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SOUTH KOREA: Urban Farming Bonds Communities In Seoul
Tucked away in a dark, damp corner of an underground parking lot in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, mushrooms mature under fluorescent lights. The vertical farm is tended by residents who live right above it, in Sanggye Hyundai Apartment Complex.
Residents at Nowon Energy Zero housing complex in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, tend small box gardens earlier this year. / Courtesy of Nowon-gu Office
By Lee Suh-yoon
Tucked away in a dark, damp corner of an underground parking lot in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, mushrooms mature under fluorescent lights.
The vertical farm is tended by residents who live right above it, in Sanggye Hyundai Apartment Complex.
Together, the residents grow, share and sell the mushrooms, donating the profits to local charities and welfare centers.
A community mushroom farm is located under Sanggye Hyundai Apartment Complex in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul. / Courtesy of Nowon-gu Office
About five kilometers south, residents of Nowon Energy Zero housing complex, known for its energy-efficient apartment and villa designs, come together to tend small box gardens.
"People who live in the same apartment complexes don't really talk to each other these days," Park Geun-gu, an official from Nowon-gu Office, told The Korea Times recently. "Apart from providing safe locally grown produce, these urban farms help residents get to know each other better, strengthening community bonds."
To create an urban farm in their leftover spaces, usually snuggled between close-knit buildings or on a roof, residents can easily apply for financial and professional support from their local government offices. The city government and district offices fund 80 percent to 100 percent of the initial installation fees of accepted projects.
Seoul is now home to a thriving network of community gardens. The number of urban farms increased six-fold in the last seven years, bringing the total area of such green spaces in Seoul to 170 hectares ― about the size of 238 football fields.
Most are located in patches between apartments or on the roofs of schools and government buildings.
"We refer to these participating groups as urban farming communities," said Lee Byung-hun, a city official in charge of the urban farm projects.
"The main focus of these projects is not supplying food; it's about the social experience the urban farms can bring to residents. We're also providing hands-on gardening experience and environmental education to children at urban farms set up next to kindergartens."
Last year, the city government started allocating a 5 million won ($4,400) annual budget to each district to solicit help from professionals who can give lectures and offer personalized gardening solutions ― ranging from raising soil productivity to using safe pesticides ― to urban farming communities.
Called "farm clinics," these classes are currently held at 4,000 urban farm sites across 19 districts in Seoul. Last month, the city government announced plans to extend the classes to 7,000 sites.
Districts that lie along the green belt, like Gangdong-gu and Gwangjin-gu, can spare more green space for these community farms.
The land, usually located at the foot of a mountain or riverside, is divided up among residents in an open lottery system at the beginning of each spring.
"The competition for a plot of land at these community farms is very high: we get 10 to 15 times more applicants than the number of plots available, depending on the location," a Gwangjin-gu official said. "Residents usually grow lettuce or peppers, and some of the produce is donated to local welfare centers."
A community farm near the Han River in Gangdong-gu, eastern Seoul / Courtesy of Gangdong-gu Office
A rooftop community garden in Seodaemun-gu, northwestern Seoul. / Courtesy of Seodaemun-gu Office
Residents listen to a gardening instructor at an urban farm in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul. / Courtesy of Gwangjin-gu Office
US: Pennsylvania - State Agriculture Secretary Tours 3 Urban Gardens In Erie
State and local officials toured urban gardens in Erie Wednesday as part of Urban Agriculture Week activities in Pennsylvania
By Christopher Millette
July 24, 2019
The visit by state Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding was part of Urban Agriculture Week activities in Pennsylvania
State and local officials toured urban gardens in Erie Wednesday as part of Urban Agriculture Week activities in Pennsylvania.
At the first stop, the student-maintained garden at Perry Elementary School, 955 W. 29th St., Erie, about 20 representatives from the Erie School District, Erie County government, local businesses and the state Department of Agriculture held a roundtable discussion about the effectiveness of the district’s urban gardens program, and urban gardening across the state in general.
Other planned tour stops included French Street Farms, at the corner of French and East 22nd streets, and the community garden run by the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network, 425 W. 18th Street.
Russell Redding, state Secretary of Agriculture, began the tour at Perry Elementary School and noted the connection between locally-sourced food and economic development.
“It’s just important to celebrate what’s in Pennsylvania,” said Redding, who is touring urban agriculture sites across the state this week. “And a big part of that is our urban centers and what happens around food and agriculture.”
Redding also reminded roundtable participants about the state’s Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grant program, which provides $500,000 in reimbursement grants to qualified applicants. The grants, which are part of the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Bill, are meant to improve urban agriculture gardens and programs across the state.
Beginning Aug. 1, information about applying for the grant will be available on the state Department of Community and Economic Development website. The application deadline for the UAIG is Sept. 15.
Like all 15 of the Erie School District’s gardens, the Perry Elementary site is maintained by students. The 1,500 square-foot garden at Perry produces vegetables, herbs and flowers. Much of the produce goes home with Perry students, said Stephanie Ciner, an AmeriCorps Vista service member who helps maintain the district’s gardens. Ciner also said some of the gardens products are donated to the Emmaus Food Pantry on Erie’s east side.
One of the roundtable participants at Perry is taking an active part in the success of the garden.
Amanda Karns, 34, is a neighbor and works as a special projects coordinator at Harborcreek Youth Services in Harborcreek Township. She is coordinating a project with HYS clients, who are building and donating to the garden a set of rain barrel platforms.
Karns, who walked her daughter Charlie Karns, 1, around the garden during the discussion, is glad to be a part of the school’s garden program. “We’re really excited that this is here,” she said.
Christopher Millette can be reached at 870-1712 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ETNMillette.
All photos by: CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWS
Sustainable Sales Is Excited To Announce That GardenSoxx Are Now Available In Both Full Sized Rolls, One Foot Increments, and In Retail Packaging
Urban Gardening Made Simple
Sustainable Sales is very excited to announce that they are now selling GardenSoxx in both full sized rolls and one foot increments! And for easy resale, you can also purchase the GardenSoxx in retail packaging.
With The Growth of Childhood Obesity, We believe The Best Way To Help Children To Be Healthy Is By Teaching Them To Garden in School.
GardenSoxx® is an innovative gardening system that combines our patented mesh technology with high-quality growing media. The mesh provides optimum drainage, aeration, and temperature to grow a healthier root system, and a more productive garden. Excess water can drain through the mesh while essential oxygen flows in. The additional air flow also helps to cool the root zone in hot weather, improving growth.
GardenSoxx are available both unfilled and pre-filled. Unfilled GardenSoxx can easily be filled with local bagged/bulk compost or bagged/bulk planting mix. We recommend using a composted media.
Pre-filled GardenSoxx use a locally-sourced composted Filtrexx® GrowingMedia™ made from recycled green waste. Our GrowingMedia is made from 100% composted green waste. Compost is an extremely nutrient-rich media that acts like a natural sponge to absorb a huge volume of water as compared to topsoil.
Years of product research have gone into making GardenSoxx® the best container for growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. Filtrexx has designed, tested and manufactured GardenSoxx with Filtrexx GrowingMedia, a compost made from yard trimmings.
Our media is extremely nutrient rich and has specific characteristics that make more suitable as growing media versus a soil amendment.
Agricultural research shows that GardenSoxx can result in a healthier, more productive crop.
For More Information Contact: Barb Wehmer
barb3wehmer@gmail.com www.sustainablesales.net
(217) 653-2513
Video: Australian Gardener Harvests Over 400 Kilos of Food From Her Gardens
The garden is maintained with approximately half a day each week, though this is unevenly distributed throughout the season. Surplus is preserved using bottling, drying, freezing and fermenting to supply the kitchen during the leaner months
Kat Lavers describes her approach to gardening, including vertical and biointensive growing, and how important it is – and possible! – for city dwellers to be food resilient in the face of natural, financial and social crises.
Happen Films
Feb 22, 2019
(Must see film. Mike)
Excerpt:
In response to space constraints, Kat trades homegrown persimmons for an annual supply of pumpkins, and buys a bag of potatoes every year. Almost all other herbs, veg and fruit are grown onsite. Gifting and swapping with family and friends adds extra variety to the diet. The garden emphasizes highly productive, resilient fruit trees and perennial vegetables like wild rocket, perennial leeks and bunching onions that thrive with minimal maintenance.
In 2018 the site recorded 428 kg of fresh produce, a figure which the household believes could ultimately grow to around 500kg when the full design is implemented. About half this produce is from the 20m² kitchen garden (30m² including paths).
The garden is maintained with approximately half a day each week, though this is unevenly distributed throughout the season. Surplus is preserved using bottling, drying, freezing and fermenting to supply the kitchen during the leaner months.
A covey of Japanese quails provides the household with eggs and occasional meat. The small aviary has trigger feeders and waterers for easy maintenance, as well as a deep litter floor of thick wood chips and autumn leaves that eventually breaks down into compost for the kitchen garden.