By Job, I think he’s got it!

World population, which is currently 6.5 billion, is growing at 76 million annually, with an expected peak at 9.5 billion by 2070.

For the first time, global population estimates this year show that more people live in cities than in rural areas. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations projects that almost all of the population growth between 2000-2030 will be urban.

By 2020, according to the International Resource Centre for Urban Agriculture and Forestry, some 75 percent of the world’s city dwellers will live in developing countries – many of them in poverty. Already in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN, almost three-quarters of city residents live in rapidly growing slums. And this isn’t a migration of rural poor to the cities. These are groups impoverished by living conditions within the urban setting which prevents access to basic needs such as clean water, sewers, education and food production or the availability of fresh foods.

This is a scenario which will become more common I feel in days and months ahead. And living in the United States does not mean we are exempt. Residents of inner cities and marginal income areas have suffered from a lack of access to quality fresh foods for decades. It’s just that more of us may become aware of this problem in the months ahead.

One answer to over-crowding in our cities and to the wasted space atop business building, schools, hospitals and yes, parking garages (while we still have them) is to create garden oases.  And one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to do that is with childrens’ wading pools. Back in the mid-1990′s, Dr. Job Ebenezer was then Director of Environmental Stewardship and Hunger Education for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Job (as I refer to him) initiated an experiment in food growing on the rooftop of the church’s parking garage. Practical, compassionate, inventive and determined, Dr. Job is a true hero in service to his community.

The hope was that the roof top garden would serve as a role model for creative use of urban space throughout the country. Dr. Job proved the feasibility of growing vegetables in plastic wading pools, used tires and feed sacks. Urban gardeners at the ELCA offices in Chicago harvested nearly 1,000 pounds of vegetables from approximately 40 wading pools and a dozen of used tires and feed sacks. Here are his figures from those years:

Comparision of vegetable yield data between ELCA, U.S. and Wisconsin Farms

*National & Wisconsin data from the United States Department of Agriculture

Utilizing items often found in landfills or behind vacant buildings, Dr. Job created lush rooftop gardens and growing areas for senior citizens and the financially stressed, enrolling them in therapeutic gardening for their souls and enlarging their fresh food pantry at the same time. It doesn’t take alot of money to create a garden like this. Another benefit of wading pools is that they’re long-lasting and you don’t have to worry about previous contamination. With wading pools, you can garden on a roof top, a parking lot, in driveways or on patios. Both wading pools and used tires can provide a great deal of nourishment in a relatively small space.

Here’s how to create your own wading pool garden (based on Dr. Job’s directions and recommendations:)

WHAT YOU NEED: 

Child’s recycled 6’ or smaller wading pool – even if it’s split on the bottom it can still be used

Drill and ¾” or 1” bit

Compost

Soil/growing medium

Seeds or seedlings

A support for growing beans or vining vegetables

Access to water – rainbarrel, greywater

Riser—pallets or pavers and strong struts of used lumber

HOW TO:

Carefully drill 3/4″ to 1″ holes every 12-18″ around the circumference of the pool, 2″ up from the bottom of the pool. You’ll need to drill 4-5 holes. These holes allow for excess drainage while creating a reservoir below the holes, where water can accumulate to be utilized by the plants later. If the pool has splits or holes on the very bottom, you can place a sheet of plastic inside the pool before filling it with the soil mix.

2. Set up the wading pools so they are perfectly level. You can set them on pallets if necessary. But locate the pool in its ultimate location, since once filled, this pool will weigh approximately 350 pounds. Not exactly portable.

3. Locate it to its best advantage—not too much or too little sunshine. Any downspouts or gutters nearby mean free water so place a 5 gallon bucket under it to collect rainwater and lay out paths for foot traffic.

4. Fill the pool almost to overflowing with your growing medium. Since different parts of the world have different resources, a little imagination and creativity is necessary. Your goal is soil that is firm, moisture retentive and nutrient rich. Try to use (or replicate) equal parts topsoil, compost and peat moss. This is Dr. Job’s recommendation to be used in the wading pool gardens:

The following mix will provide a good soil structure and allow for air movement and water infiltration. A good recipe for a container growing soil mix is one part compost or well-rotted manure; one part topsoil; one part leaf mold, or peat moss*, or like fillers such as: coconut fibers; ground-up newspapers (only vegetable based inks); alfalfa; or leaf mold.

(*Peat moss will make the soil lighter and will afford moisture retention qualities. But there are many who consider this use to be detrimental to the environment and consider peat moss a non-renewable resource. While suitable for container gardening, it is suggested that when other types of more locally available materials are available, they should be substituted for the peat.)

5. Water the soil thoroughly and then stick your fingers in to test the wetness. It should feel damp and cool all the way to the bottom. But be careful not to flood the pool.

6. Now you can sow your seeds or place your transplants directly into the pool. Press your seeds gently into the wet soil. Beets and chard seeds like to be pressed about an inch into the soil, while lettuces prefer to sit closer to the surface. You can scatter a light dusting of mulch over the seeds, to prevent the soil from drying out. When adding transplants, dig the roots deep into the pool, press the soil around the roots and cover the area with a good mulch. This will prevent the need for excessive watering, and the plants can survive drought conditions.

7. Vine crops such as cucumbers, melons, zucchinis, winter squashes will need a trellis or support device. Wire mesh, bamboo stakes, branches, a small fence, mattress springs, formed into a ring around the outside of the wading pool all make a great garden trellis.

8. Remember, for inter-cropping, plant your tall crops together in the center, or nearest the wall (if so placed).

9. When used on rooftops keep in mind that some roofs, especially older wood- framed roofs, might not accommodate the 350+ pounds that each pool might reach. Before you establish a rooftop garden, be sure to check with the building engineer regarding structural strength of the roof.

10. Enjoy your garden! Add compost as a mulch for a slow-release continual supply of nutrients. If you prefer you can use fish emulsion or a manure or compost tea every 2-3 weeks throughout the growing season. [More on these later.]

Share the abundant produce with your community and those in need. Sell the produce to local restaurants and re-invest the income with your community. Teach children skills as they experience the rewards of Mother Nature and a connection to the earth.

WHAT YOU CAN PLANT:

Nearly everything but the corn or maize family. The ELCA wading pools were intensively planted with a diverse blend of vegetables, annuals and herbs. Marigolds and basil were used as natural pesticides. These rooftop gardens produced 984 pounds of vegetables from a dozen or so pools in an area measuring 1,625 square feet. One pool alone yielded an average of 22.5 pounds of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini and a variety of greens. Will you have the same yield as Dr. Job? Try it and see and send me your results.

WHY WADING POOLS?

The plastic wading pool is the most cost-efficient container of its size available. At 6 feet in diameter and 12 inches deep, each one provides approximately 28 square feet of growing area for under $40 for container, soil and seeds, and is capable of producing up to 40 pounds of produce per growing season. Wading pools can be placed in any areas that cannot be gardened conventionally, such as rooftops, patios, decks, sections of playgrounds, along railroad tracks, in brown fields. The wading pools are lightweight (before they are filled with soil), easy to situate, and last for many years without decay.

I have already heard stories of “scavengers” in the landfill hunting for wading pools after learning about these mini-marvels of food production. I suggest putting an ad on craigslist.com or your local freecycle instead! Happy gardening and blessed New Moon!

Our thanks go to Dr. Job Ebenezer for his generous sharing of this information, his time and his vision. Please see: http://www.arts4all.com/elca/ and visit his website www.technologyforthepoor.com to learn more about his current work with appropriate technology in many areas.

The freedom of man, I contend, is the freedom to eat.” — Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1910)