Friday, 26th August, 2022
The Day’s hand-picked ideas, tips to better grow Vegs, and meet people you should know.
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1
XZero City
"Xzero City, in Kuwait will be the world’s largest net zero community. it will incorporate various methods of urban farming. These will range from biodomes, vertical farms, and aquaponics to biosaline agriculture and community gardens" — From a state that exploited fossile fuels, it’s an incredible commitment to net zero, and self-sufficiency. You don’t need to be an Emir, you can do the same now with the techniques they will use in your garden too.
2
One Health
"soils are a cornerstone of one health and serve as a source and reservoir of pathogens, beneficial microorganisms and the overall microbial diversity in a wide range of organisms and ecosystems. We list more than 40 soil microbiome functions that either directly or indirectly contribute to soil, plant, animal and human health. We identify microorganisms that are shared between different one health compartments and show that soil, plant and human microbiomes are perhaps more interconnected than previously thought" — A fascinating research exploring the soil microbiome, there is so much we still don’t know about soils biology. But we know one thing for sure: continuing to exploit (abuse) soils with the methods used in agriculture and horticulture in the last 70 years isn’t good for the planet or for its inhabitants. That’s why we all need to relearn how to improve our soils first.
3
Seedy
"When it comes to growing microgreens, getting seed density right is one of the more frequent causes new growers find challenging. There are plenty of misconceptions about seed density, and with different information shared on the internet and various forums, it can be challenging to know what is correct" — Check out Janette & Chester’s recommendations for the right microgreens seeds density - you can also bookmark the free calculator I made, giving you the optimal seed density for the most comprehensive Microgreens types.
+ What to Watch: Make the most of your garden; learn from 5 people who have embraced vegan life style, from their day to day lives and unique and powerful stories to see why vegan lifestyle is on the rise. Movie: Living Vegan
+ What to Listen: Mark Diacono joins @ellenmarygardening and @mrplantgeek on todays episode to talk about growing, cooking and fermenting food. Mark is a well known award winning food writer, grower, photographer and cook. Check out the Food, Fermenting & fun podcast.
+ What to Read: Achieve a luscious garden all year round with this best-selling, easy-to-follow guide for novice gardeners from BBC Gardener's World writer Ian Spence. Grab a copy of the book (Amazon link) RHS Gardening Through the Year: Month-by-month Planning Instructions and Inspiration.
5
Never a dill moment
From another Geek: How a former Microsoft researcher used AI to grow award-winning lettuce from 5,000 miles away: At Koidra, Kenneth Tran is applying reinforcement learning (a sub-domain of Machine Learning) to industrial processes, with an initial focus on agriculture. Using this sort of machine learning can increase the volume of food produced while reducing the use of water, fertilizers and pesticides, according to the company” — now that’s a real Geek!
+ Saving 1000 fishes for the hungry: "I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with the bad news generated by the climate crisis. So I thought that I would pull out a feel-good story from the archives. This feature was originally published in December of 2020 in Edible San Diego and was lightly edited for a broader readership." — What a good story from this large-scale Aquaponics operation.
+ Bee the Changee: "The guest for this episode is John Kotab to discuss his book Bee the Change, a travelogue about his discovery of what we can do to save bees and other pollinators" — Listen to John (of CotabConsulting)
6
Turnip the volume
Now is the time for Uncle Sam to tell folks: “I want you to plant your garden! […] The researchers’ model was reliant on home gardeners composting kitchen and garden waste. Kitchen scraps that wind up in landfill can release a lot of methane as they rot, and a molecule of methane can collect 25 times the heat that a molecule of CO2 can collect. The researchers estimate that home gardeners that compost reduce their produce’s GreenHouse Gases output by 17 percent — So do your bit, and optimise gardening in your backyard.
+ "Agri Scientist Rediscovers Ancient Indian Pesticide That Improves Soil Fertility: Described in an ancient book Vrikshayurveda by Surpala in Bundelkhand about thousands of years ago as a 'natural pesticide' prepared from fish & animal waste, Kunapajala is a magical organic fertilizer. It is said to improve soil fertility, reduce pests that resist chemical fertilisers, and erase pesticide residue in just a few years." — I haven’t tried this method; but it’s very similar concepts to Compost tea. Give it a try if you do Aquaponics (with a mineralisation tank), it could be another way to maximise the benefits of the fish waste.
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Keep Growing-
Anthony - Veg Geek