Cultivating Community: Plants and friendship bloom on St. Paul's Hospital rooftop

Hidden from the street, and way up onthefourth floor of St. Paul's hospital in downtown Vancouver, isanoasis.

It's a community garden where residents of the downtowngrow just about any vegetable you can name.

TheDowntown Intercultural Gardeners Society project or DIGS for shortbegan in 2010.

"[Our aim] was to bring together a community that's representative of Vancouver's diversity, and having immigrants as well as Canadian-born gardeners come together and share their cultures and ways of gardening and growing food and preparing food,"Kai Chang,president of DIGS, told CBC's Matthew Parsons.

Chang has been gardening for 15 years. Previous generations of hisfamily were farmers in China. Today, his main focus isproducing food in a more sustainable fashion. Mostof the plants grown on the rooftop are edible, although there is some lavenderto feed the bees.

Chang grows collard greens, kale, garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots and more. He says the diversity of gardeners means a diversity of food Chinese, Japanese and Kenyan vegetables grow on the rooftop, among others.

Sense of community

About 40 per cent of DIG's gardeners are Canadian-born, and 60 per centare immigrants.

For Chang, the community aspect of the garden is just as important as growing food.

"We like to say the word 'community' comes before 'garden.' It is a natural thing that people do together. I think it's primordial for people to grow food together and eat together."

A commoncomplaint you mayhear in Vancouver is that it'sdifficult to find community in the city. Chang saysyou find community where you create it, and that's what DIG is all about.

A healing space

For many, the garden has a healing quality. It's at a hospital after all. Chang says theelderly and ill are drawn to watching green things grow.

"You can imagine if you were stuck in a roomfor weeks on end what it would feel like to come out here," he said.

The roof of St. Paul's is filled withraised beds and small boxes that line the rooftop.Chang says the space gets a lot of sun andbenefits from thefamous Vancouver temperate rainforest environment.

"It's a natural gathering place and there are a lot of people in some distress. This is something that soothes the soul and people who are going through very difficult transitions at times."