with a remarkable slide show.
This past summer, my friends (Art and Heidi) and I tried to grow heirloom vegetables on our respective rooftops in Chicago using homemade “Earth boxes“. Heidi would come over every few weeks and take some photos of my plants, which she then sent me along with some shots from their roof garden.
If you’ve got any ideas you want to share about growing food in the city let us know. We’re amateurs compared to the Path To Freedom people, but love their ideas. This guy has some really creative, low cost solutions to the problems caused by limited resources.
I’m trying to figure out how to automate the watering of all those tubs on my garage roof without spending a lot of money. Here’s what I’ve got so far: Out of a reservoir kept full with a Hudson valve, I’d run supply lines to each of the boxes. If I suck all the air out of these lines, the siphon/water level effect should keep all the tubs watered as long as the vacuum seal isn’t broken.
Any other ideas/suggestions?
While I’ve got your attention – ask your local politicians to make these boxes widely available. Montreal has a citywide program. I don’t think it would take that much to convince an ambitious politician to fund a low cost program that makes him or her look good.
Here are two more rooftop garden links.
Here in Chicago, green roofs are sold as reducing the heating/cooling load on a building and keeping rain water out of the sewer system. They are very expensive and don’t encourage anyone other than good government types or motivated environmentalists to participate. We think these boxes can be used to come at the problem in another way. They’re also a great way to build connections in a fragmented social/political landscape.
If nothing else, you’ll get some great tomatoes out of it.
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[What follows is a copy of the email I sent to a few people who asked how they could make the boxes themselves.] I’m not sure where everyone’s coming from, so this is more of an overview than a how-to guide, though it’s got plenty of details. If you’ve got any questions, send me an email.
<Bruce825@sbcglobal.net>
If I’ve got an answer or a link, I’ll pass it on. I found answers to most of my own questions by searching gardening forums, a few are listed at the end of this.
What exactly is an Earthbox ™? And why is it perfect for the challenges of urban rooftop gardening? (Well, aside from the fact that they’re not cheap.)
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