Urban Garden Resources
Many people today are finding themselves in situations where they need to produce food in what is considered unconventional agriculture conditions. Whether it be due to the restrictions of limited space, such is the case for those living in cities or challenges of work with community gardens, schools, or orphanages seeking self-sufficiency, ECHO offers resources to support the farming endeavors of those with little to no land. With solutions ranging from urban gardening on rooftops to growing food in feed-sacks and tires, these techniques show how farming can be done even with limited land and resources. Through the use of local and readily available resources these options can be easily accessible and cost effective ways of supplementing food and income for those facing the challenges of urban and community gardening.
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Key Resource1996-01-01 What can a family do if the national unemployment rate is over 50%, wages are a dollar or two a day, prices of food are increasing and may at times be even higher than in the USA, they have neither savings nor credit and there is no governmental safety net? For many, an option of last resort is...
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Key Resource2009-03-01 Rabbits are animals for folks that like to eat meat and want to raise it quickly. Rabbits reproduce quickly; up to eight bunnies every three months. A young rabbit can weigh four pounds in three months -- bigger than a broiler chicken. Rabbits are easy to raise, both in urban and rural areas....
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Key Resource2019-07-23 I discovered 100-fold gardens while researching ways to irrigate plants directly in the root zone. I wanted to know how to practically and affordably control some of the variables that influence plant growth, such as water availability and soil fertility. I read about “wicking beds,” which are...
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2018-11-20 Most hunger and malnutrition around the world is not usually caused by a lack of food, although that may be changing. From the point of view of the hungry family, the cause is usually a lack of income sufficient to purchase the food. Anyone with enough income will be able to obtain food, except...
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1990-08-19 INTRODUCTION TO OUR SPECIAL EXPANDED ISSUE. One of ECHO's purposes is to help people grow food under difficult conditions. You are not likely to encounter a soil worse for gardening than a cement slab. Neither will you find such large areas of unused growing space in full sun and near prime...
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2008-01-01 Low cost, low technology, lightweight methods to produce food on rooftops and other locations above the ground.
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2008-07-20 For 25 years, ECHO has promoted several methods for growing vegetables above ground, particularly methods well suited to urban settings on rooftops, concrete slabs, or in areas where gardens may benefit from being out of the ground
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1996-10-19 The Shallow Bed Garden The Shallow Pool Garden Wick Gardens Tire Gardens
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By Abdoulaye Seck The Microgardening technology is mainly based on 1 or 0.5 m2 wood tables and therefore, can be installed everywhere. Land is an issue in peri-urban/urban and even in some rural areas. The technology can be installed everywhere in household compounds (even in terraces and...
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This group pageexists so that individuals involved in UrbanGardens around the world can connect. We encourage you to share the challenges you face in your endeavors, discuss lessons and techniques learned through your experiences, and share your story!
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2016-01-25 When trying to find affordable planting containers in the developing world, organizations and workers all over have promoted the use of a readily-available waste resource: tires. Over the years, many have asked whether or not tires contain harmful chemicals that could potentially be taken up by...
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1996-04-19 Tires make handy containers for gardening.
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1983-06-19 I first read of this method of gardening in Organic Gardening magazine where it was referred to as permanent mulch gardening. My reaction was that there must be something wrong with anything so easy or everyone would be using it. But our garden has performed so exceptionally well with so little...
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2010-09-01 A case study on the introduction of the microgardening technology in The Gambia (West Africa)
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2014-07-01 In Haiti, a Yard Garden program is helping families and individuals to make real change in the area surrounding their homes. The results, described and pictured in some photos below, can be impressive! Mark Hare with MPP describes the program as follows: “The Yard Garden program is not about...
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The rapid growth of cities in the developing world is placing enormous demands on urban food supply systems. Agriculture – including horticulture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, and fodder and milk production – is increasingly spreading to towns and cities. Urban agriculture provides fresh food,...
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2004-07-01 Training in tire gardening was done with women in Mauritania. After the training, each woman was given several small packets of seeds and encouraged to start a garden. When we arrived in Kiffa, the only vegetable gardens that could be found were in an ancient riverbed (known as a Wadi) northwest...
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Key Resource 1996-12-01 The number of people living in cities will more than double in by the year 2033. At the same time it is clear that past incentives to keep the developing World's people in rural areas have not worked. This text presents a picture of the urban agriculture of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and...
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1994-01-01 Filled with marketing and business management basics and diverse examples that entertain and enlighten. Case studies show how successful metrofarmers possess the vision and persistence to prosper. Bob Hoftetter, New Farm Magazine There is a tremendous amount of useful information in MetroFarm....
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Abstract, Spore, 2019 April Feeding the world's growing population – two-thirds of whom will live in urban areas by 2050 – calls for agricultural innovation to facilitate food production in ever smaller spaces, especially in cities. With cities expanding and climate change placing greater...
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1994-10-01 For the urban poor of the South, food is becoming a prohibitively expensive commodity. By the late 1980s, cities of the developing world had to import half their food supply. Urban agriculture, it is argued, can reduce this dependency. But most Southern governments do not support it. Cities...
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Key Resource 1996-01-01 This is a book of practical ideas. It is written for people who help those who live and make their living under difficult conditions in the tropics and subtropics. What should a development worker do to assist a community? There are no simple answers, but there are many possibilities—plants,...
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Key Resource 2002-01-20 This Agrodok targets those who want to grow vegetables and other crops for their families or for the local market in urban and peri-urban areas. Factors that urban agriculturalists and gardeners need to take into consideration when selecting where to plant their crops and the best methods of...
- Abstract,International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 2018 In urban centers today, Controlled Environment Agriculture is being proposed as a potential alternative to conventional agriculture using hydroponic methods in controlled spaces as a means to increase local food production and...
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Abstract, HortTechnology, 2019 Urban horticulture is not as new as many people think. Throughout history, different techniques have been used to ensure sustainable urban agricultural production. A good example of this is the chinampa system, which was developed during the time of the Aztecs in...
- Abstract, Horticulturae, 2016 A wicking bed (WB) is a plant driven system where plants receive water through capillary rise from a self-contained coarse material-filled subsoil reservoir. WBs have been widely promoted as a water-efficient irrigation solution for small-scale and urban food...
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ECHO staff demonstrated various methods for using Appropriate Technology in an Urban Garden setting. Produced by NCAT - The National Center for Appropriate Technology
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2025-03-19 Home gardens are typically small growing areas near the homestead that contain crops of specific importance to the family. Home gardens offer quick access to herbs, fruits, and vegetables that help boost household nutrition.This article will detail step-by-step instructions for how to make a tire...
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Abstract,Acta Horticulturae1189, 2017 Urban agriculture is increasingly popular for social and economic benefits. However, edible crops grown in cities can be contaminated by airborne pollutants, thus leading to serious health risks. Therefore, a better understanding of contamination risks of...
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1981-01-01 This publication is designed to help those who live in the Tropics and whose space is limited to grow some of their own food in containers. It contains information on choosing containers and sites, preparing the soil, establishing and caring for the plants, avoiding insect and disease problems,...
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1994-12-19 Women survive on little land - Argentina City farming Hydroponics Bio-intensive gardening - Bangladesh Philippine resettlers start organic gardens Urban agriculture network Gardening on garbage Waste Grazing alternatives The cattle of Chitungwiza
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2002-01-01 Growing Vegetables in Cities Urban agriculture can be described as follows: “All forms of agricultural production in or directly adjacent to the city, which mainly provide urban markets with food products for sale to consumers or for consumption by the city-dwelling growers themselves.” This...
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1993-05-19 The goal of ECHO's rooftop gardening project is to develop gardens that are: exceptionally lightweight inexpensive uncomplicated to build and maintain
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da Cunha, M.A., Paraguassú, L.A.A., Assis, J.G.d.et al.Urban gardening and neglected and underutilized species in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine16, 67 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-020-00421-0 Urban agriculture has been evidenced as a food production and...
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Presented at the ECHO International Agriculture Conference 2015 Mark’s presentation will demonstrate how the Haiti-based FONDAMA Yard Garden program helps people make small, daily changes that are consistent, persistent, and positive without being intrusive. We will look at examples of how the...
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2015-11-18 Mark’s presentation will demonstrate how the Haiti-based FONDAMA Yard Garden program helps people make small, daily changes that are consistent, persistent, and positive without being intrusive. We will look at examples of how the program helps people recognize the power they have to learn to use...
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2015-01-20 As people increasingly migrate to urban settings and more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, it is vital to plan and provide for sustainable and resilient food systems which refl ect this challenge. This volume presents experience and evidence-based “state of the art”...
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The RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems is a partnership of strategically selected expert institutions. The partnership brings together cities, research institutes and civil society organisations with a recognised track record in urban and peri-urban...