Edible Backyard Spring Festival – 8 October

Seeds of Delight

Golan Levin and Kyle McDonald have been unwrapping flowers – taking images and stretching them out flat using panoramic software. The results are gorgeous, you can see them all on Flickr. And to celebrate such loveliness I’ve used the images as the icons below. Many delights to be found amidst the links below.

Talking Plants talks plants really well. He’s covered two of my long-held suspicions lately. Firstly,  Organic isn’t always the enviro-friendly option – sprays that are supposedly ‘natural’ aren’t always better than manmade chemicals. Everything is toxic in the right concentration. (Article on derris dust).  Secondly, we’re just sex slaves to orchids.

John Folsom makes beautiful mixed-media images and his exhibition Lure of the Low Country features intoxicating images with plenty of trees. Other pictorialised plants I’ve fallen for lately include Dan McCarthy’s screenprint and Luigi Benedicenti’s hyper-real plant products.

The beautiful people at Homegrown.org have been busy putting together a series of cute, little how-to cards. Steal ’em, print ’em, share ’em! So far released: Kale Pesto Recipe, How To Save Tomato Seeds, How To Make A Self-watering Container. They’ve also got seed packet templates and adorable labels on the goodies page.

Canada’s University of Guelph is offering Certificates in Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Horticulture.  Each programme consists of four online core courses and one online elective. “Learn the strategies that allow your urban space… to become a destination for the growth of plant material that is both sustainable and productive.”

Confused by Biodynamics? Don’t be – a good little intro video via Pete @ Ooooby. Holistic sustainable organic agriculture and horticulture – really, should there be any other kind? Often dismissed for being a bit ‘out-there’, most of the practices are based on sound farming principles developed over 100s of years. More at Biodynamics NZ.

Press release by the International Blackcurrant Association working to make Ribes nigrum the next superfood. There are plenty of good things to say about blackcurrants and I don’t mind them being said – but I do so dislike this horrible ‘Could-do’ marketing employed by the natural health industry. I reckon I’m about a berry-width away from despising the term ‘functional food.’

Looking for more plant-related link love? Check out past editions of Seeds of delight.

Seeds of Delight: 28 May

It feels like it’s been raining here forever. Well, a week feels like forever when you’re couped up inside. And what happens when I’m couped up inside? I spend far too much time trawling the fertile fields of the internet looking for a little nutrition and a whole lotta pretty. Our beautiful main image of kale comes courtesy of Debbie G.

In a staggering feat of organisation, some 150,000 plants were ‘installed’ on Paris’ Champs-Elysees in one night, creating 1.2 kilometres of urban farm. Young French farmers wanted to impress on the public and government, the efforts required to produce what goes on the table. See the slideshow, watch the video – be dazzled by the brilliance!

I have been known to rabbit on about how plants can save the world. Well, there’s a very good post on plants purifying water at Talking Plants. Read the study on using prickly pear cactus Opuntia ficus-indica to purify water by removing sediment and bacteria here. Read botanical information about prickly pear & info on the other values of the plant here.

There’s a food fight gearing up over at Seed Magazine – what’s looking like an intense debate on the future of food, sustainable agriculture and organic and industrialised models. Political scientist Robert Paarlberg goes head-to-head with ecologist Dr. Michael Jahi Chappell. Introductions and Round 1.

Emily Harris is working to bring rooftop food gardens to Auckland city. Steinlager is doing a promotion and giving way $100,000 in funding to someone’s ‘grand vision’. I think Emily deserves the bulk of it. Watch her video here and join the Facebook page for Urban Pantry. Now sign up and give this woman some love!