Urban Gardening in Egypt | General Homesteading Discussion | Forums

Awesome to see this type of thing

Egypt’s capital spreads cement tentacles over what used to be extremely viable agricultural land, replacing it with rickety brick towers. North and south, east and west, as far as the eye can see, Cairo is an immensity of grey, dotted with millions of satellite dishes planted on derelict rooftops that compete for space with three-legged chairs, dust-layered plastic bags and koshary containers.

But a quiet revolution is on the way to turn these derelict roofs into vegetable gardens, blooming with arugula, tomatoes, herbs and more. Osama al-Beheiry, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture at Ain Shams University, and Aurelia Weintz from Nawaya, a social enterprise focused on providing a platform for agriculture extension and community, are both specialists on — and developers of — rooftop gardens.

They believe that rooftop gardening and small-scale agriculture is the best way for Cairo to keep from drowning in pollution, while cooling off buildings and providing a secondary source of revenue for families and an input of healthy organic vegetables. Both specialists explain to Egypt Independent how to start a rooftop garden, step by step.

No matter how large the rooftop or the balcony, both experts recommend starting small and gradually expanding, based on the gardener’s experience. “You can grow vegetables on one square meter only,” explains Beheiry, who has launched an awareness campaign funded by the government to develop micro gardens on the rooftops of 75 schools.

“No matter how big your rooftop is, make sure that the garden won’t cover over 60 percent of the space, in order to be able to nurture your plants comfortably,” he recommends. “To grow leafy crops, you need a container 10 centimeters deep. For tomatoes and cantaloupes, the container should be around 25 centimeters deep.”

http://www.egyptinde.....ion-s-neck