Bowery Project turns vacant lots into mobile farms

A small non-profit group is turning vacant lots into small, mobile farms.

Thestar.com
May 3, 2016
By Oliver Sachgau

Empty lots can be an eyesore in downtown Toronto. Tied up in legal or development hell, the gravelly abominations can stay empty for years, waiting for a building to cover up their ugliness.

A Toronto non-profit, the Bowery Project, has started taking those lots, while they’re in purgatory, and turning them into small mobile farms.

Using milk crates, the group takes advantage of the unused land, without having to worry about what might be underneath it, co-founder Rachel Kimel said.

“You don’t know the quality of the soil. Most often the land could be contaminated, and just even to find out that and to remediate the soil is too much work and too complicated,” Kimel said.

Instead, the gardens are planted completely above-ground, using new soil, in milk crates. This has the added benefit of making the whole thing mobile, Kimel said.

“They’re super portable and light,” she said.

The group has two current gardens operating, one a partnership with the YMCA at Queen St. and Spadina Ave., and the other in Alexandra Park.

Their third and latest garden will be on a lot on Sherbourne and Gerrard Sts., on a lot that has been empty for over two decades. The site of a former Campbell Texaco gas station, the property is being turned into rental units, but currently dealing with red tape.

It was that lot that sparked the idea for the project in the first place, Kimel said.

“We kept on passing the same vacant lot all the time ... Deena (Del Zotto, the other founder) turned to me and said ‘Why don’t we find out who owns that and grow food there,’” Kimel said.

They didn’t end up finding the owner, but the idea took off, and in a happy surprise, the owner contacted them later as their project grew more popular.

“It’s kind of crazy serendipitous,” she said.

Currently the lots grow everything from vegetables to herbs, with the exception of root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, but Kimel said they’re looking into planting those in potato sacks and adding soil as they grow.

The fruit, or more accurately vegetables of their labour is then partly donated to the community groups in the area - they’re partnering with groups like the Native Women’s Resource Centre for the Sherbourne lot, for example. The rest is sold to local restaurants.

After getting some attention from a BlogTO post, Kimel said the group is now getting inundated with people looking to volunteer, which she is entirely happy with.

“There are people who obviously want this. It’s very nice to feel that way,” she said.