When working becomes too expensive, what options do farmers and truck drivers have?

Hey everyone! We're EUobserver, and we've been reporting on a wave of protests in southern Italy that hasn't received much international attention.

Farmers and transport workers are struggling with rising costs for fuel, fertilisers and running their businesses. Some have responded by blocking roads and disrupting deliveries, leaving supermarket shelves empty in parts of the country.

One agricultural worker our reporter spoke with in Sicily described how difficult it has become simply to afford the fuel needed to keep working.

And there's another side to this: when deliveries stop, other workers, small businesses and households are affected too.

How can governments respond when the costs of producing and transporting essential goods become unsustainable?

And how should the concerns of protesting workers be balanced with the needs of communities relying on those deliveries?

Hello fellas!

I'm currently a master of design student (with a focus on industrial design) in my second year and I'm developing my capstone project focused on the challenges of urban agriculture in dense urban areas.

My project is gonna be on whether an automated/semi-automated robotic type product could support with maintenance or repetitive tasks to make urban agriculture more doable. I'm still sort of in the beginning phases of research, so I'm trying to understand the problems urban farmers face in dense urban areas and whether an automated system could actually improve their workflow. I'm trying to narrow my scope for this project.

I apologize I'm not too knowledgeable on the topic yet, but I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask!

- What are the most difficult parts of operating a farm within dense urban areas?

-  Are there tasks that could benefit from automation or robotic assistance? (Or any kind of physical product)

-  What tasks should remain human-supervised?

-  What would make an automated product impractical for your organization?

Thank you for your time!!

Hi! I work for a small veggie farm in Salt Lake City and this fall we are planning a "farmer trivia night" at a local brewery. We are currently trying to put together the trivia questions and I'm wondering if anyone here might have ideas for categories and or fun facts that might make for good questions.

Being in Utah we are especially looking to write questions that are relevant to farming and gardening locally or at least in the great basin/desert SW generally. We want the questions to feel fun, creative and intellectually stimulating without getting too 'academic'. Ideally some of the questions will reflect knowledge one would gain from the actual practice of farming or gardening. A few of ideas we have had for categories are Farm Records (like current world records for the biggest zucchini), Smelling Bee (smell a blinded jar and spell what's inside correctly) and Utah/SLC Agricultural History.

Please please please share anything that comes to mind! This is brainstorm phase so I'm looking to cast a wide net. If you have any thoughts on fun categories or have a favorite vegetable fact or piece of farming history, drop it here!!!

Bunch of different kinds of Raspberries, Haskaps, Currants, grapes and hardy kiwi in the fruit house (bg left). Right is greenhouse with wire wrap and full twin poly roof and back wall. Tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash. Flowers everywhere. Lots besides this :)

I planted 4 onions with roots in a big pot 2 months ago. Over time they started growing but there was a heat wave last week, and I feel I missed out on watering them for a day.

Can I troubleshoot them and bring them back to life?

Moving from a rural area where I had a garden every year, I needed to get my hands in some dirt so I started growing microgreens! Turned into a pretty solid business and a year later I’m doing it full time. Shoutout to mf nature, shoutout to fresh producers, and all the farmers out there doing the damn thing!

I'm a beginner and looking to grow a vegetable plant that can survive the year. I planted tomatoes successfuly in my balcony last year after putting alot of effort into them, but I felt so sad watching the entire thing shrivel away as soon as it got a little cold. I think having a perrenial plant would also be more cost effective.

Thanks for any advice!

I had been gardening since the Pandemic. I started out of boredom in my apartment. A couple of years later we move into a house, and I have a much larger space to cultivate. However, sometimes I get thrown of by youtube channels and how easy they make it seem that gardening is. I think most of the things I see in youtube is a manicured beautiful version of what really gardening is. Take for Example the youtube channel Planted in the garden. Recently I came across their book compact garden. I feel is impossible to have such a prolific garden without spending tons of money. Do not get me wrong I commend them from spreading useful information about gardening but I do not think is fair say like Oh we accomplish this in a small piece of land and it was so easy you can do it, and it will cost you almost nothing. When I started in the pandemic my plan was to feed my family but I dont think it is possible unless you really put up the work. I had learn to do a few things that save me money and time but not to the point that I have a jungle in my backyard. It takes years to achieve that dont you think? I mean I have plenty of things we can eat but I dont think to the point we dont do a trip to the supermarket. I think a lot has to do in the region you live, your soil conditions and how much time you can put in for gardening. Working full time does not help. I use the back to eden method so I save in composting and mulching my garden, I try to use the same seeds and many times having a good soil helps because things regrow the next season. However watering I still struggle, I struggle with grass regrowing every season, and some crops will do good one season and not the other..I feel my area I have not discover everything that grows easily and that is a process that make take me longer since I try different things every season. I try to do things that use little water as possible and grow good in my region. What do you do? what has work? Do you have a jungle in your backyard? Are you able to feed your family?

Using just a Martha tent (a plastic greenhouse off Amazon) with a shade cloth over top on the shaded side of a garage.

Warmer with lower humidity than commonly suggested for mushrooms but where there’s a will there’s a way!

Growing pounds of highly nutritious food in just a couple weeks

*Outdoors in NE Florida*

Thought I would share some cool projects we’ve been working on in the urban gardening space. Maybe you can draw some inspiration from our projects 😊👌🌱

I’m running a small, hands-on experiment to see how far high-performance soil can be pushed in an urban environment.

I work with biochar and Terra Preta–style soil systems, and I’m looking for someone in or near LA with a yard, rooftop, or unused space who’s curious about growing a truly thriving food system and open to collaborating.

This isn’t a startup or a workshop, just a practical build done simply.

If you’ve got space and curiosity, I’m happy to talk or answer questions.

I tried three popular compact hydroponic systems and documented the results, which were exactly what you'd expect. From a cheap system for $40, all the way to smart technology with remote app and LCD screen ($200+), each work just fine and you get what you pay for!

I grew 12+ crops for 55 days in each.

• Suncoze
• Growell
• LetPot Max

One thing I wasn't expecting however was the limitations the smaller systems have in terms of quantity. I'm used to larger systems (like Tower Garden) where I can grow so much. That said, i'd always elect for a larger system.

The LetPot actually came with 21 spots (compared to Suncoze (12) and Growell (16), it also included a separate top which only has 2 planting spots, so you could grow less; but larger plants to fuller maturity.

I'd rather have the space and not use then, then want it and not have it!

That said the smaller Suncoze and Growell still grew phenomenally and I had no issues. If someone wanted to start small, they're incredible tools which run themselves after to planting!

If you look at the LED light panel sizes, it's a big difference; but indeed they each worked fine. And even on the smallest one (Suncoze) I had the largest basil plant!

I also found it interesting how it's the same system for both to set up. Fill with water, plant seeds, stickers, and humidity domes. The LetPot has a tube that can refill itself when it get's low, and an automatic dosing system for nutrients.

Overall very impressed and loved the whole experience.