Let's build a greenhouse in Hazelwood.
It has recently become evident to me that there is sufficient non-profit/foundation/investment interest and support for locally grown food to make possible funding for the building of a greenhouse devoted solely to providing food to local people from local inputs - local organic waste for fertilizer, locally-sourced recycled building materials, local labor (within walking distance of the greenhouse). If you or anyone you know might be interested, please submit an email address to me to be informed of progress in this direction (the building of a greenhouse in the Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh). Request to be put on this contact list for a greenhouse run on organic principles does not imply commitment to help in any way or even support of the viability of the idea. This contact list is not for Hazelwood or Pittsburgh residents only. All emails submitted to me will be shared with those others who have sent their emails - in an attempt to help get the project started - hopefullly in time for the 2010 growing season. Those supplying email addresses for this list by Sept 1 - and those others I think might be interested - will be sent my reasoning for the financial viability of this community greenhouse, and I will put this also on my webpage: bioeverything.blogspot.com.
The size and financial structure of the project is entirely flexible. My assessment of the environmental and economic changes interacting at this time lead me to conclude that a commercial-scale (though not necessarily wholly commercial - including possibly cooperatively owned) greenhouse, properly managed, would be a very practical - and so economically feasible thing to do.
As an adjunct to the greenhouse, associated activities - such as the custom design and building of bioreactors for a wide variety of situations - and work related to the scaling up of e.g. production and/or manufacturing of vessels for microbial soil inoculants, microbe-produced nutrients, and algal biofuel production would also contribute to the viability of the project.
Jim McCue
composter and biotech researcher