Chicago City Hall Roof Garden from Planetizen

While perusing the Washington Post website today, I found an interesting article about using excess heat from manufacturing processes to grow vegetables in rooftop greenhouses. The article mentions a company that forges car parts and hand tools near Detroit that has already planted and harvested its first crop. Rooftop gardening is different than well-known green roofs, but the benefits are very similar: reduced building energy consumption, reduced stormwater runoff, and pollutant filtration. However, the rooftop gardens add another benefit – fresh vegetables and fruits. I like the idea of going and picking my salad for lunch from the roof of my building – healthy and innovative!

PS Image is not to suggest that there is a lot of hot air at the Chicago City Hall…

Thanks to Terra Lingley from CH2M HILL in Portland

Treehuggers Tool Library Image

Problem: West Seattle neighborhoods include lots of passionate urban gardeners yet many urban neighborhoods don’t come with the big toolsheds.  

Answer: The Tool Library!  Following many urban communities like Portland, OR , Berkeley, CA and West Philly, PA, West Seattle is opening a tool lending library on June 12th!  Populated with mostly donated items, houshold and garden tools are available for temporary use at the unbeatable price of pay-what-you-can.   According to Sustainable West Seattle more than just being a convenience the West Seattle tool lending library is intended to encourage residents to engage in sustainable practices including growing foods and participating in park restoration projects.  The tool library is sponsored by Sustainable West Seattle using a grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.  It is located in the north end of South Seattle Communty College.

Guerrilla gardeners planting vegetables in in downtown Calgary (from Wikipedia)

• Build a compost bin that is stylish and functioning
• Planting a color coded or themed garden
• Creating a garden for an apartment dweller
• Urban guerrilla gardening

So my question is: will this have an impact on our food independence and will we see more gardens in the ‘burbs? Can’t wait to find out!

Note: check out The Victory Garden for an existing TV show about gardening.

For <more articles on Celebrity gardening shows>.