Enter the Vancouver urban garden that's been teaching people how to grow their own food for over 40 years - Action News
Home WebMail Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 04:39 AM | Calgary | -1.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
British Columbia

Enter the Vancouver urban garden that's been teaching people how to grow their own food for over 40 years

In 1978, a group of peoplecallingthemselves City Farmercreated the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Gardenin Kitsilano to teach people living in the cityhow to grow their own food in asustainable way.

Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden in Kitsilano offers tours, lessons and advice

The garden, created on vacant lots, has been teaching people how to grow their own food for the past 44 years. (Nate Slaco/Submitted)

This story is part of theCBC Creator Networkseries. The Creator Networkamplifies the voices of the next generation of Canadian storytellers and connects them with CBC platforms, where they tell compelling stories andshare unique perspectives that reflect the country in all its diversity. To check out more from the Creator Network,tap here.


In the middle of a bustling Vancouver neighbourhood lies an agricultural oasis created from a couple of vacant lots that datesback to 1978.

That's when a group of peoplecallingthemselves City Farmercreated the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Gardenin Kitsilano to teach people living in the cityhow to grow their own food in asustainable way.

The garden and its work inspiring urban farming over the past 44 years is now being highlighted in a short film calledParking Lot to Paradise through theCBC's Creator Network.

"It is a marvellous place to be," Michael Levenston, co-founder of City Farmer Society and garden site manager, told CBC's On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko. "I was 27 in 1978 and I just turned 71, so it's been a lot of years."

City Farmer's Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden is at 2150 Maple St. (Nate Slaco/Submitted)

The garden sits on more than a quarter of an acre of land and offers educational lessons, tours and gardening advice six days a week. Schools can book tours or people can just walk in to enjoy a lesson.

"It's like horticultural therapy," Levenston said, adding that staff alsoteachpeople how to compost in their own gardens.

WATCH | Parking Lot to Paradise:

Maria Keating, a City Farmer gardener and bug expert, said a mulberry treeshe planted in the garden 14 years ago has been helping her feed her silkworms, which she talks about in educational tours for students and visitors.

"The silkworm project started with me just wanting to show people the life cycle of a caterpillar," Keating said. "To grow silkworms, you need to have mulberry leaves to feed them."

Maria Keating said she has been raising silkworms to show students and other visitors the life cycle of a caterpillar. (Nate Slaco/Submitted)

She said the mulberry has grown into a "beast of a tree" and has become a draw in itself.

"I had no idea just all the magic that would happen under this tree as we get visitors coming in from all over the world," she said.

With files from On the Coast