Groundswell Community Network in British Columbia, Canada have constructed a passive solar greenhouse that greatly extends the growing season for a wide range of crops and reduces energy consumption to a minimum. The north side of the building is insulated and built with a high thermal mass to store heat and the glazed structure is placed on the south side. Surplus heat collected during the day is feed into a heat store beneath the floor. There are also photo-voltaic and solar thermal panels … Read more
Foraging Wild Edible Plants There is great food under our noses...
Traditionally, in every place around the globe, people knew the local wild edible plants and their various uses. This knowledge was derived from traditions, which were formed in a constant process of trial and error, and were passed on meticulously from generation to generation. We can choose to re-learn this tradition, get to know and forage our local wild edible plants! Foraging ads diversity to our diet, is highly nutritional and accessible and is a source for food which is 100% local. … Read more
Learn About Aquaponics Training Courses in Bristol UK
The Bristol Fish Project is a community-supported aquaponics farm in Bristol established to explore and promote the commercial viability of community-supported aquaponics. They have set up training courses with the expressed aims: 1) To make aquaponics accessible 2) To enable participants to overcome specific production issues through access to specific information and expert guidance 3) To enable participants to realise true product value, by taking a systems approach focusing on the … Read more
Eco Retrofitting Older Houses Refurbishing Houses for Low Carbon Emissions
Buildings are the largest consumers of energy and worldwide there is a vast stock of old and highly inefficient homes and commercial properties. Bringing them up to modern ecological standards is a skilled matter involving insulating the structure, correctly ventilating the spaces and recovering heat from exhaust air, installing the most efficient heating systems with the lowest carbon emissions and fitting appropriate renewable energy systems such as photo-voltaic panels. The links below … Read more
Build Your Own Bee-House Attracting pollinators to your garden, made easy
It is generally well-known that pollination is important for food production. Without pollinating insects (pollinators), some plants cannot produce fruits or seeds. How can we encourage pollinators to come to our garden (be it a rural farm or an urban balcony)? 1. Grow plants that attract pollinators. Bees love the colors yellow, blue and white. The lists of plants will differ according to your location around the globe, so it's good to do some searching in your local language. 2. Build a … Read more
Bee Keeping Harvest the Honey and Help Bees Pollinate your Garden
Bees are a key part of ecosystems world wide and a great many plants rely on them for pollination and their reproduction and survival. over recent years disease and colony collapse have seen a dramatic and very alarming reduction in bee numbers. Certain pesticides are known to poison bees and other changes to our countryside such as monoculture also make life a challenge for them, weakening their immune systems. Keeping bees quite apart from being an end in itself with the pleasure of … Read more
Purify Contaminated Water for Drinking The Solar powered CleanPhoton Device Disinfects Water
It is well known that ultraviolet (UV) light has a disinfectant effect. Using a special ETFE film with high UV-transmission, it is possible to create very efficient and simple water disinfection systems. Sunvention has developed such a system, combining the effect of natural UV on water with solar heating of the water to over 50 degrees Celsius, effectively killing bacteria (including coliform bacteria) and viruses. The CleanPhoton is decentral, portable and modular. Single units can be … Read more
Swap Markets! A community exchange market to share our abundance
A Swap Market, or Swap Party is a community event, where people can freely exchange stuff that they no longer need, and receive stuff that others don't need. Instead of throwing things to the garbage, we give them away to others. Instead of buying something new, we can receive from others. Whereas consumerist culture pushes us to buy more and more things because we 'don't have enough', the Swap Market poses a joyful, sustainable alternative - there IS enough. There is abundance to share and … Read more
The Jellyfish Barge Floating Hydroponic Garden Designed to Grow Food
The Jellyfish Barge is a floating horticultural greenhouse that is able to purify salt, brackish or polluted water using solar energy and grow crops hydroponically in a highly efficient vertical arrangement. It is therefore claimed that the barge can support two families from an area of just 70sqm. It is built with low-cost technologies and consists of a wooden base that floats on recycled plastic drums and supports a glass greenhouse for crop cultivation. The hydroponic cultivation method … Read more
Reclaiming the Desert using Permaculture Turning 10 acres of Hostile Desert into an Abundant Oasis
Permaculture Teacher Geoff Lawton has created an organic garden in the harsh conditions of Wadi Rum, Jordan and shows how 10 acres of hostile desert can be transformed into an abundant oasis, that is now successfully producing food. In the links below Geoff reveals his design process and explains the steps needed to create a paradise on earth. “If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere.” he says. … Read more
