In 4 previous blogs, (link to Spinach Lovers' Garden in the list of labels), I've had photos of this front yard garden that was growing what I thought might be spinach over the winter and other things in large quantities that I thought were not very practical for a home garden, and yet there was obvious expertise. The mystery is now solved! The garden is part of Kitsilano Farms, a project that converts donated front and back yards into intensive, productive micro-farms. Produce is sold at farmers' markets, sold through CSA programs, given to the land-owners, etc. A similar project on the east side of Vancouver is CityFarmBoy. In Gibsons, there is Backyard Bounty.
2 comments:
I have been enjoying your blog and wanted to let you know that a group of us at Highland Community church are exploring a community garden initiative on our vacant land adjacent to the church. The good news is that we have a few acres, the bad news is that we do not have soil, but gravel, as a base there. We have a group exploring our options for this situation. Some of us are going to come to Vancouver for the community garden tour on Sunday and hope to learn more about how these gardens are managed, etc. Do you recommend any?
Hi Lorraine,
It is difficult to choose which gardens to visit! #1 with ONNI and the one at Davie are interesting because ONNI is new this season, and both are temporary and built on developer land. The Davie one was a former gas station, and I think they used a membrane to cover up the existing site. #2 would be great because Strathcona has 200 plots. #6 is the rail corridor; I always enjoy that one. Otherwise, I'm not familiar with the gardens.
At your site, you could retain the gravel for the "paths" and do raised beds with purchased soil and manure. You have options, considering that you're in agricultural land.
Good luck!
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