Informational

Central Florida’s Fall Guide to Edible Gardening

Central Florida’s Fall Guide to Edible Gardening By Ellen Rosado Interested in making your fall more edible through your own backyard or garden? Look no further! Below is a simple guide to growing your own fresh fruits and vegetables in September, October, and November in Central Florida. Save money on trips to the grocery store

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Central Florida’s Spring Guide to Edible Gardening

Central Florida’s Spring Guide to Edible Gardening By Ellen Rosado Looking to add some tasty vegetation alongside a colorful garden? Then look no further! Below are some simple guides to grow your own fresh plants for March, April, and May in Central Florida! Save gas and trips to the store by simply investing in these

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Gardening

The History of Victory Gardening, And Why We Should Bring Back Victory Gardens

During the First and Second World Wars, the concept of Victory Gardening or Victory Gardens, also known as War Gardens, was developed to provide food on the Home Front through urban and suburban agriculture. Victory Gardens were usually grown by individuals and families in their backyards to counter wartime food shortages. During the World Wars,

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Urban Sprawl and Its Connection to Urban Agriculture

Urban Sprawl is defined as “the rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by low-density residential housing, single-use zoning, and increased reliance on the private automobile for transportation.”1 After World War II, the federal highway system was created and the Federal Housing Administration’s long-term housing construction and loans insurance program helped to promote urban sprawl.2 Then, the availability of trucking for freight transportation allowed for a manufacturing movement away from cities.2 Between the 1950s and 70s, the middle class left their cities for the suburbs -contributing to the disintegration of older cities, by the 80s, whose municipal governments could not fund services for their residents after the amount of tax collected shrunk, with businesses and wealthier families leaving.2 The suburbs were more aesthetically pleasing, and the land was “relatively inexpensive”1, and “some citizens moved to the suburbs to enjoy a lifestyle that was ostensibly closer to nature.”1

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Community Gardens: A Step in the Right Direction

Community gardens are continuously growing in the City of Orlando. They provide a sense of community, food, and positively contribute to protecting the environment. A community garden can consist of one or several plots that grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs for the local community.  In the City of Orlando, there are 16 community gardens, all

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The Urban Agriculture Pilot Project Act

The Florida Senate Bill 628 finds it “necessary to distinguish between farms on traditional rural farm land and the emerging trends towards urban agriculture”1 and has created a new program, the Urban Agriculture Pilot Project, under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The bill was approved by Governor DeSantis on June 17, 2021 and takes effect on July 1, 2021.1

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Biochar 101: How to Enrich Your Compost with Biochar

Do you have compost in your backyard and want to make it even more rich and fertile? The IDEAS Hive interviewed Lorenzo Monduy Jr, the designer and face behind My Community Compost to talk about biochar, composting, and his Gasifier invention. What is biochar?  Monduy describes biochar, or black carbon, as an “Electrocarbon sponge to manage carbon across the

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What Type of Composter Are You? Here Are 4 Methods From a Composting Pro.

If 2019 was the year the world woke up to climate change, then 2020 is the year we all should get more acquainted with our waste. Americans are a blithely wasteful lot, producing more than four pounds of trash per person each day. That shakes out to about 267 million tons annually. And 40% of

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