The Constant Gardner

Tony Keene, owner of the Hydro Med medical marijuana co-op on South Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor, tends to his hydroponically grown crops on Saturday afternoon. Keene is asking a judge to force the Ann Arbor City Council to clearly define the terms "cultivation facility" and "dispensary" before proceeding with a new medical marijuana licensing ordinance. Keene, a California native, grows several different strains of marijuana, including L.A. Woman, L.A. Confidential, Vanilla Kush, and Himalayan Gold. He remains hopeful his business will take off. He has big plans for a multifaceted operation that is part indoor farm, part research facility, and part chromatography lab — with quality-control testing for THC and cannabinoids. His hope is to offer "certified pot." "I'm just not interested in selling pot — I'm interested in seeing this become a legitimate business," he said. "We're talking pharmaceutical development, pharmaceutical research. There's a huge, legitimate industry to be built out of this. And the dispensary model, it's turned into a group of people who want to have Amsterdam here. I'm sorry, this is the Midwest." Read the story here.

Hydroponic Wall Garden

This is a hydroponic wall garden at Silvio's Pizza in Ann Arbor, part of a set of sculptural installations called "The Sustainability Series" created by Ashley Lieber for her master's thesis at the University of Michigan's School of Art & Design. The series is a creative inquiry on the visual and cultural meanings of sustainability. Here, Lieber has incorporated art with alternative urban agriculture, ecological design, water recycling and material repurposing. She says the system uses very little energy and is performing better than expected, producing high yields in half the time it takes to grow outdoors (and here it's possible to grow year round). "I was inspired to create this installation specifically for Silvio's in light of what I see this establishment to be: a hub for those who share a passion for wholesome, local and organic foods," she says. "It is my aspiration that within this context, we come together to enjoy the harvests of this work, dream and create bright futures that reconnect us to nature with our urban environments, and progress dialogue about the vital link between personal and ecological health."