Community, Design, Nature, & Cities
Oldest Trees In Alberta
Alberta Tree Species Capable of Living for 1000s of Years Alberta has a reputation as a “Prairie Province” despite being over 60% forested. And when it comes to the forest we do have, we’re not known for having large old trees. But is that accurate? Can Alberta grow old trees? What are the oldest trees…
Edmonton Youth Beekeeping Club
The Northlands/Prince’s Charities Edmonton Youth Bee Club From Spring until Fall, students from across the Edmonton gathed at Northlands to learn about honeybees. Sponsored by the Prince’s Charities (Now Kings Trust), twenty students, acged 13 to 18, managed ten beehives on site. Each week, weather permitting, we covered important beekeeping topics and performed routine hive inspections.…
The 5 School Garden Pace Layers
Designing Better School Gardens Using Pace Layer Thinking School boards live for centuries, school buildings last decades, teaching careers come and go in thirty to forty years, the curriculum changes every decade or so, students come and go every three years, semesters turn over twice a year, units last weeks, and lessons are over in…
BeeComm Community For Small-Scale Beekeepers
BeeComm, contains more tools, resources, videos, and opportunities for community collaboration.
Garden Design Course
Online ecological garden design course covers five techniques for creating a garden that reduces work, increases yields and works with nature
11 Woody Superpowers That Grow Better Cities
Trees have woody superpowers that, when used correctly, can grow better cities. We plant trees in our parks, boulevards, and yards, but for many of us, they’re little more than greenery in the landscape. But noticed or not, trees are silently making our yards, communities, and cities better places to live. Whether shading our homes,…
Making Walnut Ink and Dye
Making Ink and Dye From Walnut Seeds I discovered walnut ink while collecting and processing (dehusking) walnuts to plant with the Shrubscriber community. Locally, the most common Walnut is the White or Butternut Walnut (Juglans cinerea but I occasionally run across Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra) and Manchurian Walnuts (Juglans mandschurica). I gather seeds, a process…
Researching Edmonton Heritage Trees
Supported by the Edmonton Heritage Council On the edge of downtown Edmonton, on the river valley slopes, grows a wild patch of goji berries, descended from seeds imported and tended by Edmonton’s early Chinese community. A few blocks West, surrounded by asphalt, the chestnut seed Walter Holowach collected in Vienna stands forty feet tall, casting…
What Makes A Heritage Tree? Part 1 -Time
Time, Novelty, and Narrative and the Value of Heritage Trees The 2008 book Heritage Tree of Alberta lists 28 trees in Edmonton that are said to have “heritage value,” but what does that mean? How can we define “heritage tree”? This article attempts to synthesize a definition of a heritage tree by comparing the twenty-eight…
Development and the Lifespan of Urban Trees
Tree Life Expectancy and the Cycle of Urban Development Since trees can live longer than buildings, development has an enormous impact on the lifespan of urban trees. While mature trees increase property value, they’re susceptible to damage from nearby development. Soil compaction from heavy equipment or storing materials, damage to roots from excavation, and regarding…
Gardening in the Zombie Apocalypse
How Gardeners Will Survive the End of the World The zombie apocalypse is upon us, and it’s up to the gardeners to save us. Armed with shovels and a handful of ecological design principles, it’s time to turn this zombie threat into a horticultural opportunity. This isn’t your grandparent’s rose garden. This is gardening in…
Creating Garden Microclimates
What a Poop Pit Can Teach Us About Garden Microclimates I stumbled upon pineapple pits while researching old botanic gardens. The Heligan Garden in Cornwall, England, was created in the 18th century by the Tremayne family. The garden fell into disrepair after the First World War but was restored in the nineties. During reconstruction, a strange…
Categories
Bees
- Small-Scale Beekeeping
- Urban Bees
- Beekeeping Education & Resources
Trees
- Heritage Tree Mapping
- Community Supported Forestry
- Propagation Techniques & Education
Communities
- Urban Ecology & Biophilic Cities
- Cities as Nature
- Cultivating Communities
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