Folding Urban Greenhouse

Here's an innovative new product by Dutch designer Daniel Shipper.

It's a folding greenhouse made out of recycled plastics that folds flat for easy storage and moving. 

It seems like a great option for someone who isn't fully ready to commit to an actual garden, or for someone who might be limited in space. 

It's great to see new and fresh ideas to help people explore their green thumbs!

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Cornerstone Mission Apartments

It was a chilly day on May 6, 2011 when our EcoFront volunteers spent a Friday afternoon shoveling dirt and compost.

One of the community projects our EcoFront team did this spring was create two garden boxes for the Cornerstone Mission Apartments. The apartments are transitional housing that is part of the Cornerstone Rescue Mission. The purpose is to  give those that live in the apartments experience is growing a garden and the responsibility of watering and weeding. The rewards are they then get to eat the produce thus saving money on some of their food and they get to feel a sense of accomplishment in watching the plants grow.

The reason for the project is to help people help themselves.

-Bernie


Update (3 months later):

Let it Rain!

Recently, we've designed a few sites utilizing rainwater gardens.

These are slight depressions in the site's topography that are planted with vegetation. Rain and stormwater runoff naturally drain into the basins, creating an attractive low-maintenance landscape feature. 

Example of a rainwater garden

Here's a visual that might explain the idea better:

You can use a mix of wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees in rainwater gardens. When planting, place seedlings 1' apart, with more flood tolerant species toward the bottom of the basin and drought tolerant species toward the top. Include at least 40% grasses to provide dense root masses to help with erosion. 

Some excellent species to use in rainwater gardens in the Black Hills region include:

Prairie smoke
Geum triflorum

Purple prairieclover
Dalea purpurea

Prairie dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepsis

When locating where you want to put your rainwater garden, make sure that you're placing it where the site's existing runoff flows to. Also, be sure to locate it at least 15' away from structures. 

Rainwater gardens are an effective way to utilize natural runoff, avoiding the need for expensive irrigation systems. These features are actually part of a larger family of sustainable methods called rainwater harvesting.

To learn more about this technique, I suggest Brad Lancaster's book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond as an excellent resource. 

Cheers to free water!

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So what is Grey Water and We Can Water Our Gardens with it?

I’ve discovered that the water created after washing our laundry is “grey water” and guess what?  You can water your gardens with it!!!!  Of course this comes with some caveats.  You need to use eco-friendly detergents, no bleach, and use caution with fabric softeners.  A good rule of thumb is that most products made for septic systems are safe for grey watering.  Another note:  the laundry itself can’t contain “harmful” products being washed off it.  I probably wouldn't take junior's dirty diapers (should you be brave enough to use cloth diapers) and recycle that water. 

Actually it’s been discovered that dirty laundry water can be a treat for plant life.  Some of the organic materials found in laundry waste water can actually supply extra nutrients they ordinarily wouldn’t get.  Many detergents contain nitrogen and phosphates which help with plant growth. Quite often, grey water users report an increase in growth and overall positive appearance in the garden. 

How do you go about converting to grey watering?  It can be as simple as adding a hose to drain the laundry waste water from the machine to your garden.  You can set up a dual system which can be turned on to divert grey water to sewer when needed for those times the water in the wash could be harmful to the plants.  Also, using your judgment on which plants you want to use grey water on is always a very personal choice.  Often people will use grey water on everything but vegetables, as they are edible.  Should you decide to go “grey”, there are many useful websites with plans for enabling this.  Give it a thought, and maybe a try.  What do you have to lose?  What do you have to save?  Water!!!

-Laura

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Tis the Season

It's finally gardening season! Did you get a chance to get out and get your garden started over the weekend?

A bunch of FourFront employees use garden boxes like these for an easy, manageable way to grow vegetables and herbs.

In fact, EcoFront's efforts were recently featured in the Rapid City Journal! A few weeks ago, we helped the Cornerstone Mission Apartments plant garden boxes for their residents.

Here are some photos from the day:

Garry taking care of the soil.

Leigh and Bernie working the rakes.

Residents checking out the commotion.

Bernie showing the kids how it's done.

We had a great time and are so happy to be able to be a part of this effort.

Don't have the space or resources for your own garden? Check out this article by the Dakota Local Food Network to find out more about community gardens in the area.