ABOUT / ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Ecological Systems

CJVUF seeks to be a model of sustainability in our community, our food system, our growing practices, and our physical environment.

How we conserve our most precious resource – water

Butterfly Roof, Cistern & Solar-Powered Irrigation Pump

Our farm center ‘butterfly’ roof diverts rainwater into a 1000 gallon cistern and then solar panels on the roof power an irrigation pump that takes water from the cistern to our fields to irrigate the crops. So instead of the rainwater from the roof adding to the “storm water” drainage problem that plague all urban areas, our roof reduces our dependence on the metropolitan water supply system. We also save money every time we need to irrigate the fields.

The roof is also designed to block the intense summer sun on the southside of the deck and let in the cooling northern breeze.

For more information about ‘Green Building’, please visit the Green Resource Center for Alabama. www.greenalabama.org

JVUF also composts weeds, vegetable scraps, and restaurant waste for use as fertilizer. Every week we pick up vegetable scraps and used coffee grounds from the restaurants that purchase our produce. We bring them back to the farm and turn them into useable compost. We also have businesses that produce large quantities of organic waste bring their used products directly to use to compost.

We also turn used cooking oil into useable ‘bio-diesel to run our tractors and trucks. At the same time we make deliveries to restaurants, we pick up their used oil and run it through our processor to create high quality bio-diesel. We’re reducing our dependence on non-renewable resources and saving money at the same time!

Thanks to Good People Brewery, Lucy’s Coffee Shop, Rojo, and Highlands Bar and Grill for helping us make Birmingham a better place to live!