Agri & Gardening

You either have green fingers, or you do not. Those of us blessed with it credit this particular talent for their blossoming, thriving gardens. On the other hand, those with the ‘touch of death’ - myself included - are sure of their ability to wilt away a flower by simply looking at it.  Many Thought It Was Difficult? Roof Gardens. is it? Roof Gardens Are Easy To Maintain Why should this part of the population even think of roof gardens as a viable option? Well, that is relatively simple. The roof garden is not as hard to maintain as the fuchsias in your backyard, difficult to believe as it may be. All you have to do is ensure that there is a proper drainage system for the pots or beds on your roof so that they do not overflow.   Many thought it was not easy, but it is really not. Instead, roof gardens are beautiful, an excellent climate control system, and an asset for the environment. Recommended:  Rooftop Garden: Sustainable Urban Agriculture Roof Gardens And The Impact On Your Health All of the pollution in the air around us is negatively affecting our health. Especially when living in crowded cities, the rising number of pollution particles in the air, and the lack of trees and plants can give rise to an alarming lack of fresh oxygen in our lungs.   As there is not a lot of space left to green up those cities, governments worldwide have now started investing in a solution that may help make areas slightly more suitable for living: roof gardens or roof farms.   Happy Gardeners Pvt Ltd in Bangalore is one of the leading businesses in the Terrace Vegetable Garden On Hire. Also known for Roof Gardening Services, Terrace Vegetable Garden On Hire, Terrace Vegetable Gardening Services, and much more.  Recommended:  Easy Indoor Herb Garden Kits, Plus Expert Tips It is not just the fresher air that it gives us. In urban areas, it is generally much warmer in the summertime. This results from the amount of concrete used on rooftops, a material that absorbs sunlight and makes the area as a whole warmer. Roof gardens, on the other hand, are a much better absorber of sunlight - it does not keep the heat trapped, but rather uses it to grow more green goodness. Simultaneously, a roof garden keeps the building underneath it nice and cool, as a natural air conditioning alternative; or traps heat in the winter, avoiding the need for heating. Recommended:  Green-roof Home Concept Studio Penda The Ying Yang: Austria Roof Gardening Is Nothing New It doesn’t just do wonders for our health and energy bills; it also lifts our mood like nothing else. It is not just the sight of something pretty and green, but also the relaxing activity it offers us: gardening. The idea of roof gardening is actually nothing new. It was already done back in the Roman Empire around 600 BC or in Egypt around the 11 th century AD. These ancient populations already used roof gardens to grow their own produce. Iraq Hanging Gardens of Babylon is an Ancient Wonder… This Ancient Wonder site The Hanging Gardens in Babylon (also known as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, Hanging Garden Mesopotamia, hanging garden Iraq) and the walls of Babylon (present-day Iraq) are considered to be one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They understood that laying out an entire garden was not necessarily needed. Just placing some pots on the roof already did the job, growing herbs and vegetables like basil, groundnut, coriander, mint, pepper, tomato, onion, and so on. It was not just houses covered with these rooftop oases, but their temples got a similar treatment. Back then, the Romans and Egyptians used mud-roofing, roofs that were actually strengthened by the growing of plants. It was not unusual for entire towns to look like one giant garden when looking down from space, or so the rumors go. And while this practice has gone out of fashion as we went full steam ahead with new technologies and our hunger for expansion, we are only now inching back towards it. Recommended:  Sunbathing In Tiny House Cécile: A Sliding Roof It Is All About The Right Choices And while we may not have mud roofs anymore, it will be good to know that pretty much all roofs are suitable. You should keep in mind how much space you have available for your rooftop garden and not get too overly ambitious - maybe start with a pot or two before moving on.   There are some more things to keep in mind. It is always good to opt for plants that are not too greedy when it comes to available space. You do not want one little green bugger to cover up your entire roof - and a good part of your neighbor’s. Speaking of, you might want to keep a good distance between the pots. If you are not too sure about what to start with, you can consider some fruit plants - like lemons, apples, malts, and grapes, depending on your climate. Vegetables are a similarly good option. Think tomatoes, coriander, mint, eggplant, okra, zucchini, bitter gourd, pumpkin, carrot, radish, or corn. The climate is not your only consideration - please keep in mind that you will have to eat it, too. So better stick to the options that you actually like as part of your meal. Ready? Got your first two pots out? No need to fret over ‘em. They will be just fine, as long as you ensure they get plenty of sunlight, water, and fertilizer. And make sure that the pots you use have proper drainage for excess water to flow away.   Then, all you have to do is sit back and watch. Watch the plants grow, watch them attract more birds and insects. And as your rooftop garden grows, grow with it—research things like plant nurseries, vertical gardens, or rooftop farming. And before you know it, you will have your own green oasis in the city - doing your part in greening it up.   Before you go! Recommended:  Algae Canopy Miracle Works Better Than A Forrest: How? Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about roof gardens? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.

Remove the tiles from gardens. Nature loves green Living your environment, the environment, and you should have more green than hard pavement in your garden. Six reasons in a row to get started and green your garden. When Tiles Removed There Is Less Flooding Due to climate change, we will have to deal more with heavy rain showers in the coming decades. All that water cannot sink into the ground if there are tiles and pavement everywhere. And that means that the already overloaded sewer will be even more loaded. The result is flooding, in which you have to think of flooded cellars, a hindrance to traffic, or floating maintenance hole covers. If we all remove tiles together, put more grass, plants, and trees in our garden, that would make a huge difference. Cool Climate On Hot Summer Days The temperatures are rising, and although some people enjoy a mild winter and hot summer, there is something to be said for cooling off. Green takes care of that. Tiles and pavement absorb heat and result in higher temperatures. The more green there is in a certain neighborhood, the more coolness you can find on a hot summer day. That is why such a plea is being made for more green roofs in the city: they keep the climate under control and provide the necessary cooling. The Earth Absorbs Carbon Better Without Tiles The soil in your garden can store a large amount of carbon from the air. This makes a green garden unexpectedly a major asset in the fight against climate change. This was read in the New York Times. The soil in your garden can store more carbon than, for example, an urban forest, says Carly Ziter of Wisconsin-Madison University in America. So, remove the tiles from gardens. Nature loves green Flowery Gardens Are Good For Bees And Butterflies We all know now that bees and butterflies are getting more difficult because of all the 'hardcover.' In rural areas, there is hardly any room for them, which means that special 'bee ribbons' are installed ensure that they do not die out. More flowers in your backyard help just as well, and it is still beautiful to look at. Green Improves Your Concentration Research from the University of Melbourne shows that looking at a green roof increases your concentration. In that study, 150 students got a boring job. Halfway they were allowed to take a small break of 40 seconds, one half looking at a photo of a green roof and the other half looking at boring concrete. After the break, the students who had looked at the green roof turned out to perform better. Looking at green helps you to concentrate and continue to perform better. A green garden view from your office, therefore, seems a must. Recommended:  2019 Houseplant Trends And Greening Up Your Houseplants Green Reduces Stress Plants can lower blood pressure, reduce tension in the muscles, and reduce feelings of anger, aggression, and anxiety. In 2002, the University of California - Riverside researched that hospital patients with a view of green heal faster than comparable patients who had no green prospect. Japanese doctor Qing Li also investigated the effects of green on your health. This showed that regular 'forest baths,' walking slowly and consciously through the forest, have positive consequences for your resistance. Before you go! Recommended:  Agrivoltaics: Food, Water, Energy At Its Best Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own garden experience with more 'green' and fewer tiles? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.

Halloween traditions may look different this year to keep everyone safe from COVID-19. However, there are still plenty of ways families can have fun while avoiding the scare of being exposed to or spreading the virus.  And did you kow that pumpkins and found their orgin probably in Central and South America and Mexico. Halloween And COVID-19: A Dangerous Match Any way you look at it, Halloween will feel a little different this year. From a public health viewpoint, adopting safer ways to celebrate is more likely to ensure that October 31 2020 is still festive and fun, but not a day of superspreading events. Photo by Etsy. A close-up of Light Up Your Life's LED COVID-19 mask for Halloween. The coronavirus pandemic has put many Halloween plans - from haunted houses to trick-or-treating - on hold this year. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that some celebrants will be channeling their frustrations into ghoulish costumes inspired by 'the most feared monster out there, COVID-19'. Halloween celebrations should begin with the fundamental precautions we should all be taking with any activity during this pandemic, and it’s more important than ever before that you keep doing what you have been doing: staying home if you are sick, avoiding large gatherings, keeping your distance of six feet from others, wearing a cloth face covering, and washing your hands often. Traditional Halloween activities are fun, but some can increase the risk of getting or spreading COVID-19. You can make the most of it by planning some safe and alternate ways to participate in Halloween-fun activities for your family. Halloween Advice To Protect ‘Visitors’. Make trick-or-treating safer by avoiding contact with trick-or-treaters by staying at least six feet or one and a half meter away from others who do not live with you. If you are handing out treats, give out treats outdoors, if possible. Set up a station with individually bagged treats for kids to take. Wash your hands before handling treats and wear a mask. When trick-or-treating it is important to wear a mask. Make your cloth mask part of your costume. However, a costume mask is not a substitute for a cloth mask and do not wear a costume mask over a cloth mask it can make breathing more difficult. Trump Halloween masks sales are increasing! Halloween Activities And Steps To Protect Yourself From Getting Or Spreading COVID-19 Lower-risk activities could include decorating and carving pumpkins with members of your household or outside with neighbors or friends. You can hold a Halloween treat hunt with household members in and around your house. Hold an outdoor costume parade or contest so everyone can show off their costumes where people are socially distanced. You can also host a socially distanced outdoor Halloween movie night with friends or neighbors or an indoor movie night with your household members. Visit a pumpkin patch or orchard where mask-wearing is encouraged and people are able to maintain six-feet of social distancing. Remember to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer frequently, especially after touching frequently touched surfaces, pumpkins or apples. Go to a one-way, walk-through haunted forest or corn maze. Pumpkins, Squash, Gourds, Where Do They Come From? Pumpkins, squash and gourds are all members of the cucurbitaceae family. They are made up of an extremely diverse group consisting of more than 100 genera and 700 species. History has told us that they have been a source for food and utilitarian objects of all kinds for thousands of years at archaeological digging sights and such. {youtube}                                                                    History of Halloween - Documentary                                          Pumpkins, Squash, Gourds Have One Event In Common: Halloween Hard-shelled squash and gourds, from as far back as what is deemed prehistoric, typically were grown to be utilized as a vessel to hold water or even dry products, such as grains or powders, by removing a section of the neck and hollowing it out by removing the seeds and drying it. Some hard squash varieties also contained a valuable source for food with its thick flesh under the hard skin and still do to this day. It is unknown exactly where the origins of the species started but it is thought that it occurred in the Western Hemisphere, probably in Central and South America and Mexico. Pumpkins Or Squash Popular For Thousands Of Years In the United States, if a squash is round and orange and utilized for pies, fall decorating, or a jack-o-lantern, it is probably called a pumpkin, which has no botanical meaning because they are actually all squash. There are two varieties of squash: summer squash and hard-skinned or winter squash. Zucchini is a form of summer squash. Others are straightneck and crookneck as well as other varieties. Winter squash typically have a harder skin and can be stored for longer periods if kept cool and dry. They include acorn, Hubbard, spaghetti, banana, butternut, cushaw, and others. Gourds For Storing Liquid Hard-shell gourds are green while growing but eventually turn tan when left to dry and cure. These are the ones that have been utilized as vessels for liquids as well as dry materials. In our recent culture, they can be seen to provide birdhouses for various species of birds. Then there are the small decorative gourds, some with green and yellow interesting patterns. Recommended:  Food As A Rowing Boat: The Pumpkin Regatta. Eat Or Beat Them Halloween & Pumpkin time! What can you do at a Halloween party? Eyeball Race. This game is a variation of the classic egg-on-a-spoon relay race Capture the Witch This game may be simple, but it's loads of fun Mummy-Wrapping Race Costume Contest One-House Trick-Or-Treating Jack-O-Lantern Face Crafting Halloween Movie Time Yes, it is almost time for Halloween and that means it is pumpkin time; they are everywhere. If you haven’t seen any then you must be living under a rock because supermarkets, orchard outlets and roadside stands display them prominently at their businesses. Some displays are enormous. There seems to be nothing more satisfying this time of year than seeing huge displays of these orange marvels that range in size from tiny miniatures to giant behemoths and they run the gambit when it comes to shapes. Some are grown specifically for local contests, growing to 400 to 500 pounds and more; babied and even milk-fed through the stem to reach these monstrous sizes. Recommended: Halloween Recipes Pumpkin Waste In UK Hits Scary Heights This Halloween More than 8m squashes likely to be binned after annual lantern carving, study shows. An estimated 10m pumpkins are grown in the UK every year, 95% of which used for ghoulish lanterns.  Britons are expected to generate record levels of food waste over Halloween this year. More than 8m pumpkins – equivalent to more than 18,000 tonnes of edible pumpkin flesh, will be heading for the bin because the majority of consumers will not eat it. What should I cook for Halloween? Our Top Halloween Recipes Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Pumpkin Seeds Chicken Pumpkins Mac-o'-Lantern and Cheese Bowls Frankenshake and Bride of Frankenshake Black Magic Cake Mummy Hand Pies Haunted Gingerbread House About 40% of consumers buy fresh pumpkins to hollow out and carve to celebrate Halloween, but 60% of those admit they do not use the flesh, according to research by the stock cube brand Knorr and the environmental charity Hubbub. Halloween has become a big money-spinner for retailers. An estimated 10m pumpkins are grown in the UK every year, 95% of which are hollowed out to create ghoulish lanterns. Meanwhile, the UK’s first commercially brewed beer made from pumpkin flesh that would otherwise go to waste will go on sale at the end of November. Toast Ale, the social enterprise that three years ago launched a beer made from surplus bread, will brew the Belgian-style pumpkin dubbel using squashes collected by volunteers from local farms. It’s all too easy for people to forget that Halloween pumpkins are still food. When they are only used for carving this contributes to food waste in the UK homes every year. Recommended:  Best Sustainable Autumn Life: Exercise, Food, Lifestyle Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own article about sustainability? Click on  'Register'  or push the button 'Write An Article' on the  'HomePage'

Wait. What? As with so many sustainability-related matters, this sounds like a true juxtaposition. How could a diesel engine, a notorious polluter, be responsible for any reduction in CO2 emissions? Well, you have got to thank some researchers from the KU Leuven and the University of Antwerp for this seemingly weird hypothesis.   No CO2: Fertilizer The Belgian scientists were looking at one of the most polluting processes on earth: the production of ammonia, a key ingredient for - amongst others - fertilizer. This bad boy is responsible for some two percent of our global CO2 emissions. As we will continue to use fertilizer, potentially even more so in the future, as we need to feed more mouths while dealing with worsening soil conditions, they wanted to see if they could figure out a way of producing ammonia without the harmful CO2 emissions.   Creating Greener Ammonia Guess what they found? Using a technique first pioneered in diesel-powered cars, they can now do so. As an additional bonus, the system they propose can easily be implemented on a small-scale, so that farmers can start producing their own fertilizer with nothing more than a couple of solar panels and this installation, modeled after the diesel engine. Hero Agri fertilizers. To understand how this installation works, it is time for a quick chems lesson. To produce ammonia for fertilizer, quite a bit of hydrogen is required - which is made using natural gas. On top of that, the splitting of a nitrogen molecule requires a lot of heat - once again, generated using fossil fuels.   Plasma Reactor To The Rescue The installation proposed by these scientists goes about the splitting of this nitrogen molecule differently. Instead of using high pressure and a high temperature, they do so in a plasma reactor. Granted, plasma production also requires a lot of energy, but this can easily be generated in a renewable fashion. Think wind of solar. When the plasma is properly used, it serves to split nitrogen molecules from the air. As a part of this process, the molecule responds by creating oxygen. And ta-dah, NOx is born. One of the key components of ammonia. So far, pretty nifty, but how does this relate to the diesel engine? Recommended:  Algae-Based Bioreactor: It Loves Swallowing CO2 Hang on; I am getting there. The second part of this process is the one that has been borrowed from the automotive industry. To somewhat reduce the harmful effect of exhaust fumes, a filter is installed in the exhaust of (diesel-powered) cars. This piece actively converts the polluting NOx to nitrogen. As professor Johan Martens, one of the lead scientists, explains: “ By slightly adjusting the filter, it starts to produce ammonia instead of nitrogen. When using it in the car, this would be an unwanted side-effect of a malfunctioning filter. However, for our purposes, it is perfect .” In short? This filter ensures that the NOx produced in the plasma reactor will work together with hydrogen to produce ammonia. Hydrogen Must Become Greener You got me here. By mentioning the ‘h’ word, it shows that there is a flaw. The process still uses hydrogen, which can - for now - only be produced using natural gas. To make this fertilizer-production process fully sustainable, the hydrogen will also have to be produced in a green fashion.   Recommended:  Breaking News! Hydrogen Cheaply Produced By Solar In Belgium While all technologies for creating green hydrogen are still in their infant stage, the researchers are not worried about it. They claim their invention is mostly for small-scale use, meaning that only tiny amounts of hydrogen are needed. At the same time, the KU Leuven University is working on creating hydrogen using water from the air and solar energy, proving that it can be done. Photo by Tractebel Greener Fertiliser Production The small scale is what makes this project so interesting. It could allow small farming businesses to produce their own fertilizer, which will be advantageous to both farmers and society. “ As a farm, you can generate enough green energy to make this work ,” scientists claim - while also pointing at the opportunities for such a technology in developing nations. It is hard to get access to fertilizer in those regions, as it will have to be shipped and travel great distances. Only one of those installations in a community could, therefore, already prove to be a game-changer.   Before you go! Recommended:  Climate Change: Water Scarcity, Hunger, Agriculture, And Food Do you like this article about agrivoltaics, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write and publish your article about growing food or solar energy? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to  [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.

As always, there’s one thing that the packaging industry is good at. Providing all sorts of obscure and possibly misleading terms to let us believe it is one thing or another. You know what I am talking about. Biodegradable, compostable, bio-based, renewable. It is somehow gradable or bio-friendly, but what does it exactly mean? Do these products of a late-night game of Scrabble tell what you think they do? Let’s figure it out. Biodegradable The mother of all terms: biodegradable. One of those things that marketers noticed and figured that it would look good on, well, pretty much anything. It is meant to be a fluffy, do-well-for-the-world endearment. But what does it mean? Going by the word itself, it merely says that over time, something is broken down (degraded) back to its natural components, thanks to a wealth of biological organisms. Zooming in on this explanation, one of the critical issues is that it merely has to be possible ‘overtime.’ This means that no length of time is given or set that dictates when something can potentially be biodegradable. Recommended:  Fashion From Algae Absorbs CO2: Is It Wearable? Eventually, this just means that pretty much everything around us is biodegradable to some extent. Everything will eventually turn into something else. Look at plastics. They may be degradable, but what few producers mention is how it generates a whole lot of methane while taking its sweet time to degrade. And methane happens to be the bad guy, even more, detrimental for our environment than carbon dioxide. So basically, we are toying with a word to make it look good while it is not. Degradable merely means that living things will not eat it. It may break down, but not in a ‘biological’ manner if you will. Plastics are decidedly not eaten by anything alive unless you count the sea life being suffocated in our oceans as they ingest it. It does break down but does so by falling apart as the polymers let go of each other. This is not ‘bio’ in any way. It only means that plastic turns into microplastics - something that is all around us, but that we are blissfully unaware of. Perhaps for the better, as we do not know what their impact on us and the environment may be. Compostable A very similar term, but once again, you got to mind the nuances. Compostable means to say that something is broken down by natural processes, after which it becomes something non-toxic and potentially nutritious. Think of food waste, cardboard, and newspapers. A smart guy somewhere thought to add the word ‘home’ to it, claiming that something is ‘home compostable’ if you can let this process take place at home. There is some kind of standard. You have to apply to have your product tested and officially certified as compostable. While many people think that this also means that it will compost in your bin at home, the truth is that many of those products can only compost in certain circumstances - through forced processes. So while home composting may be the ultimate, you might just have to settle for commercial composting. Not bad, as long as you make sure to dispose of it correctly. Recommended:  Bioplastic From Fish Scale And Skin  Compost s Fast Oxo-Degradable Let’s be short and clear about oxo-degradable products. They should not be allowed to exist. While it may sound fancy, it is something to steer clear of. Plastics that are dubbed oxo-degradable are breaking down into smaller microplastics pieces. Plastic manufacturers perhaps believe that this term will lull consumers in thinking that this is better than regular plastics, but trust us, it is not. Bio-Based Also known as plant-based. Products with this title are usually made using something organic. Great for your marketing - but not so much for the environment. Even if your hemp plastic is produced in an entirely organic manner, it does not mean that it will break down as such. Quite the contrary, it is not always compostable and will not produce more oxygen than carbon dioxide. Looking from a distance, bio-plastics made using hemp or sugar are not that different from fuel-derived plastics. The lesson here is that the starting material does not impact biodegradability or overall sustainability by that much. Bottles made from hemp Recommended:  Hemp: High-Performance Stuff For Now And Always Renewable Sources A proud statement that something was created using renewable resources, like wind or solar. Or, at the very least, that something was created while compensating for our use of that thing. Once again, just as for bio-based, all good and well that something is made sustainably, but this does not affect its ability to break down easier or better. Recommended:  Solar Space Farms: Next Step In Renewable Energy Biodegradable Or Compostable? What Can You Do? There is a term for all of this—Greenwashing, or using all kinds of unregulated claims to influence the consumer’s purchase decision. The only way to deal with it is by being - and staying - informed. Knowing the actual meaning is critical. It definitely would not hurt to spread this true meaning around a bit more. You might even appeal to your local government to help get proper legislation in place for the use of such terms.   Words like this should never be used to mislead consumers. Their intentions to help make the world a better place should not be thwarted and polluted by false claims and labels. Instead, we should all find a better way of communicating what the best (or better) options are when it comes to taking care of our planet. Recommended:  Algae Canopy Miracle Works Better Than A Forrest: How? Did you find this an interesting article, or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your article about biodegradable products and to compost? Send your writing & scribble with a photo to [email protected] , and we will write an interesting article based on your input.