Thesis (M.Sc.Agric.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes special study report entitled : Planting in interior landscape. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Abstrakt   Nyckelord: Web of Things, Tillsammansodling, Ting, Entitet, Kultur   I undersökningen går vi igenom hur ting kan existera inom olika plan av vårt medvetande och även hur teknologin inom Web of Things (WoT*) kan agera som en entitet inom ett fenomen såsom tillsammansodling. De metoder som valts för att undersöka fenomenet är Brainstorm, Att flytta gränser och De sex tänkarmössorna. Dessa tre metoder är våra huvudmetoder som ansågs vara bästa valen för ändamålet medan alternativa metoder som Kanban*, funktionsanalys och ett agilt tänkande var för att kunna ge vår design det extra stöd som behövdes för att utvecklas. Metoderna för att kunna undersöka detta fenomen har utgjorts av olika delar från boken Design av informationsteknik av Jonas Löwgren och Erik Stolterman där vi utgått från att skapa en design med hjälp av de tre delarna vision, den operativa bilden och specifikationen (Löwgren & Stolterman, 2004). Dessa tre delar har använts i fem olika iterationer för att kunna använda metoderna i olika plan av designen. Resultatet påvisas genom att gå igenom designprocessens fem iterationer och med stöd från tidigare och aktuell forskning medan diskussionen presenteras genom att gå igenom de fyra hypoteser vi själva arbetade fram genom att undersöka tidigare och aktuella forskningstexter, de fyra hypoteser är som följer.   Hypotes ett: Fenomenet tillsammansodling i stadsmiljöer med kopplingar till Web of Things (WoT) skapar ett ting som består av både fysiska och psykiska relationer till de som befinner sig i det. Hypotes två: Tillsammansodlingar är till förmån för hållbarhet och sociala möten. Hypotes tre: WoT är inte bara ett fysiskt ting utan även psykiskt och kan beblanda sig med både människa och maskin på olika plan. Hypotes fyra: WoT som sociala medier kan få människan att vilja börja ta del av tillsammansodlingar i stadsmiljöer och påtrycka ändringar hos maskiner och hur människor arbetar tillsammans med dem. / Abstract   Keywords: Web of Things, Community gardening, Things, Entity, Culture   In this Bachelor thesis we go through how things can exist within different planes of our mind and further how technology within Web Of Things (WoT) can act as an entity within a phenomenon like Community gardening. The methods that was chosen for the survey of the phenomenon are Brainstorm, To move the border and The six thinkingcaps. This three methods are our main methods that was considered to be the best choice for our purpose while alternative methods like Kanban, Function analyses and an agile thinking was considered to be the extra structure our design needed to evolve. The methods to maintain this survey of the phenomenon has been consisted of different parts from the book Thoughtful interaction design written by Jonas Löwgren and Erik Stolterman where we extracted three parts from it where the parts was vision, operative image and specification in order to create our design (Löwgren & Stolterman, 2004). This three parts has been integrated in five different iterations in order to use the methods of choosing in different parts of the design. The result is manifested from the design processes five iterations and the support from earlier and current researches while the discussion is presented through four hypotheses we manifested from the work from earlier and current research papers, the four hypotheses are as followed.   Hypothesis s one: The phenomenon Community gardening in urban environments with relations to Web of Things creates a thing that coexist within both the physical and psychological in the relationships of what is inside of the phenomenon. Hypothesis two: Community gardening is beneficial for sustainability and social encounters. Hypothesis three: Web Of Things is not just a physical thing but also a psychical and can exist in different planes of both mankind and machines. Hypothesis four: Web Of Things as social media can make the mankind want to integrate with Community gardening in urban environments and push changes in how humans and machine works together.

Food security and self-sufficiency in the rural areas has been and remains a major concern for the South African government. The study aimed to investigate farmer’s perception of factors influencing small-scale vegetable production in Tsengiwe village in the Eastern Cape. The research focus was on the following aspects that may have an influence on small-scale vegetable production: socio-economic factors, production and resource deficiencies and the impact of indigenous leafy vegetables. The researcher conducted several demonstration workshops during the field work. The pilot studies and community engagements were essential to extract knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of indigenous or local communities. The action research was part of the reflective process of broadminded problem solving led by researcher and community. The research approach used a triangulation research method to extract information, whereby both quantitative and qualitative research was used to ensure greater accuracy. The main data collection was obtained from interviews with small-scale farming households in the Tsengiwe area. The study revealed that households were dependent on elderly female pensioners to source food and water. These women received most of their income from social grants and were mainly responsible for all farming activities in the households. Most households attempted to produce vegetables, although food security and self-sufficiency through own production was rarely achieved.Other perceived farming challenges included: lack of market accessibility, irrigation infrastructure, drought, financial limitations and soil degradation. Indigenous leafy vegetables were found to play a nutritional role in times of food shortage and not as much for their medicinal value. The study recommended the following interventions: Support for the elderly women in development and production practices, interventions to address factors affecting vegetable production, improving soil structure, working towards food self-sufficiency, moving away from dependence on mechanisation in rural farming.

Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata were once dominant, reef-building corals of Caribbean reefs. Over the last several decades, population declines of Caribbean Acropora have been dramatic, and both species are now listed as “Threatened” under the United States Endangered Species Act. Numerous restoration efforts now utilize coral gardening techniques to cultivate these species for transplantation, in which A. cervicornis is primarily cultivated both on fixed structures and in line nurseries. This study evaluates growth and survivorship of multiple A. cervicornis genotypes grown via two line nursery techniques, and compares the efficacy of each against the conventional method of fixed nursery puck-mounted culture. Suspended nursery culture resulted in higher post-fragmentation survivorship of corals than puck culture, especially in warmer conditions. Disease incidence was significantly reduced by suspended culture, which also prevented predation from fireworms (Hermodice carunculata) prevalent in puck corals at the same nursery. Genotypic growth rate differences persisted among techniques, and suspended coral growth was comparable to puck culture. Suspended colonies may need more frequent pruning to avoid branch abrasion and breakage, but the technique is an effective means to reduce disease, predation, and post-fragmentation mortality in A. cervicornis nursery culture.

The chosen project originated as a response to humanity’s need to eat, and the agricultural processes necessary to feed the global population. The proposed solution will investigate the connection of physically and meta-physically dissociated elements, in order to create responsive architecture. The aim is to steer away from a mono-functional building and design typologies and to strive towards creating architecture that will address the needs of the public. The chosen project investigates future and current solutions for the production of food in urban environments. The scales of investigation range from microscopic research to the implementation and monitoring of skills transferred into the community. The proposed facility is thus composed out of various different programs, each with its own specific requirements. The composition can broadly be divided into scientific research facilities, a greenhouse complex and a public exhibition centre. It is unnecessary for the pragmatic and complex nature of the building to undermine the spatial expression. In the proposed facility, pragmatic limitations informed the design process, but did not govern the outcome. Instead, the limitations fuelled alternative problem solving, which in turn produced creative solutions. Thus, the building accepts that it is pragmatic in program, and compensates accordingly in order to create inviting spaces for people using the facility on an everyday basis. Copyright / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Architecture / unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-02T13:53:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CarlosRobertoSilvaMagalhaes-pt 3.pdf: 2000981 bytes, checksum: 1beedacedb41461e2c502e13730d3f24 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-28 / Cities are constantly upgrading themselves, going through various processes duo to an increasingly fast urbanization, and this can cause a lack of harmony between man and vegetation. The lack of vegetation in cities has led to an increase of the gardening market, with influence on issues such as esthetics, environment, and the psychological conditions of people affected by day-to-day stress. Because of this situation, a gardening project was designed for the road cloverleaf of Poço Fundo, MG. To carry out the project, plant species were surveyed wich might be adequate to the region, regarding climate, soil, and specific characteristics of each plant. After such an evaluation, the following plants were chosen for the city cloverleaf: dragon-tree agave (Agave atenuata), purpleheart (Tradescantia pallida), emerald grass (Zoysia japonica), yellow lilly (Hemerocallis flava), imperial palm tree (Roystonea oleracea), jerivá palm tree (Syagrus romanzoffiana), parakeet flower (Althernanthera ficoidea), pita (Agave americana), Agave angustifolia, and sage-of-gardens (Salvia coccinea). These plants were chosen for being resistant to external factors, for not disturbing the visibility of drivers and preserving the safety of those driving by, and for being inexpensive. Before and after the development of the project, the inhabitants and visitors of the city were asked to give their opinion about it by answering a questionnaire. Upon completion of the project, people realized that the new cloverleaf landscaping became the show window of the city, bringing visual, environmental and economical benefits to Poço Fundo, attracting tourists and even customers to the sugar-cane juice business located there. / As cidades estão constantemente modernizando-se e passando por diversos processos em decorrência de uma urbanização cada vez mais acelerada, ocorrendo uma desarmonia entre o homem e a vegetação. Por causa da falta de vegetação nas cidades, o mercado paisagístico vem crescendo de forma significativa, tendo influência com questão da estética, do ambiente e do psíquico das pessoas, afetado este devido ao estresse do dia a dia. Em decorrência dessa necessidade, foi elaborado um projeto paisagístico para o trevo de Poço Fundo MG. Para a realização do projeto foi realizada uma pesquisa de espécies de plantas adequadas para a região, analisando-se o clima, o tipo de solo e as características específicas de cada planta. No entanto, depois da análise de todos esses critérios, as plantas selecionadas para o paisagismo do trevo da cidade foram a agave-dragão, o coração-roxo, a grama-esmeralda, o lírio amarelo, a palmeira imperial, a palmeira jerivá, periquito, pita, piteira-do-caribe e sálvia-dos-jardins, também por apresentarem uma boa resistência contra os fatores externos, não atrapalharem a visibilidade dos motoristas e preservar a segurança das pessoas que trafegam pelo local, além de não serem plantas caras. Entretanto, antes e depois da implantação do paisagismo nesta área, foi elaborado um questionário para saber a opinião dos moradores e visitantes do município. Após o término do projeto, as pessoas perceberam que o paisagismo somente trouxe benefícios à cidade de Poço Fundo, tanto visuais, ambientais e econômicos, pois valorizou a entrada do município, atraindo turistas e até mais fregueses para o comércio de caldo de cana-de-açúcar, uma vez que é o seu cartão de visita.

Thesis (M. A. Agriculture (Plant Protection)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The influence of cultural practices can be modified by environmental conditions such as container-type or positioning. The objective of the study was to determine whether container-type and positioning would have an influence on the growth of tomato plants and suppression of Meloidogyne javanica exposed to biomuti (Trial 1) and Afrikelp (Trial 2). Different container-types were filled with approximately 10.4 L growing mixture comprising steam-pasteurised sandy loam soil and Hygromix-T at 3:1 (v/v) ratio. The containers were established in microplots at 0.6 m × 0.6 m spacing, with treatments being brown pot-below; brown pot-above, black pot-below, black pot-above, plastic bag-above and plastic bag-below. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv. 'Floradade' seedlings were each transplanted and irrigated with 500 ml chlorine-free tapwater every other day. Seven days after transplanting, each plant was inoculated with 2000 eggs and second-stage juveniles (J2) of M. javanica. Biomuti and Afrikelp, obtained from the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) Vegetable, Ornamentals and Plants (VOP), were applied in separate trials weekly at 2.5%. At 56 days after inoculation, plant growth including selected nutrient elements and nematode variables were measured. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, with separation of means achieved using Fisher’s Least Significant Difference test at the probability level of 5%. In the biomuti trial, container-type and positioning had a significant effect on plant height, fruit number, dry root mass, dry shoot mass and fruit mass, contributing 82, 48, 44, 85 and 89% in total treatment variation (TTV) of the respective variables. Relative to brown pot-below; black pot above, plastic bag-above and brown pot-above reduced plant variables, whereas treatment effects were not significant on nematode variables. In the Afrikelp trial, trends where similar to those in biomuti, treatments had highly significant effects on xvi plant height, dry root mass, dry shoot mass and gall rating, contributing 91, 88, 66 and 60% in TTV of the respective variables. Relative to brown pot-below; black pot above, plastic bag-above and brown pot-above reduced the plant variables, but had no significant effects on nematode variables. Generally, plastic bags and polyethylene pots below-ground improved most plant growth variables when compared to those in containers positioned above-ground.

The image of the postindustrial city is formed by public spaces (streets, plazas and squares, parks, riverfronts and waterfronts) together with a wide range of underused urban spaces and long-term unused areas of stalled spaces. The subject of this work is research of different types of urban gardening spaces and their optimal spatial, operational and functional parameters in the context of urbanism and urban planning. The aim is to apply them to the structure of unused urban spaces. On the basis of the case studies included in the research, the success of placement of individual community projects in different types of public spaces and stalled spaces is assessed. Recommendations for planning practice are based on these evaluations. The results of the work show that spaces with possibilities of horticultural production are a suitable solution for the temporary and also long-term use of under-utilized urban areas with many benefits in social, economic and environmental areas.

This thesis comprises an exploration of the plant commonly known as plantain, or Plantago major, through participant observation of an apprenticeship in traditional western herbalism in the Ottawa region of Ontario, Canada. The first section delves into ideas and manifestations of “weediness” and “invasion”, while offering medicinal/ herbalist views of such plants as a kind of counterpoint. This touches on learning to garden, soil, lawns, plantations, invasive species, protests, and extrajudicial police killings among other topics. The following section, “horror in the hedge”, takes us first on an “herb walk” in Ottawa’s Experimental farm before moving on to a discussion of medicinal understory plants and Plantain alongside hedgerows, witch trials, plagues of Covid-19 and vibration in healing. From here the final section discusses medicine, delving first into the darker side of things as they manifest in the realm of medicinal mushrooms, again touching on the over-harvesting of medicinals, and the discoveries of supposed messiahs. Following is an exploration of how herbalists see continuity between the terrain of the human body and the land, returning again to the “herb walk” as a pedagogic mode utilized by herbalists. Finally, this work is summed up by an exploration of herbal formulation and medicine making, of the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herb’s Charm and the potent power of the triad. Drawing on Plantain as a kind of talisman, and structured after the Lacnunga’s Nine Herb’s charm, this work is an anthropological invocation of animist traditions emerging from Europe. To these ends, the works of Anna Tsing, Tim Ingold, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guatarri, Donna Haraway, Michael Taussig, Silvia Federici, David Abram, and Victor Turner, among many others, underpin the theoretical framework of this project.