Good things grow with urban farm initiative

Thespec.com
Feb. 8, 2016
By Amy Kenny

Pat Reid says farming is much bigger than maintaining a garden.

That's why the volunteers behind McQuesten Urban Farm approached Ward 4 Coun. Sam Merulla this year, asking about funding for a full-time, full-fledged farmer.

Reid says professional guidance is important to help the farm get properly started on its first full season. The 1.2-hectare farm is located behind St. Helen early learning and child-care centre on Britannia Avenue, near Barton Street East and Red Hill Valley Parkway. The "farm" was established last year after councillors approved a $350,000 construction job to break ground on the property.

On Monday, Merulla plans to present a motion to the city's emergency and community services committee, asking for $36,000 from the city's environmental mitigation reserve to finance part of the salary required for the proposed position.

The reserve was established in 2014, to be used for environmental mitigation tools and community development initiatives.

In total, Merulla says it will require $110,000 to finance the position through to April 2017. The remainder would come from a fund dedicated to the community action plan in the McQuesten hub.

At the end of April 2017, the pilot project would be assessed and hopefully, says Merulla, made permanent.

Reid said the farm has a team of roughly 20 volunteers working on it.

However, she says that with the farm's new stall at the Ottawa Street Farmers' Market, volunteers feel they need a dedicated leader with expertise. Someone who can mentor and educate the rest of them - not only about readying the soil, planting and harvesting, but about the business side of farming. This includes everything from setting market pricing to facilitating sales.

"None of us have those skill sets at this point and it is imperative that we get those skill sets," says Reid. "I know how to balance books but it's not the same."

Merulla says McQuesten is one of the largest urban farms in Canada. He says it significantly improves the quality of life in the neighbourhood, not only because its on-site market stand brings fresh, affordable fruits and veggies to a part of the city that needs them, but because of the opportunity it represents for community-building.

He says it gives seniors an opportunity to remain active and connect with their communities, as well as cultivate food skills. He says it also has a great relationship with local schools.

Reid says school groups visit the farm all the time, and it's wonderful to see kids learn about where their food comes from.

She says some elementary school kids have never seen the way a carrot grows. Last summer, at the farm's Sprout Camp, one of the campers was thrilled to grow a parsnip that won a prize at the Rockton Fair.

If things move ahead after Monday, Merulla says he hopes the request for proposals will be issued shortly after.

The position will entail farming, transportation of goods to the Ottawa Street Farmers' Market, volunteer outreach, labour co-ordination, and facilitation.

"It would have to be shovel to the ground, literally, before spring," he says.