Print

[LIBERTYNY]

"Fruit Walls: Urban Farming in the 1600s


We are being told to eat local and seasonal food, either because other crops have been tranported over long distances, or because they are grown in energy-intensive greenhouses. But it wasn't always like that. From the sixteenth to the twentieth century, urban farmers grew Mediterranean fruits and vegetables as far north as England and the Netherlands, using only renewable energy.

These crops were grown surrounded by massive "fruit walls", which stored the heat from the sun and released it at night, creating a microclimate that could increase the temperature by more than 10°C (18°F). Later, greenhouses built against the fruit walls further improved yields from solar energy alone.

It was only at the very end of the nineteenth century that the greenhouse turned into a fully glazed and artificially heated building where heat is lost almost instantaneously -- the complete opposite of the technology it evolved from. "

  article --- http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/fruit-walls-urban-farming.html


 I came across this article and was very impressed by it and the concepts, Otherwise I dont have much to say about it I just thought I would share

5 Likes TBM, Greentoe, Roze, plantlight and danzick like this.

[plantlight]

This makes so much sense.  Adds to security of an area as well.

2 Likes danzick and LIBERTYNY like this.

[Chicsa]

thank you for this! this is great information for me. I did not know this. Can't wait to impliment this in my urban design

2 Likes plantlight and LIBERTYNY like this.

[clavier]

I started creating different wind breaks in our garden. Not too high and loosely placed in order to well integrate. The micro-climates created by those small breaks are incredible - I grow kiwi, akebia and other tropical plants now without massive walls surrounding me.

1 Like BubbleCat likes this.

[BubbleCat]

Always wondered about the stability of microclimates. Like wether it isn't a huge gamble, lile bubble boy depending on the integrity of the bubble.
On a recent trip I chose to stick to rivers for a change in scenery which turbed out nice. I was also surprised by the number of really exotic plants some people figured out they could plant right at the riverbank, like banana and similar.
Wouldnt one single extreme event, inversion of conditions, storm or such have the potential to freeze your bananas in a single night?

[Greentoe]

Bananas will die if the freeze persist for too long but they can grow back from the roots if they don't freeze.

The ground doesn't freeze here but I imagine in places where it does there's likely a zone around bodies of water that takes longer to freeze.