City Agriculture - May 12, 2025

Urine as fertilizer
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250227-the-vermont-farmers-using-urine-to-grow-their-crops

An industrial designed bee hive based on the form factor of a hollow tree
https://www.core77.com/posts/135723/HIIVE-From-An-Industrial-Design-Thesis-to-Market

Black Farmers Index - connecting consumers to local food grown by Black farmers
https://blackfarmersindex.com/

ART given notice to quit 31-year-old Food Forest - not all news is good news
https://substack.com/home/post/p-159120584

The world’s biggest soil conservation project
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/14/how-china-led-way-water-soil-conservation

Enhancing agrivoltaic synergies through optimized tracking strategies - "This paper presents a methodology for dynamically optimizing solar panel positioning to meet the varying light requirements of crops. Simulations are conducted for a case study of an agrivoltaic system in an apple orchard in southwestern Germany."
https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/journal-of-photonics-for-energy/volume-15/issue-03/032703/Enhancing-agrivoltaic-synergies-through-optimized-tracking-strategies/10.1117/1.JPE.15.032703.full
hat tip to https://cleantechnica.com/2025/03/15/new-agrivoltaic-tool-optimizes-solar-generation-and-crop-production/

Community farm reviving prairie land in Chicago
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/03/17/how-a-little-village-farm-is-reviving-prairie-land-in-chicago/
hat tip to @chasesolidago.bsky.social

Paris votes for 500 more green streets
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/paris-residents-vote-favour-making-500-more-streets-pedestrian-2025-03-23/

Creole gardens as a response to climate change in Guadeloupe
https://globalvoices.org/2025/04/15/in-guadeloupe-creole-gardens-give-climate-lessons-in-a-spirit-of-solidarity/
Editorial Comment:  I’m reading Toxic Tropics:  A Horror Story of Environmental Injustice by Jessica Oublié, Nicola Gobbi, Kathrine Avraam, Vinciane Lebrun about the persistent contamination of Guadeloupe and Martinique by chlordecane which was used to control pests in banana plantations.  We have big problems on multiple fronts.

2 GW agrivoltaic project in China
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/04/19/massive-2-gw-agrivoltaic-project-aims-to-restore-desert-in-china/
Editorial Comment:  I learned a new word:  ecovoltaic - rebuilding soil health while restoring natural habitats and native plant species
Agrivoltaics and ecovotaics are examples of geotherapy, helping ecological systems restore the damage homo sap sap (that sap!) has done.

Growing strawberries under different levels of shading from thin-film solar panels
https://www.agritecture.com/blog/strawberries-under-solar-panels-agrivoltaics-canada

How Trmp’s first 100 days changed the USDA food system
https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/trump-usda-food-system-agriculture-first-100-days/