Biotop Makes A Rooftop Edible

 

 

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Biotop Makes A Rooftop Edible

via Inside Urban Green by Greenscaper on 2/15/10

It is likely that few people in the U.S. know that there is a sub-irrigated planter (SIP) system available in Canada called Biotop. It is similar in function to the EarthBox, Tomato Success Kit, Garden Patch Grow Box, EarthTainer and other DIY SIPs (both box and bucket types). The video is in French but you can easily understand how it works even if you don't understand French.

What is clearly understandable is that SIP (and hydroculture) technology works. It is without doubt a viable option in our efforts to provide local food production in the city and help fight obesity in the process.

These systems will produce more fresh vegetables per square foot than dirt gardening while saving water and time in the process. Have no fear of soil contamination either.

What is also becoming clear is that the USDA through the Cooperative Extension Program is an obstructionist agency. It is obviously not motivated to educate consumers in the use of modern methods of personal food production.

The record speaks for itself. The work of the Extension program is highly visible on the Internet. All it takes is some simple site searching. The results show either ignorance or incompetence. Where there should be discussion of both in-ground and SIP methods, there is only dirt growing information. In the private sector these people would soon be unemployed if this is their highest level of competence. 

The big question in my mind is who signs off on the publication of this outdated information. How high up in the food chain does this go. My guess is that it is far above the extension agent level.

The mission of the USDA is to support commercial agriculture, which means farming and farmers, not we as individuals. To think otherwise is probably naive.

I would love to have a conversation with Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The First Lady would hear a different slant on her anti-obesity campaign.

More Biotop information:

Home Page - French and English. I prefer a Google translation of the French sites, UrbainCulteurs.org in particular. I found the English sites somewhat confusing.

More than just a planter!

Developed and tested for 15 years, Biotop tanks were designed to optimize crop production. The speaker design culture (gray in photo) combined with components supplied with the system create optimal growth conditions for all types of plants. Result: production 2 to 3 times higher than that observed in the ground, and an average harvest of 7 pounds per tray each season.

 

 

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