the changing face of city farming

visiting a farm no longer constitutes a meandering drive down country roads, air infused with manure. the face of farming is ever changing and popping up unexpectedly in city centres, where horns are heard more than bird sound.high-rise farming initiatives are making fresh produce and community involvement even more accessible. michelle catherine nelson introduced the concept of urban homesteading in 2015, with her matter-of-fact and seductively photographed the urban homesteading cookbook: forage, farm, ferment and feast for a better world. she easily proved that you don’t even need land—or a balcony, for that matter—to grow food: even a broom closet can double as a microbrewery.green roofs, rooftop gardens, and high-rise greenhouses like concordia university’s 13th-floor marvel in montreal are breaking concrete barriers. in nova scotia, the halifax central library is an architectural showstopper, with environmentally savvy considerations like rainfall catchment systems.hotel chains like the fairmont brand were quick to make use of viable vertical space years ago. toronto’s historic fairmont royal york hotel, for instance, was a pioneer in rooftop gardening and gained a dedicated clientele when it embraced bees, too. the hotel’s rooftop apiary is among legions of hotels worldwide that are sensitive to consumer demands, honeybee needs and the unlimited opportunity of growing…up.here, we dig into the green initiatives of concordia university, the fairmont royal york hotel and the halifax central library, to get the scoop on what’s growing on rooftops across the country.

concordia’s city farm school

students are able to see, experience and participate in the food they consume. the loyola greenhouse is a three-storey building with two floors dedicated to food production that is later sold at student-run campus food outlets. the produce is both financially affordable and accessible to students prone to the ease of fast-food alternatives. the hive café co-op (a solidarity co-operative of users, workers and community members) refuses to deal with environmentally exploitive suppliers and buys only compostable disposable items. vegan and nut-free lunches have been available every weekday since the hive’s inception in fall 2014.with two convenient locations, the hive integrates urban agriculture into the curriculum, and its decadent lunches have established a solid and palatable connection to the farm-to-plate trend for many students.the concordia greenhouse hosts an annual epic seedling sale in may, offering heirloom vegetable, herb and flower seeds, all produced in the greenhouse by city farm school interns. in 2017, the greenhouse is offering a microgreen community-supported agriculture (csa) program. for $78, members are provided with 13 weeks of microgreens. the weekly 200-gram (seven ounce) bag of sprouts are a mix of pea shoots, mustard, radish and sunflower, or straight-up sunflower.in the house plant propagation project, students and community members navigate plant care, from cuttings to root division, pruning to repotting. there’s also an intro to growing edible species indoors. at the city farm school, education is facilitated through an experience-based model, and food sovereignty and urban agriculture fundamentals are the living textbooks. students can learn how to grow their own pharmacy, get the lowdown on pest management, and get the dirt on permaculture and vermicomposting. when was school ever this fun?

the buzz about toronto’s fairmont royal york hotel

since 1998, chefs at the royal york have been foraging the 17 beds and 23 planters of chocolate mint, cayenne peppers, italian red kidney beans and arctic berries. there are also two pear trees, five cherry trees and a green apple tree to tart up the hotel’s seriously local menu. so if your entrée is taking a while, maybe the chef is stuck on the elevator after plucking some lemon balm in the rooftop garden!in 2014, bee hotels were introduced to allow rest stops for wild mason bees. habitat loss is a major contributor to the bees’ decline—and because wild bees are three times more effective at pollinating, they are a food chain heavyweight.the bee hotels differ from the royal york’s posh indoor suites with their lcd screens, minibars, wi-fi and pillow-top beds, and are often fashioned out of sticks or logs drilled with 1 cm (0.4 inch) holes for nesting purposes.in fall 2011, the hotel harvested a record 363 kg (800 pounds) of honey from six of its hives in partnership with both toronto beekeepers co-operative and foodshare. now, that’s sweet!

what to check out at the halifax central library