Urban Permaculture

Self-sustaining food, fibre and energy producing ecosystems

© Grégoire Lamoureux

The highest percentage of people in the western world live in an urban environment. Cities drain resources away from rural areas and typically produce an amazing amount of pollution, which is often exported back to the country. One of our first priorities should be to close the loop and produce most of the needs within the city and make better use of the pollutants. In permaculture, a pollutant is just an unused resource.

One strategy is to increase the amount of food produced within the city. Shanghai, in China, grows most of its green vegetables, and Hong Kong is 40 percent self-sufficient in vegetables. By increasing the amount of plants and trees grown in cities, we can transform much of the pollution, such as carbon dioxide produced by automobiles, and at the same time create more buffer zones between cars and people.

I would propose returning 50 percent of the streets back to nature by doing major planting of trees and shrubs, and also by having trails for people and bikes. This would involve digging out the creeks from culverts and integrating a network of green corridors for wildlife and people.

Another level some people are working on is to reduce the amount of cars in cities by replacing them with a more efficient public transportation.

Starting in your own home, you can grow food inside by sprouting a great variety of seeds and grains, eating these raw, cooked or juiced. You can grow many plants on the window sill, in a window greenhouse or under lights. Your food waste can be fed to your worm box and the worm castings used to feed the soil for your plants. Herbs are easily potted and grown inside, giving you a supply of fresh herbs whenever needed.

The apartment balcony has great potential for growing. Most of its space can be used efficiently and by using trellises you can use more vertical space and grow climbing vines such as pole beans, peas, grapes, etc. You can also have a dwarf fruit trees in big containers (roots can be pruned from time to time to prevent root-binding). Always make sure the balcony structure will support the extra weight of adding multiple containers filled with soil!

One technique used for growing plants in containers on rooftops and not having to haul large amounts of soil on the roof is to use dead leaves as the main growing medium; some soil is added on top for the seeds, or to hold the plants. If you're growing fruit trees in a small amount of space, you need to do intensive pruning and use techniques such as espalier and growing the branches along a wall. If you live in a cold climate you can have your planters on wheels, and bring them inside at night or when it's freezing. Another strategy is to cover the balcony with plastic or windows to create a greenhouse and warmer temperature.

If you live in a city or suburb and don't have access to outside growing space, you can contact the local community garden, or create one if there isn't one. Some people in various cities are taking over unused land and turning it into a productive garden or orchard, feeding themselves and other people from the neighborhood. This is sometimes called the “green guerilla” movement.

If you have access to a small piece of land, you need to make the best use of it. This same principle applies as when doing larger design, but with a smaller area you need to do it even more intensively. Start right by the door and have all your herbs and salad greens and other vegetables you eat everyday there. By careful observation and by being aware of the different microclimates around each side of the house, you can put the plants that need the most sun or shade, etc. in the most appropriate place.

Some people will replace the lawn on the boulevard with flowers, shrubs or small trees that will create a buffer zone and absorb the pollutants from the street. I would use a non-food planting for that purpose. Another problem found in cities is the unknown quality of the soil. By taking many soil samples to the university lab and asking students for a soil analysis, you will learn what is in your soil. If any amount of heavy metal or a high concentration of one mineral is present, you can used a technique known as “bioremediation” to lock up those elements in trees or plants that will get composted or mulched in another ecosystem needing that element. (I will explore this technique in a later column.)

Cities have an amazing amount of diversity in plant material. By joining your local garden club, or making a connection with different ethnic neighborhoods you can get access to hard-to-find plants or seeds. It's a good way to start a garden with little input, by collecting surpluses, or prunings or thinnings, from long time gardeners or neighbors. It's also a good way to meet friends and learn more about the place where you live.
 

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Article courtesy Natural Life Magazine

© Grégoire Lamoureux

Grégoire Lamoureux isthe Director of the Kootenay Permaculture Institute, Box 43, Winlaw BC V0G 2J0.

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