Vancouver - Post 2 - Free Find of the Day

I am trying to grow the most epic balcony garden the world has ever seen, and eat well from it.  I have a glorious south facing balcony.  It's big and sunny and I am convinced that with some well placed cold frames I can grow food year round in this temperate climate.  Of course, buying soil and pots and seeds is apparently pretty expensive.  Lucky for me, they are putting in some kind of installation down the road called Viva Vancouver.  I am not sure what it is, but it seems to involve some kind of fancy seating and some landscaping.  

Free pots!

                             

And lo! What is that??  Free pots, ripe for the taking??  And then... what is that??

Free soil!

A heaping mound of free soil!!  Yes!! The corner of Fraser and 44th - free soil for all! And pots!  Run now!  Perhaps Viva Vancouver can help you build an epic, free balcony garden, too.

My plunder.  Two buckets of soil and 12 ugly yet serviceable pots.

My garden, as she stands.  With 12 more pots and a heap of free soil, though, I'll expanding this in no time.

Growing your Food in Sewage

Spreading waste water on a corn field

What is that black water that the farmers have been spreading on the field all week? Well, lets do a little detective work. After all, I am done exams and have nothing better to do. Here are my initial observations:

• It sure dose not smell like water.
• The liquid is black.
• This black liquid has been arriving by the truckload for hours (must be inexpensive, maybe its free?).

Ok, so lets look at the "data". It smells like the worst public bathroom you have ever been too.  Nope, this still does not get my point across. It smell like, your brother ate a dead animal and fermenting garbage, got violently ill and defecated all around you.. yep that is more like it. 

Waste Water

Pumping Waste Water onto farm fields

This can not actually be sewage, can it? I would know about it if people were spreading waste onto fields, no? So I did what any bored grad student would do, I tailed the truck to see where it came from.

The giant truck pulled into the Waste Treatment Plant.

Water Treatment Plant Alliston ON.

Filling Trucks with Waste Water.

Here are some articles:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/loosening-of-rules-about-spreading-sewage-sludge-on-ontario-farms-alarms-critics/article2388149/

http://www.rense.com/general3/prs.htm

This has been going on for years in Canada (Ontario) and the United States. Human waste from a variety of sources are being spread on the fields that grow corn, wheat, soya... you know FOOD.  I can understand why the municipalities like this. The poo poo has to go somewhere. Could you imagine if they would also give garbage away for free? This is great for them. Someone is willing to take their sewage away for free and the farmers get to fertilize their fields. What studies have they done about the long term effects? Well, NONE, according to the article above.

I will do some more research and update this later.