Sky Garden. Photo by Sam Lucchetta
Tuesday, September 12th, marked the launch of Urban Agriculture Week at the University of Toronto. A week of celebrating city-grown veg and communal gardening was kicked off by a guided walking tour of several gardens on campus co-organized by Dig In! Campus Agriculture, Toronto Urban Growers, and the Huron-Sussex Community Garden. I, a novice gardener myself, tagged along to celebrate.
The event started in New College’s D.G Ivey Library, where visitors were welcome to peruse a collection of urban agriculture literature, many of the books formerly belonging to urban agriculture pioneer Jac Smit. Two gardening books were given to two lucky raffle winners. Refreshments were also provided, preparing us for the city hike ahead.
The weather was warm and the sky was clear – the perfect sort of day to enjoy a garden grown tomato. On the roof of the Galbraith Building was our first stop, The Sky Garden. Here, garden volunteers showcased the use of irrigation and hydroponics. The constant water and full-sunlight has definitely helped with growing veggies; tomato plants looked more like tomato hedges, and equally large squashes trailed their stems across the roof. The Sky Garden is also home to honey bees. We were lucky to see some of their honeycomb up close. A volunteer explained that if a queen bee comes out of her hive to confront you, then you have royally messed up.
We headed back down to land, towards the Anthropology Building. Dig In! volunteer, Kristy, showed us a small garden of herbs before taking the group to the Anthropology Greenhouse. Despite being an anthropology student myself, I never realized that the Anthropology Building had a greenhouse. The greenhouse is an almost secret place. Behind a windowless door was a room filled with humidity, sunlight, and bright green seedlings. This is Dig In!’s haven in the colder months, where seedlings are sprouted for springtime. There is a small corner dedicated to vermicomposting.
Another indoor set-up is located in the Sidney Smith building, and is run by volunteers from the Department of Geography. This garden currently functions as a hydroponic and aquaponic demo, created for the purpose of livening up the student lounge (sometimes referred to by geography students as ‘The Cave’). Main plants grown here include arugula and moss. A single, large goldfish is being housed under the moss growing platform. He/she used to have friends. Hopefully the geography students who use the room keep the fish company.
Visitors moved outside of Sid Smith, where Dig In! volunteers Don and Nelly presented the Sidney Smith Intensive Garden. Although Dig In! members have reported incidents of vegetable theft from this garden, the space still seems to be brimming with goodies. Tomatoes the colour of dark eggplants gleamed in the sun alongside squash flowers that looked like sunbursts. A wooden sign in the garden read, “DON’T STEAL, JOIN US”. Between photographing and admiring the garden, I overheard hopes of taking over the large planters by Sid Smith and incorporating them into the urban agriculture network.
Huron-Sussex Community Garden. Photo by Sam Lucchetta
From Sid Smith, the tour group was taken to the Huron-Sussex Community Garden. I was stunned by how squirrel-proofed this garden was. Netting covered several raised beds filled with veggies and flowers. Béatrice Lego, the volunteer coordinator for the Huron-Sussex garden explained that the garden functions as a ‘shared garden’. All of those who contribute to the garden’s wellbeing share a single harvest. I can imagine that this spot is ideal for hosting corn roasts, since it’s so spacious, colourful, and shaded.
The final two stops, the University of Toronto Student Union (UTSU) and Hart House gardens, are a part of Dig In’s initiatives. Don and Nelly again took to providing info on these spaces. The UTSU Garden wraps around the UTSU building and its ramp, and currently consists of squash, berries, and donated mushroom logs. The Hart House garden has unfortunately fallen victim to construction. Only the day before had I been weeding and harvesting in front of Hart House, so I was surprised to see massive test pits in the garden the day of the tour. There is still hope that some of the garden can be salvaged post-construction. The day before the tour, Dig In! volunteers harvested a bounty of carrots, chard, tomatillos, and sage from the Hart House garden. Despite the test pits, there were many self-seeded vegetables still growing comfortably (this brings to mind a common saying I keep hearing amongst long term Dig In! volunteers: “Goes to show once you start a garden, it’s easy to keep it growing.”) Visitors were invited to harvest herbs. I took chamomile, lemon balm, and mint. I brewed a tea with them later that evening. The sun was setting by the end of the tour, and thus the first day of Urban Agriculture Week came to a close.
– Sam Lucchetta, Dig In! Campus Agriculture volunteer