chicken coop updates

Building a chicken coop are you? Are we? What should it look like? for 6 chickens we should have and 8' x 4' coop and a 8' x 4' run. This can happen in many ways and for wind and design purposes should be a bit lower to the ground.

external greenhouse

The greenhouse I used to work out had a black shade cloth that we would use every summer, to prevent the greenhouse with exploding from direct sun and high humidity. we also had fans and I would spray the floor so it would feel like a jungle and satiate the plants with moisture.
With simple systems, we are evolving into a natural shade cloth, which will be vining plants that will quickly grow and wrap up along the outside of the sphere. The sphere is now however a half dome and may be easier to design a system to install plants in, instead of this fabric soil hanging container. Still the concept is the same. Create trellising string that will rise 1-3" from the infrastructure poles and lace string so the trellising plants have somewhere to go.
the plants must be SUN- LOVING! with suggestions for grapes, morning glory, peas........other perrenials, which is not a priority. Annuals should do fine, but having it edible would be quite a feat pending it is not too high, or a ladder will be in order.

Irrigation System

The irrigation system is a 5 gallon square restaurant bucket. One will rest on the top of each mound and be outfitted with Drip tape that will gravity fill the mound with enough weekly water. Gardens in NYC have a general water requirement of 1' per week, which is 2 waterings 2 times per week. Of course, that is rain dependant.

Greenhouse

There will also be a greenhouse on board, which is being outfitted with a hydroponics system designed by the engineering class in Northern Californian. For now the design specs are created so that the structure appromiately 20' x 20' will be a half dome. There will be an opening at the very top in the shape of a circle and a "cap" of sorts that will be the lid of the greenhouse. The lid of the greenhouse roof wil allow for ventilation, and will also serve as a rainwater catch system. the rainwater catch system will run directly down into the planters down below.

Inside the greenhouse will be a structure that is welded to fit the circular shape of the inside measurements and provide a hanging rack for the buckets of container plants that will fill it.

Chickens in the city!

In New York City, senior gardener Abu Talib oversees the Taqwa Community Farm and its 13 chickens.
In 19th-century Manhattan, hogs roamed the streets and cattle grazed in public parks. Today, chickens are the urban livestock of choice, and not just in New York. City dwellers across the U.S. are adding hens to their yards and gardens, garnering fresh eggs, fertilizer, and community ties, with localities debating and updating their ordinances accordingly.

Urban chickens fell out of favor in the last century because of industrialization and other factors. In the 1990s, though, they enjoyed a renaissance in the local-food-loving Pacific Northwest. The current recession and farm-to-table movement have taken the trend further still. “Just get a few chickens and you can feed yourself,” says AbuTalib of the Bronx’s Taqwa Community Farm. “He who controls your breadbasket controls your destiny.”
—Winona Dimeo-Ediger
Photo: Ira Block
Posted by National Geographic Staff | Comments (0)Filed Under: Culture, Wide Angle

Seed Kits for seed growers all over NYC

Developing seed kits is a small feet for extending the growth of tons of seeds

I must admit, featuring a wildly outrageous selection of greens,

tomatoes, 5 different varieties and tastes of basil is quite a treat.

Growing all of these different varieties is a whole other process.

We created 8 kits and are in the process of selecting people to nurture

these seeds.

Funny how seed sorting in the city, sometimes ends up on the empty desk at a fed-ex kinkos.

We have our first call out to sowers all over NYC.

seed starting 101

There is so much info about seed starting, books, courses at the local botanical garden and through places like the lower east side ecology center, it is such a relief to come across these simple guides, and even more fun when they end up on your gardening pal's kitchen table in the Ukranian village in Chicago.

7 days after sowing

The Calendula, Arugula and Onions have started to show themselves just 7 days after sowing. I have placed the started seeds in the window sills and in spaces receiving sunlight but away from the windows. The plants that have started to sprout are not in the window sill, so I'm wondering if its still too cold near the window for the seeds to germinate. The length of time to germination varies with plants so they could just need more time.

The 6 packs and oatmeal containers are holding up fine for now. The toilet paper roll, on the other hand, is starting to feel pretty soft. They have all held their moisture pretty well, so I've only watered twice since planting them.

I'm collecting more waxed 1/2 gallon milk containers for my next seed starting day. They can be used for individual plants by cutting in half when vertical, or can be turned on their side and used for lettuce/greens starting beds.

Water estimations

What do you think? how do you measure how much garden a garden will need? We have a landscape architect on board getting specs. Often with hoses in our backyards, we don't have to think of emptying a tank. When having to estimate and take the options of resourcing water the factor becomes crucial, not just for the garden but for the crew of students at Humbolt University designing the water filtration system.

Here is the first attempt! Luckily with suggestion from scientist and permaculture consultant Andrew Faust we have two things on our side: A reminder that the average summer rainfall in NYC is a plentiful amount. Hard to depend on and often in downpours that drainage and flooding becomes a concern, but plentiful, if predictions can allow for it.
Also: the three sister's garden is the BEST for drought tolerant features. Meaning that once established, it needs little to no water (irrigation that is).

Here however are some speculations of water calculation.

Case 1: Using the landscape irrigation formulas that I calculate with at my job, I figured that if a vegetable garden consumed as much water as a lawn, exposed to full sun in New York City, that it would consume 4,040 gallons of water per month if it used drip irrigation. Spray irrigation was even less efficient.
Assumptions:1600 ft2 of garden full sun / maximum exposure New York City regional evapotranspiration rate for the month of July - 4.34Drip irrigation

Case 2: Using the same formulas, my other estimates involved converting units from metric to standard, but i was unsure of some other values. Assuming the worst with a best guess, i calculated that if a garden was equally divided up amongst cabbage, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, 2 kinds of onions, peppers, onions and tomatoes, that it would consume 8,773 gallons per month (I found crop evapotranspiration data for these plants in metric units online).
Assumptions:1600 ft2 of garden full sun / maximum exposure New York City regional evapotranspiration rate for the month of July - 4.34Drip irrigation

Case 3: I looked for another way to figure out the water use consumptions, so I took it back to the basics and tried to find an online resource that talked about inches of water applied when irrigating. This case assumes a traditional spray irrigation - I found one website that said apply 2" of water "often" to vegetables during peak growth. I know that you have to water vegetables AT LEAST every other day during the height of the summer, so i figured conservatively - 2" of water over 1600 ft2, 15x per month equals 29,995 gallons. That seems way too high.
Assumptions:1600 ft2 of garden2" water per irrigation Water applied every other day (15x per month)Spray irrigation

still yet to be finalized...each answer varies the water supply so heavily!
we'll keep you posted

sowing wildly

With a crew of us planters, visionaries and artists who are passionate about edible creations..we would like to share with you an update of the garden planning:

This is the list of goods that we have planned into our garden plan:

These are the list of seeds from my archived collection

giant grey stripe sunflowers
deep orange safflower
amaranth
supermane sunflower
torch sunflower
fuji dawn
Hollyhock seeds
snapdragon
Marigold
mini loofah
african Marigolds
deep purple hollyhocks
yellow hollyhocks
Tall amaranth
Pink Hollyhock
Tomato Heirloom Mix
Yellow Bell Pepper
tennis ball lettuce
Forellesnschluss lettuce
arugula Heirloom
Loiusianna Green Velvet Okra
wheat
afphan sesame
arugula roquette heirloom
red rocoto pepper
Super Red HYB Cabbage
pan de zucchero chicory
chia
rat tails podding radish
Weeks NC Giant Watermelon
Weeks NC Giant cantaloupe

Seeds just recently bought at BBG and whose care they are now in:

Flying Saucer Morning Glory

Spinach

Red Onion

Yellow Onion

Celery

One meal Cucumber