Downtown garden sows seeds for Calgary food bank

Amid Calgary's downtown office towers and traffic, two concrete flower planters have been converted to grow 20 different herbs and vegetables.

The produce harvested from the community garden on Barclay Parade, on Third Street S.W. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, will be donated to the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank.

The garden was planted over the May long weekend, and the first harvest is expected at the end of this month.

"Every community garden that you will find is usually in a residential area and is used for the residents to plant their own gardens and to maintain so they can have their own fresh produce," said Caralyn Macdonald, marketing manager of Downtown Calgary, on Tuesday.

"What our goal here is just to add more to the downtown core and then also give back to Calgary and the Calgary community by donating the harvest vegetables and herbs to the food bank."

Workers from nearby businesses have volunteered to take care of the garden.

The project is a partnership between Downtown Calgary, the Calgary Food Policy Council, Sunnyside Home and Garden Centre, the City of Calgary and the food bank.