urbanfarmers Aug 6, 2013: +++ UrbanFarmers delivers into MParc Dreispitz (a major MIGROS supermarket store). Fresh.Revolution. July 2, 2013: Fresh speciality tomatoes harvested and delivered to our UF001 restaurant partners this morning! May 25, 2013: The calm before the storm...we are looking forward to opening our doors and welcoming everyone to our first farms GRAND OPENING from 14.00 today!! May 2, 2013: Arrived live today: our bumble bees for tomato pollination!! March 12, 2013: Our tomato seedlings at UF001 are snug in their very own poly tunnel. Feb. 19, 2013: Our UF001 just reporting 23 degrees and a lush green vista inside the greenhouse! Feb. 7, 2013: Try the UrbanFarmers menu at Restaurant Schmatz tomorrow! Jan. 16, 2013: Planting seedlings for winter harvest...Check! Jan. 12, 2013: Water is circulating now at UF001! Dec 21, 2012: We are delighted to confirm that Kulturrestaurant Parterre will be enjoying the Revolution. Dec. 20, 2012: Welcome BaselCityStudio!
Aquaponics: the potential to produce sustainable food anywhere | Guardian Sustainable Business Aquaponics offers flexibility of design - fish and plants can be produced almost anywhere, including roof tops.They Photograph: Adrian Bradshaw/EPA What is aquaponics? Aquaponics is the marriage between aquaculture and hydroponics. Essentially it is a "clean and green" method of growing fish and plants together in a closed system. The fish are reared in tanks and their water is pumped to the plants that are growing in soiless conditions. The plants take up the waste produced by fish for growth and the water is returned to the fish. As a result no fertilisers are required, the water is continually recycled rather than being lost in the soil and no pesticides or herbicides are used. What's more, aquaponics offers one more magic ingredient - flexibility of design. Why is aquaponics so important? On 7 March the British Aquaponic Association CIC (BAQUA) hosted its annual aquaponic conference at Bicton EaRTH, an educational farm that aims to operate without dependence on fossil fuels.
Modern Meadow aims to print raw meat using bioprinter 21 January 2013Last updated at 04:28 ET By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News In the future, your beef may come from a printer, not a cow When you buy some beef at the butcher's, you know it comes from cattle that once mooed and chewed. But imagine if this cut of meat, just perfect for your Sunday dinner, had been made from scratch - without slaughtering any animal. US start-up Modern Meadow believes it can do just that - by making artificial raw meat using a 3D bioprinter. Peter Thiel, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent venture capitalists, Paypal co-founder and early Facebook investor, has just backed the company with $350,000 (£218,000). Set up by father-son team Gabor and Andras Forgacs, the start-up wants to take 3D printing to a whole new level. For three-dimensional printing, solid objects are made from a digital model. Continue reading the main story Bioink containing various types of cell is printed into moulds made from agarose gel. Continue reading the main story
World's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London 5 August 2013Last updated at 15:50 ET Food critics give their verdict on the burger's taste and texture The world's first lab-grown burger has been cooked and eaten at a news conference in London. Scientists took cells from a cow and, at an institute in the Netherlands, turned them into strips of muscle that they combined to make a patty. One food expert said it was "close to meat, but not that juicy" and another said it tasted like a real burger. Researchers say the technology could be a sustainable way of meeting what they say is a growing demand for meat. The burger was cooked by chef Richard McGeown, from Cornwall, and tasted by food critics Hanni Ruetzler and Josh Schonwald. Continue reading the main story Analysis Pallab GhoshScience correspondent, BBC News The world's population is continuing to increase and an ever greater proportion want to eat meat. And then of course there is the taste. "This is meat to me. Food writer Mr Schonwald said: "The mouthfeel is like meat.
California blackberry grower takes soilless route EDUARDO GARCIA is a first-generation farmer growing blackberries in coir instead of soil in the Santa Clara River Valley near Santa Paula, Calif. (Ventura County) California blackberry grower Eduardo Garcia of Ventura County sees the writing on the wall as government regulators continue to clamp down on the use of crop protection materials in agriculture. Garcia is a crop consultant, pest control adviser, and first-generation berry grower. He is well aware of the potential impact over the impending loss of the fumigant methyl bromide in California agriculture. Preplant fumigants kill soil-borne diseases including verticillium wilt and fusarium wilt — key diseases in berry production - plus soil-borne pests and weeds. Regulators contend methyl bromide emissions enter the air and deplete the Earth’s ozone layer. “The future of the California berry industry is under threat due to the loss of methyl bromide,” Garcia said. Coir is sometimes used in the greenhouse plant industry.
Driverless Tractors Till High-Tech Farm As the harvest nears, the employees of German farmer Klaus Muenchhoff are busy making the final checks on imposing tractors ready to roll into the golden fields. But these tractors are steel monsters with a difference -- driverless and satellite-guided, they can operate on the fields with an accuracy of a few centimeters (inches). Impervious to fatigue and indifferent to poor visibility, they reduce distances traveled by each vehicle, saving their owner fuel costs and improving crop yields. VIDEO: Urban Farms Grow Up Muenchhoff converted his farm in Derenburg, in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, a decade ago following a high-tech trend that is drawing growing interest. With a gray beard and thin glasses, the robust 60-year-old reigns over a 1,000 hectare (2,500 acre) farm that grows wheat and rapeseed, continuing a long family tradition. "Twenty years ago, for a field of 100 hectares, we needed 10 tons of phosphorus. Meet Prospero: Robo-Farmer on Six Legs
Biochar stimulates more plant growth but lowers plant defence against pests and pathogens Research at the University of Southampton has cast significant doubt over the use of biochar to alleviate climate change. Biochar is produced when wood is combusted at high temperatures to make bio-oil and has been proposed as a method of geoengineering. When buried in the soil it could potentially lock-up carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The global potential of biochar is considered to be large, with up to 12 percent of emissions reduced by biochar soil application. Biochar has also been shown to stimulate crop growth and yield but the mechanism enabling this to happen is unknown. The response of more than 10,000 genes was followed simultaneously, which identified brassinosteroids and auxins and their signalling molecules as key to the growth stimulation observed in biochar. However, the positive impacts of biochar were coupled with negative findings for a suite of genes that are known to determine the ability of a plant to withstand attack from pests and pathogens.
Increasing the longevity of seeds with genetic engineering A study developed by researchers of the Institute for Plant Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMCP), a joint center of the Universitat Politècnica de València and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), in collaboration with the Unit for Plant Genomics Research of Evry, France (URGV) has discovered a new way of improving the longevity of plant seeds using genetic engineering. The key is the overexpression of the ATHB25 gene. This gene encodes a protein that regulates gene expression, producing a new mutant that gives the seed new properties. Researchers have proven that this mutant has more gibberellin -the hormone that promotes plant growth-, which means the seed coat is reinforced as well. “The seed coat is responsible for preventing oxygen from entering the seed; the increase in gibberellin strengthens it and this leads to a more durable and longer lasting seed,” explains Eduardo Bueso, researcher at the IBMCP (UPV-CSIC).
Eating Insects - New Proteins for Farm Animals Printer friendly version Share 01 April 2014 youris.com It may not become your favorite dish, but in some parts of the world insects are considered a healthy and tasty source of food. When on April 7th World Health Day is celebrated, most experts will be blaming insects for the rising problem of vector-borne diseases. What’s good for humans can’t be bad for animals. Watch video: Attached files insects_450x320