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Glass gardens : easy terrariums, aeriums, and aquariums for your home or office
Florence provides simple instructions to help you build a terrarium. You'll learn to create easy-to-maintain cacti and succulent terrariums. She also covers water terrariums (aquariums) and air terrariums (aeriums).
Book
Tree diversity and carbon stocks in agroforestry systems in northern Ethiopia
BackgroundAgroforestry (AF) is an ancient tradition in Ethiopian dryland farming system. Several studies have examined system design, soil fertility management and system interactions, but the biodiversity and mitigation aspects of climate change have received less focus. We assessed the diversity of woody species, biomass carbon (C), and soil organic carbon (SOC) stock associated with indigenous dryland AF practices. A total of 197 smallholder farmers representing four AF practices (home garden, parkland, boundary plantation, and woodlot) from lowland, midland, and highland areas were systematically selected. The inventory of woody species was carried out on each farm's randomly formed plot.ResultsWe identified a total of 59 woody species representing 48 genera and 32 families. Shannon diversity index (H') was highest in home garden and parkland AF, while woodlots had the highest mean total stock of biomass C (31 Mg C ha−1). C stocks for smallholding systems (total biomass C and SOC 0–60 cm) ranged from 77–135 Mg ha−1. Total biomass C stocks were significantly correlated with abundance (Spearman r = 0.333; p = 0.002) but biomass components were not significantly correlated with H'. SOC soil depth stock (0–60 cm) was positively and significantly associated with H' (Spearman r = 0.291 & 0.351; p < 0.01).ConclusionsWe report greater species richness in home garden and parkland AF systems than in woodlots. While parkland AF produce lower biomass and SOC stock relative to other AF systems. The strategic use of home gardens and boundary planting can improve tree diversity and carbon storage in Ethiopian dryland ecosystems.
Journal Article
Backyard homesteading all-in-one for dummies
Knowing where your food comes from. Taking a hands-on role in providing for your family. Living more earth-friendly. Being more self-sufficient. Sound exciting? If you're ready to roll up your sleeves and move beyond a simple plot of vegetables, here's your comprehensive guide to backyard homesteading. Learn how to make the most of your resources, which tools and techniques you'll need for success, and what problems to watch out for. Get step-by-step guidance, expert tips, detailed building plans, proven recipes, and a lot more!
Book
Shaping garden landscape with medicinal plants by migrant communities in the Atlantic Forest, Argentina
Migrants’ home gardens may be created from elements of both old and new landscapes. We assume that medicinal plant assemblages in migrants’ gardens are shaped by plant diversity and availability, therapeutic needs, and heritagization processes. Which of the factors prevail: those related to biodiversity and ecology, epidemiology, or heritage and memory? In this paper we offer new knowledge on the garden landscapes of the Global South. The research was conducted in the Atlantic Forest in Argentina. We surveyed 120 home gardens: 60 of transborder Paraguayan migrants, and 60 of transcontinental Europeans who arrived in Misiones, Argentina before WW2 and their descendants. We compared the richness, composition, medicinal uses, and the relationships of garden plants (via plant networks) between these groups, taking into account everyday scales and the transnational scale. Paraguayans cultivated and protected 137 species, predominantly native, and people of European origin 119 spp., native and exotic in similar proportions. The similarity in plant composition (68%) and the consensus in the medicinal use of plants (62%) were high between the migrant groups. Plant network analysis revealed many overlaps in assemblages of plants, but certain particularities of each group remained because of cultural expressions and therapeutic needs. This high level of similarity suggests that plant diversity, both native and allochthonous, shared concepts of illness, and the flux of knowledge between these groups was more significant than heritagization practices in shaping home gardens’ medicinal plant assemblages. People of Paraguayan and European origins do not make an active effort to convert their home gardens into heritage. Medicinal plants are connected to the lived emplacement—intimate daily practices—rather than to ethnic identity strategies. Nevertheless, the plant assemblages in gardens have been shaped by ecology, colonial legacy, nostalgia, and transfer of knowledge; therefore migrants’ home gardens can be considered heritage in a broad sense.
Journal Article
Urban home food gardens in the Global North: research traditions and future directions
In the United States, interest in urban agriculture has grown dramatically. While community gardens have sprouted across the landscape, home food gardens—arguably an ever-present, more durable form of urban agriculture—have been overlooked, understudied, and unsupported by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academics. In part a response to the invisibility of home gardens, this paper is a manifesto for their study in the Global North. It seeks to develop a multi-scalar and multidisciplinary research framework that acknowledges the garden’s social and ecological or material dimensions. Given the lack of existing research, we draw on the more extensive literature on home gardens in the South and community gardens in the North to develop a set of hypotheses about the social-ecological effects of urban home food gardens in the North. These gardens, we hypothesize, contribute to food security, community development, cultural reproduction, and resilience at multiple scales; conserve agrobiodiversity; and support urban biodiversity. They may also have negative ecological effects, such as stormwater nutrient loading. Because of the entanglement of the social and the ecological or material in the garden, we review three theoretical perspectives—social ecological systems theory, actor-network theory, and assemblage theory—that have been or could be applied to the multi-scalar and multidisciplinary study of the garden. We also review sampling and analytic methods for conducting home garden research. The paper concludes with a discussion of opportunities to extend the research agenda beyond descriptive analysis, the primary focus of garden research to date.
Journal Article
Home garden system dynamics in Southern Ethiopia
Home gardens in southern Ethiopia are regarded as efficient farming systems, allowing interactions and synergies between crop, tree and livestock components. However, these age-old traditional home gardens are evolving rapidly in response to changes in both the socio-economic and biophysical environment. Altered cropping patterns, farm size and component interactions may affect the systems’ sustainability. Home gardens exhibit a huge diversity in farms and farming systems, which needs to be understood in order to design interventions for improvement. Dynamics of home gardens were studied over two-decades (1991–2013) based on a survey of 240 farm households and focus group discussions. Farms were grouped into five types: Khat-based, Enset-cereal-vegetable, Enset-based, Enset-coffee and Enset-livestock. Farm trajectories revealed a shift from food-oriented Enset-based and Enset-livestock systems to (1) cash crop oriented khat-based systems, and (2) combined food and cash crop oriented Enset-cereal-vegetable systems. In densely populated, market proximate areas a major trend was expansion of khat, from 6 to 35% of the area share per farm, while the combined area share of enset and coffee decreased from 45 to 25%. Concurrently, the cattle herd size fell from 5.8 TLU to 3.9 TLU per household. In medium populated, less accessible areas the trend was consolidation of combined production of food and cash crops. Enset and coffee together maintained a share of over 45%. Easy transport and marketing of the perishable cash-generating khat compared with traditional crops favoured its cultivation among smallholders located close to markets. The insights in home garden change in response to increasing population pressure, decreasing farm size and market development may help to design interventions to increase system sustainability.
Journal Article
Tree species diversity in relation to site quality and home gardens types of North-East India
Home gardens (HGs) in North-East India are the oldest form of land use practice next to shifting cultivation. Every garden is a unique entity in terms of component arrangement, organization and management, and it reflects the personal preferences of the owner, keeping in mind the suitability and site quality of the area. This study was initiated to determine the species diversity of home gardens in North-East India and also to assess the association of tree species with different site quality parameters (elevation, slope, aspect, rainfall, temperature, home garden type and age). A total of 300 home gardens were selected randomly from 11 districts of North-East India. Hill numbers were used to analyse sample completeness, size-based diversity and coverage-based diversity. Canonical correspondence analysis, Pearson’s correlation, stepwise multiple linear regression, Poisson log-linear model and linear mixed effect model were performed to study the interactions between species diversity and site quality. In total, 137 species belonging to 102 genera and 46 families were recorded from the 300 home gardens. Fabaceae was the dominant family, and Parkia timoriana (DC.) Merr. (IVI = 20.12) was the dominant species. Abundance of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. and Mangifera indica L had no bearing with the environmental variables and therefore are considered potential species for restoration of degraded HGs. Number of species in the HGs was best reflected by the interaction of HG type and temperature, while the model best fitted for stem density and basal area was with HG type and HG age, respectively.
Journal Article
Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL
In the United States, interest in urban farms and community gardens is flourishing, yet the urban home food garden (UHFG) and its contributions to urban systems have been overlooked and understudied. To begin to address this gap, we are conducting a mixed methods study of African American, Chinese-origin and Mexican-origin households with home gardens in Chicago, IL. Study methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, ethnobotanical surveys and analysis of the chemical and physical properties of garden soils. As of this writing, findings indicate that home gardening has an array of beneficial effects, contributing to household food budgets and community food systems, the reproduction of cultural identity and urban biodiversity. The majority of informants in the study were internal or international migrants. For these individuals, gardening, culture-specific food plant assemblages and the foodways they support represent a continuation of cultural practices and traditional agroecological knowledge associated with their place of origin. The gardens of some migrant households also harbor urban agrobiodiversity with roots in the Global South. At the same time, gardens may have less salubrious effects on urban systems and populations. A lack of knowledge of safe gardening practices may expose vulnerable populations to environmental hazards such as soil contaminants. Gardeners in this study reported using synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides, sometimes indiscriminately, and the repeated application of synthetic fertilizers and compost may contribute to the nutrient loading of urban stormwater runoff. These effects may be moderated by the relatively low bulk density and high porosity of garden soils due to tillage and the application of organic matter, which can be expected to enhance stormwater infiltration. While the UHFG's potential contributions to urban systems are significant, outreach and research are needed to help gardeners grow food safely and sustainably in ways that contribute to overall ecosystem health.
Journal Article
Householders Attitude, Preferences, and Willingness to Have Home Garden at Time of Pandemics
The value of home gardens has become more apparent among tenants forced into isolation in difficult and uncertain times arising since the COVID-19 pandemic started at the beginning of 2020. While gardens make a significant contribution to the social and ecological environment of cities, most studies have focused on public green spaces. Investigating householder preferences for gardens during and after the mandatory lockdown period in the UAE is required. The main objective of this study is to analyze the householder’s attitude, preferences, and willingness to have home gardens during the pandemic and after. The data were collected via an online survey of randomly selected respondents. A logistic econometrical model was utilized to analyze the factors affecting respondent preferences regarding having a garden. According to the results, the probability of having a garden increases among respondents who produce some crops, have attained Msc/PhD. level, a backyard, and a larger space to cultivate. It decreases among those who are married, find it hard to take care of a garden, and face a weed problem. In conclusions, it is highly recommended for householders to have home gardens, which can provide a quality lifestyle and enhance leisure time during the pandemic and after.
Journal Article
Effects of Ascophyllum nodosum extract on sweet pepper plants as an organic biostimulant in grow box home garden conditions
Abstract The effects of a commercial Ascophyllum seaweed extract (ASWE) on the growth parameters of sweet pepper plants were studied under grow box home garden conditions in the Caribbean. Grow box cultivation of vegetables in the backyard is very popular in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean region. The use of synthetic chemicals should be avoided under home conditions due to the underlying hazards and for biosafety reasons. The application of ASWE at the rate of 0.5% as a foliar spray in sweet pepper plants under grow box home garden conditions improved the plant growth parameters, increased the fruit number, and also enhanced the shelf life of the harvested sweet pepper fruits. Soil drenching of ASWE to plants was less effective compared to foliar application. ASWE foliar spray also reduced the intensity of diseases and pests in plants and further promoted the prevalence of natural enemies. The spraying of ASWE significantly increased the biochemical constituents such as chlorophyll content, reducing sugars, phenol, and amino acids compared to the water control. The activity of the defense-related enzymes (chitinase, β-1,3 glucanase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase), and phenolic content was significantly greater in sweet pepper plants treated with ASWE treatment compared to the control. Seed treatment by priming in 0.5% ASWE significantly increased the germination percentage, shoot, and root length of seedlings. The positive effects of ASWE might be attributed to the chemical makeup, native to the seaweed extract, which is believed to contain several organic components, including dissolved nutrients and growth-promoting and diverse functional organic molecules that can induce multiple growth effects in plants. This study demonstrates that ASWE can be readily used under home garden conditions as this would be very conservative to the environment as well as promote the system of organic cultivation.
Journal Article