Proof That Community Gardens Lower Crime Rates

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Among the many befits of having or starting a community garden in your area, crime prevention is one feature that can easily be over-looked. "It’s been a crime prevention tool, we work with the police officers so children come down and they look in and ask questions, so our neighbors are talking to each other now more too," said Ezekiel Amador. As we have posted about here before, community gardens are also a great way to make sure you know what you're eating, stay healthy, get off the Big Grocery food grid, and help your community. Here is a video about one community that benefited in many ways from a community garden.

 


RELATED: 10 Easy Steps For Starting A Community Garden

After the latest and ongoing March Against Monsanto protests there has been an even greater awakening to the adverse effects of GMOs and pesticides on human and environmental health. Many people who would love to grow their own food are forced to shop at grocery stores due to the fact that they simply have no space to grow their own gardens. If you must buy your food from someone else, it's best to try to buy locally grown food to ensure that you can have a better idea of what's in it.

Here is a great source to find locally grown food near you: http://eatlocalgrown.com 

There are a few option for people that would like to grow their own food but don't have the space: one is community gardening. The video posted below is a short introduction with the 10 basics steps it takes to get a community garden started in your neighborhood. 

1 Man Produced 6,000 Pounds of Food on 1/10 Acre. Here's How

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“In danger of being free.” That’s how Jules Dervaes sums up his journey from a small backyard garden to a super-productive microfarm. It’s a low input, highly efficient urban homestead right next to the metropolis of Los Angeles.

Jules, his son Justin, and his two daughters Anais and Jordanne live in a 1,500 sq. ft. craftsman bungalow on 1/5 of an acre. Here they have a 1/10 acre garden and grow 350 different vegetables, herbs, fruits, and berries. The sustainable plot is complete with chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, and honey bees.  For two years in a row they were able to produce 6,000 pounds of food.

Their mission is to live sustainably and simply, and they are doing it. 90% of their vegetarian diet comes from the homestead and 2/3 of their energy comes from solar panels. They make biodiesel fuel with used vegetable oil. Their commitment to reducing consumption extends all the way to a hand-cranked radio. They are highly motivated and have a lot to say about the way things are in the world.

“Government can’t do it and corporations won’t do it,” says Jules in the short film Homegrown Revolution."

With a corporatocracy running the show in Washington and millions of Americans addicted to television and fast food, the Dervaes family provides a model of what can happen if we change our priorities. We don’t have to rely on a centralized industrial system that is poisoning public health and the environment more than ever with pesticide-laden, GMO food. We can get off the couch and start providing for ourselves.

Most of the Dervaes’ food production is for their own consumption, but they do sell excess harvests to local establishments and individuals, and then use that to buy other basics like flour and rice. They are truly one of the most independent family units in the country, with an ever-decreasing environmental impact.

Not only do they provide a model for suburban-style sustainability, but their efforts are beneficial to the community and local schools. The Front Porch Farmstand sells Dervaes’ organic produce to neighbors and restaurant chefs. They offer workshops, film screenings, and exhibits at festivals. They host school field trips at the homestead and offer school visits with their “citified” farm animals.

Source: RealFarmacy.com

by Justin Gardener

Grow 20 sq. ft. of vegetables in only 4 sq. ft. of space

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John from Growing Your Greens takes a field trip to the San Francisco Green Festival to scope out the latest in green products. He finds and shares with you the Phytopod which lets you have a instant garden built for production in just 4 square feet of space.

This a another great idea for growing your own food when you have limited space. As John notes in the video, you can get nearly the same amount of space out of a Phytopod grow system as you can with a traditional raised bed. These awesome grow set ups can be used indoors and outdoors or on your patio!

The Results Are In: Gardening Makes You Happy, Smart

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“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” – Alfred Austin

Gardeners have been knowing for centuries that their pastime gives them joy and peace. Many people will say that gardening is stress therapy. There is even a group called the American Horticultural Therapy Association “committed to promoting and developing the practice of horticultural therapy as a unique and dynamic human service modality.”

As with so many things, science introduces us to the physical wonders behind what we already know on a subliminal level. There are two interesting pieces of research that give credence to the feeling that our bodies and souls are better off from gardening.

Researchers reported in the journal Neuroscience that contact with a soil bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae triggers the release of serotonin in the brain. This type of serotonin acts on several different pathways including mood and learning. Lack of serotonin in the brains is related to depression.

So basically, the things we do as gardeners—working the soil, planting, mulching, and so forth—can really contribute to happiness. We ingest the bacteria by breathing or through broken skin. The simple act of children playing outside in the grass and dirt can be a natural way for them to reduce anxiety.

In addition to increasing happiness and reducing anxiety, serotonin has positive effects on memory and learning. Research presented at the American Society for Microbiology shows that feeding live M. vaccae bacteria to mice significantly improved their ability to navigate mazes, due to the fact that the bacteria triggers the release of brain serotonin. It appears that this bacterium plays a role in learning in mammals.

Have you noticed that you feel really happy when picking those ripe vegetables, especially that first tomato of the season? Well, it turns out that harvesting fruits and vegetables triggers the release of dopamine in the brain. It is speculated that this evolved over 200,000 years of humans harvesting food as hunter-gatherers. Dopamine is strongly correlated with reward-motivated behavior.

So there we have it, two physical reasons why people can be happier and smarter through gardening. I suspect there are several other other reasons contributing to this, including the myriad of colors in plants and animals, trees swaying in the wind, birds singing, squirrels chattering, lady beetles, and fresh air. Perhaps one day we’ll have scientific explanations for all this, but in the meantime we can take comfort in our innate feelings.


Source: RealFarmacy.com

Tips for Starting an Apartment Garden

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Whether you’ve got a certified green thumb and are lamenting your move to a yard-less apartment or you’re a longtime apartment dweller looking for a nature-friendly hobby, apartment gardening can be a rewarding way to spend some time, decorate your home, and maybe even grow something edible. This article shares a few tips for getting an apartment garden started.

Location is a primary concern for an apartment garden. Perhaps you have a small—or, if you’re lucky, medium-sized—patio or balcony. If so, that’s a great place to put some pots. Getting down and dirty won’t be as much of a problem outside, and the plants will also be able to absorb more sunlight. If you don’t have any outdoor space to speak of, putting some plants by your windows or growing highly shade-tolerant varieties are also good options.

The Aesthetic

Just because you don’t have a garden plot to plant in doesn’t mean you can’t grow something beautiful or beneficial. Container gardening presents many options for growing a variety of plants, from asparagus to zinnias. It’s also a great opportunity to be creative. Almost anything can serve as a receptacle for soil with a modification or two. From overturned football helmets to watering cans to old boots, you can create a patio- or window-full of eclectic containers holding exciting plants. Even if you’re just using plain ol’ terra cotta pots, consider painting them in interesting ways to help liven up your balcony. Drainage holes are the main necessity for any container being used for plants. If you can’t or don’t want to put holes in a particular pot, think about how to fit a smaller container already equipped with drainage holes inside the pot in question. This can be a good way to hide the not-so-pretty plastic containers you might buy your plants in. You may have to empty the larger containers of water and clean them every so often, but it’s a small price to pay for having better-looking pots.

Consider style

And much as you planned a decorating scheme for your apartment itself, you’ll want to plan a decorating scheme for your garden. Should it be country? Cutesy? Modern and austere? Make sure your containers match each other, as well as your balcony’s general construction and the atmosphere of the rest of your house. If you have a colorful house with eclectic decoration, a dull garden with terra cotta pots will seem out of place. Likewise, if your house overflows with Victorian decor, a set of bright, funky flowerpots painted like cartoon characters might seem a bit out of place next to your Chippendale cabinet.

Eschew clutter

The multitude of exciting plant container possibilities might send you overboard, prompting a shopping spree at the nursery and quickly cluttering up your balcony. Before getting too involved, think realistically about what you can handle, both in terms of time and money. At the same time, you’ll want to remain conscious of any clutter that might develop in your small garden scheme. You may get very gung-ho about the container gardening thing, but that doesn’t mean your patio will look attractive or organized with 1000 tiny plants on it. Consider having a few larger “core” plants around which you can arrange some smaller ones. Larger plants are trickier to grow in smaller pots, but some, like the ever-popular Japanese maple, come in smaller or dwarf varieties and can be very happy in container situations.

Experiment

In addition to being practical for small spaces, container gardening is also convenient and beneficial in other ways. It allows for a lot of experimentation without a lot of investment. Instead of trying to purchase and cultivate enough of an interesting ornamental grass to cover a quarter of your backyard, you can just fill a medium-size container. You can also easily move your plants around to see what looks best, or which plants can provide shade (or thrive in it), all without the mess and uncertainty of constant transplanting. Come winter, you probably won’t need to cover, trim or transplant your entire garden—instead, you’ll just be able to lug some containers inside to brighten up your home.

Get wild

Keep in mind that, depending on their size, your containers by no means need to hold only one type of plant. Many plants thrive in symbiotic relationships with one another in nature, and you can replicate these beneficial pairings in containers. Furthermore, you can create beautiful arrays of color by joining different types of flowers in the same pot or window box. Your neighbors will gasp in envy over the rainbow of hues on your porch!

If you want to read more about starting an apartment garden click here> Read More

Other articles you may enjoy:

10 Easy Steps For Starting A Community Garden

Urban Guerrilla Gardening Like a Boss

Aquaponics and the food revolution. Grow organic produce AND fish
 

Urban Homesteading: The Homegrown Revolution

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As food prices continue to rise and real organic food is not only hard to find but even more expensive than GMOs, urban homesteading and city gardening is becoming one of the only ways you can ensure you're not ingesting Monsanto's products. New techniques such as aquaponics and vertical gardening are making the dream or growing your own food in the middle of the city a reality. Even people without room in their own homes can join groups that do "urban sharecropping", a type of food co-op where you share land with people.

Some people, like Jules Dervaes of Los Angeles shown in the video below, are even able to produce an excess of organic food to sell and make a living from. There is a food revolution currently shaping up in the US and around the world thanks to the new ideas being brought to the forefront by pioneers like Jules and Will Allen of Growing Power . Combining these new ideas together with community gardening can change the way food is thought of and distributed. These are perfect ways to combat Monsanto, the food establishment, GMOs, and the epidemic of poor health in urban areas all at the same time. This is the food revolution.





Urban aquaponic gardening with Will Allen of Growing Power

Gardening is not a crime: Woman charged with misdemeanor for having a garden

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Gardening and crime don't really sound like they go together, but when faced with an overbearing government bureaucracy anything is possible. This video is a prime example of what happens when the government gets out of control and the corporate grocery industry has it's tentacles around the local city politicians. Julie Bass was fined and charged with a misdemeanor for planting an organic garden in her front yard.



A more in depth look at Julie's situation

No space for a garden? No problem. Grow vertical with an inexpensive pallet garden

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Image: http://dinneronthefarm.com/

Many people do not have the large yards and space to grow a conventional garden at their homes, but there are some other techniques that could help you set up a garden in a limited space. One technique that is easy to set up and is also very cost effective is the vertical "pallet garden". In three simple steps you will have a vertical garden that only takes up around three square feet of your patio, balcony, or yard.


 Supplies needed:

*Used chemical free wood pallet
*Nails
*Staple gun
*1/4 inch staples
*Hammer *Scissors
*Landscape fabric

 Here is a short video that explains how to build a pallet garden.

 

These pallet gardens are easy to build and maintain, but they are also very easy to expand on and get creative with. You can build living fences that can produce organic food for you and your family, or use it so save space on your apartment's balcony. If you can't load or watch the video then you can read about how to build a vertical pallet garden here: http://dinneronthefarm.com/2012/04/27/diy-pallet-garden/

5 Natural Anti Depressants

1-5 - Natural ways to fight depression:

1. Exercise! - Studies have shown that regular exercise can be as effective or better than antidepressants or psychotherapy, says Dr. Mary Caracoglia.

2. Gardening! is known for its meditative and relaxing effects. Medical News Today reports UK scientists found a helpful bacteria in soil that affects the brain in nearly the same way anti depressants do - by increasing the release of serotonin.

3. Ingesting good fats! like omega 3 have been known to produce a positive affect on brain neurotransmitters and is critical for the functionality of the nervous system.

4. Meditation! BBC News reports that meditation reduces depression by over 50%. -
 (we know! ... not the best source - but we gather links from all over the web)

5. Natural Vitamins!. Studies show that vitamin B-12, Folic acid, vitamin D3 and Tyrosine are fantastic vitamins that naturally fight depression. You can find them in foods like: Fish, Oysters, Beans, Nuts, Whole Grains, and Leafy Vegetables.

Want to know more ways to fight depression naturally? 

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2:

 (5 More Natural Depressants)