Comments on Contours--The CORE GIS Blog: Sustainable Ballard: Local Food Production and Po...

I agree that parking strips can yield a wealth of ...

2008-08-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

I agree that parking strips can yield a wealth of arable land, and I've certainly had gardens on them myself. The one consideration I'd like to mention about that, however, is the need to measure the volume of traffic on any given street where gardening on the parking strip might be a possibility. There are real concerns about pollution (not only exhaust, but also small pieces of rubber off the tires) to be taken into account as they could easily render what would otherwise be organic produce potentially toxic instead. There have been studies done about this - the two things you'd be looking for are traffic volumes (over a 24 hr period, as well as seasonally), and a measurement of the distance from the roadway to the actual produce in the garden. Re: traffic volume - the reason I mention over a 24 hr period as well as seasonally has to do with things like whether or not a street is quiet most of the time, but might be a fairly main thoroughfare during commuter hrs, or seasonally - e.g., during the fall when the UW has football season you've got 70,000 people coming to the stadium half a dozen times over a 3 mos period (Sept/Oct/Nov). If I were growing fall/winter crops out on my parking strip, they might easily become contaminated during that period, whereas at other times of the year the traffic in the neighborhood might not reach a volume that would be considered hazardous...

Anyway, just more food for thought on the subject - and kudos to you, Julie, for your project and what you're hoping to accomplish!

Julianne

Fascinating! Some 10 percent of public land in Sea...

2008-08-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Fascinating! Some 10 percent of public land in Seattle is in planting strips. A fledgling local effort, GoodNeighborGarden.org, is promoting edible gardens on that land as well as the yard sharing. Help us spread the word!
Julie Whitehorn

Very impressive! And an excellent idea to begin t...

2008-07-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

Very impressive! And an excellent idea to begin to look at those kinds of issues relative to eating locally.

The one thought that comes to mind however, if I'm understanding your work correctly, is that you've only looked at the larger parcels of land, as opposed to also factoring in people's own yards as a (potential) significant source of food. And not only those people who have yards themselves, but also the idea of people sharing yards in order to grow food - an idea that Vancouver has perfected in their "Sharing Backyards / City Farmer" program, http://www.sharingbackyards.com/browse/ vancouver.BC&welcome_box=3

Our own City Council, vis-a-vis the leadership of Richard Conlin, is also now looking at, through the Local Food Action Initiative, how to transition people off a lengthy waiting list for a P-patch into just such a "yard sharing" situation.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of land currently devoted to "grass yards" would need to be converted to food cultivation to tip the balance in favor of being able to successfully feed our community ala' the 100 mile diet.

Thanks again for your ideas and work - very stimulating!

Julianne Jaz

Wow! Thank you for your enlightening work,Matt.~In...

2008-07-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

Wow! Thank you for your enlightening work,Matt.
~Ingela

Ingela Wanerstrand
Garden & Environment Guild Coordinator
Sustainable Ballard