.  Today's date is Dec 11, 2011 and I am now, for the first time, seeing the advertisement in the last 2 minutes of this video.

                  "we have to move toward more sustainable fuels in the future.  It takes time. 

                  And in the meantime, we need to find the oil that we can to supply the earths 

                  needs."

This is greenwashing at its finest.  Whoever made the decision to attach this advertisement to the end of this Ted Talk is completely undermining the value of the videos' purpose.  Is this the kind of leadership - as Sivers would suggest - we should be validating?  I'll choose to follow a nut who has innovative ideas, rather than one who speaks about energy demands while obviously not understanding them.

Thanks for the lesson, Derek Sivers.

Beasley Neighbourhood Association creates "Neighbourhood Charter"

In the spheres of urban planning and social welfare, how much weight is given to documents which are not supported by municipal policy?  Can community organizations and neighbourhood associations create affective change even though their agendas are not officially supported by City Hall?  Moreover, where is municipal policy necessary and when should it be used to support community initiatives?

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I attended the Annual Beasley Neighbourhood BBQ a few weeks ago.  Although across the road from where I live is considered a different neighbourhood (according to lines drawn on a map perhaps 5 decades ago or more) the apartments on the east side of James St. North are considered to be part of Beasley.

The neighbourhood has a long history of neglect.  Since the 1980s, Beasley has been considered the poorest neighbourhood in the city of Hamilton.  There are many reasons for this which I may write about later.  Regardless, many attribute Beasley's present amount of community engagement to its history of neglect.  The fact that the new "Neighbourhood Charter" was introduced at the neighbourhood BBQ a few weeks ago shows me - even more - just how engaged and passionate a lot of community members are about where they live. 

Being perhaps the first neighbourhood in Canada to establish a Neighbourhood Charter, the purpose of the document is to redefine what Beasley is to its residents, and to determine what Beasley should look like in the wake of downtown redevelopment projects and gentrification; both which are currently encroaching on the neighbourhood.

Through working with City Hall, numerous organizations relevant to the area and countless individuals, the Neighbourhood Charter is said to define what the neighbourhood believes to be the best way to develop the neighbourhood in the future.

Although The Charter is generally thought of as a positive thing by City Hall and received ample support at the BBQ, I question how much institutional integrity The Charter actually has.  One reason why I question this is because of the newly proposed development at Cannon and Mary Streets.

A development of this scale seems too large for community groups to not put up a big fuss, especially considering the sites location across from the Good Sheppard Centre and Beasley Park.

Far more than its institutional integrity (or lack-there-of), the purpose of the Neighbourhood Charter, I am sure, is to deepen the organizational relationships which community groups and allied City Departments share.

This seems to be how community groups will be able to strengthen and legitimize their agendas - which over time may lead to policy.  As for now, one step at a time for Beasley.

Moving Beyond the Automobile: The rationale behind lane reductions

Lane reductions on busy streets can be a contentious issue.  While the average pedestrian on a busy street wants safety, the average person driving their car down the same street wants efficiency.  

These two opposing points summarize many discussions I've had lately with friends and family regarding the status of streets and how to build them correctly.  Ultimately, I've found, the contentious issue surrounding lane reductions come down to two fundamental differences in mentality: Those who live in walkable areas, use transit and are concerned with safety above anything else, and those who live in the suburbs, drive through the city on their way to work and want efficiency.

While the conclusion I draw from these discussions is simple ("move downtown" ...) it seems as though experts draw similar conclusions though have a different method of reaching the same, simple point.

This video outlines really well why experts and advocates involved in active transportation planning want to decrease the amount of lanes on our roads.  Thoroughfare or side street, they argue, lane reductions make streets more safe and efficient - whether your driving, cycling or walking.  

Katimavik and Square Foot Gardening

First garden bed done, 4' X 4'

The harvest has begun!  In late-May I planned and planted a garden in the backyard of the new house which volunteers from the government-sponsored youth volunteer program Katimavik will be living in for the next 3 months.  Within the last 2 weeks a friend and I have begun to harvest a variety of leafy greens planted early-June. 

Ever since learning about the Square Foot Gardening method I've been curious to see how it works. 

The purpose of Square Foot Gardening is to maximize the amount of food which can be harvested on a particular plot of land while not jeopardizing the amount of space which each plant needs to grow to its maximum maturity.

4 plugs of leaf lettuce per square foot

It's a cool method with an efficient approach - rather than viewing an entire plot of land and planting seeds in relation to its size, Square Foot Gardening teaches us to view each square foot of soil as an opportunity to be maximized.  As such, Square Foot Gardening is becoming pretty common in urban agriculture and small-plot agriculture.

To do this I dug beds that are 4' X 4' and sectioned off every square foot with string.  From there it's as easy as planting the appropriate number of seeds or plugs per square foot.

Detroit and Urban Agriculture

If there is any city at the forefront of the urban agriculture movement it would, undoubtedly, be the city of Detroit.

Try looking at the City of Detroit from Google Earth and you'll see the amount of vacant land that exists in the city.  Currently, there are over 100 km2 of vacant land in Detroit.  The city of San Francisco could fit into Detroit's vacant land and there would still be room to spare.  Ever since the race riots of the 1960s, the decline of industry and our -recently-subsided- obsessions with suburbia, these vacant lots have been biologically regenerating.  In some areas through Detroit, deer populations have exploded, foxes are seen commonly and coyotes are heard howling in the night.

The residents of Detroit are increasingly using vacant lots as farmers plots.  

What do they see as the purpose and benefits?

1. They are engaging disadvantaged neighbourhoods in eating healthy food and having community events.

 2. They are solving the issue of living in food deserts by growning their own and selling it to independent grocers so others can also benefit from eating fresh produce.

3. They are choosing not to support the imported food of industrial agri-business.

 4. They are decreasing their ecological footprint.

The residents of Detroit are investing in their community and building a local economy.  

How can we do the same?

Bike to Work Day 2011

Smart Commute sponsored Hamilton's Bike to Work Day last Monday in Gore Park.

Participants were given free breakfast, a tee-shirt and entered into a draw with a chance to win all kinds of great bicycle related things.

Even though I didn't bike to the event (nor was I on my way to work...) I was pressured into entering the draw.  Well I ended up winning the grand prize of a $100 gift certificate to Downtown Bike Hounds... here's to new accessories for the new bike.

Looks like all this volunteering is beginning to pay off..

Bicycles mean exploration.

I've recently made one of the largest purchases of my life.

While living in this city I've taken the odd road trip up north and have gone on a hand-full of hikes leading me to where the city meets the country-side.  Both have given me a brief fix of nature and silence - two essential components which many of us lack in our urban lives.

Though after living downtown for nearly 8 months I've recently decided that a mere hike to the edge of the city isn't enough.  Living in the most urban setting I've ever lived in has left my 'exploration quota' neglected and time spent away from the city minimal.  Hiking to areas of the city where traffic can still be heard has become barely sufficient - far from refreshing or rejuvenating.

So I bought myself a bicycle.

A touring bicycle.

A friend got me a sweet deal on it so I jumped on the timely opportunity.  Over the past week I've taken it out for a few rides, while yesterday I took it on its first day trip out of the city.  In a few weeks time this new and endless ticket out of town will take me to Lake Erie.  The plan is to prep for a larger bike tour for later on in the summer - anywhere I can get using 100% pedal power.  Care to join?  Any recommendations??

                                                     And summer exploration begins!

Planning and planting for locally produced food...

The warmth has arrived and so have many ideas for growing both tasty and local food.

A few friends and myself have begun this seasons planting of vegetables and fruits both within and just outside of the city.  This afternoon a group of us made out way out to a friends property on the 6th Concession for a planting party to kick start her garden into the growing season.

Why grow your own?

Gas prices are high, and will just get higher.  
The average Canadian meal comes from 2500 kms away. 

If we really want to stimulate the economy we should be buying things produced locally.  If we are to blindly choose to purchase imported goods over local goods (Chilean apples vs. Ontario apples), we are giving into an economy dependent on oil and an economy which is dependent on foreign markets (stable or unstable).  There are too many variables.

As time goes on, food miles will determine the cost of food at our grocery stores, rather than well-negotiated trade agreements.

Buy local!

City of Wateloo to become the first city in Canada to build Complete Streets!

What does that mean?

check out their website!

This means that:
a) Waterloo streets will be safer, 
b) Waterloo communities will be healthier, and 
c) Waterloo air will be cleaner 

...all through giving people more options to walk, cycle and use transit to reach their destination.

Incomplete streets - road designed mainly for movement of vehicular traffic - exclude safe passage for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.

Building complete streets will guarantee that infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users will be routinely accommodated in the city’s transportation plans. 

They are the first city in Canada to adopt such a policy, which has been used in numerous municipalities throughout the States.

Check out this article for more info!

“If you have six-lane roads everywhere it means you have lots of cars and it is really hard to walk or cycle in that environment ... I think Complete Streets is really putting the focus where it needs to be — thinking about the most vulnerable user first and then designing around that.” 

- Phil Hewitson, Director of Transportation, City of Waterloo

The economics of walkability

Check out this article published in the Hamilton Spectator today by Christopher Leinberger - he discusses walkable neighbourhoods as being more economcally viable than suburban neighbourhoods.

"While cities are thriving and growing, suburbs have grown more congested, less green, even more car-centric and been pushed further out into the hinterland ... What is in trouble is the entry level, low-end fringe development. Those are the next slums.”

-Christopher Leinberger

Downtown revitalization, walkability and Open Streets

The city I live in is quickly changing.

From the mid-1970s to the late-1990s the city was in decline.  The steel mills closed their doors and large malls were built on the outskirts.  Downtown began to crumble and funding for social programs was cut.  Hamilton's streets were unsafe.

James & Rebecca, beside Listor Block (April 2011)

Though the scars associated with 3 decades of neglect remain, the lower-city is doing the best it has since the 1950s.  The amount of change I can see even in my lifetime is huge.  Before I left this city to go to school 8 years ago there were near-entire blocks of vacant buildings downtown - hollow window frames and bad graffiti on red brick.  When I moved back last September into a neighbourhood in the downtown north end I saw those same buildings now as coffee shops and construction sites. 

Last year, a street festival called Open Streets began in the downtown north end, just outside the apartment a friend and I moved into last autumn.  For two afternoons last year they closed down the road for the festival which is an offshoot of the Latin American Ciclovia- a street festival built on promoting active transportation world-wide.  (active transportation, by the way, refers to any type of transportation which requires you being physically active to get to where you need -- biking, walking, riding the bus, rollerblading, etc. all good, respectable things.)

The difference between the two street festivals is that the Open Streets festival has added a unique spin to it's mission statement.  Since January, I have been sitting on the steering committee for the group and it's been pretty cool to see the direction we are steering the festival in.  Rather than merely promoting active transportation, Open Streets promotes healthy neighbourhoods and downtown living.

Last year at Open Streets, people played ball hockey on the road while buskers sang songs along side.  People jogged and rode their bikes on the street playing games while patios were packed.  NGOs and community groups handed out flyers of various community issues and events, artists sold their art on the sidewalk while parents bought their kids balloons.

What this comes down to is that choosing to be active (by riding your bike, or walking) is not merely a matter of choosing a particular type of mobility.  Rather, choosing to walk, take the bus, or ride your bike is choosing to be an active member of your community, your city and your natural environment. 

The purpose of using a car is strictly to get us from point A to point B in as little time and in as much comfort as possible.  It looks at all other variables - the sidewalk, saying “hi” to a friend on the road, waving to a kid in a shop window, buying a coffee on your way to where you are going - as obstacles.  Driving a car deems anything in between you and your destination as an interruption, a set of interferences, things of which you are not a part and things which should not, by any means, stand in your way.  Our entire notion of “space”, when driving, is diminished and we do not include ourselves in it.

The main point here is that individuals, if we choose, can be active members in those things which surround us.  Hamiltonians are learning this, and we are choosing to use this method to heal our city.  The ideology many Hamiltonian’s share is that healthy individuals (not cars) make for healthy communities, therefore making healthy cities and a healthier natural environment.

Get on your bike and ride it. 

And check out this festival if you’re in town!

Contested Spaces: San Felipé, Panama City --> Photos up at Mulberry Coffee Shop for April.

A recent project of mine is finally coming to a close!  Images taken last year in Panama City and framed just recently will be up at Mulberry for the next month.

The images attempt to capture the current identity of Latin America’s oldest Spanish settlement on the Pacific coast; San Felipé.  Through decades of neglect, this neighbourhood in Panama City had remained what many would call a ‘slum’.  

Recent restoration projects and the tourism industry have lead to the rapid development of hostels, hotels and high-end restaurants in what was considered Panama City’s most dangerous neighbourhood no longer than 10 years ago.

Though the neighbourhood has its economic and social struggles, it would be foolish to assume that the changes brought on by tourism would make the neighbourhood economically and social better off.  It may go either way.


As tourism increases in Panama City, San Felipe will be forced to undergo certain changes.  It's current identity is being challenged by wealth - something the neighbourhood hasn't had for perhaps centuries.

On the topic of the South Bronx... Another video! This one about urban green space and waterfront projects.

Majora Carter grew up in the South Bronx.  In 2001, she started the environmental not-for-profit group "Green The Ghetto".  Since then, the group has spearheaded numerous urban green space and waterfront revitalization projects in the South Bronx. 

Green The Ghetto had an idea and the municipal government listened:  Carter discusses in the video how "comprehensive planning" (i.e. inclusion of community groups in decision making processes) helped to save the South Bronx.


Their approach : Green The Ghetto doesn't use social assistance or money to mitigate urban poverty.

Rather, they believe that creating urban green space will.

This is her story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ-cZRmHfs4&feature=related

Video: "From Mambo To Hip-Hop"

Check out this video I found about the genealogy of Latin music and hip-hop in North America...   The video tells the tale of the South Bronx in NYC from the 1940s up to the 1980s and describes how its people and politics were the key factors in creating some of the best rhythms we listen to today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS4yYHV0cJM

Blog's up...

This is a test to see the layout of the blog... just finished...