Life, the city | Bite into an asparagus from Campus MIL

Our journalist travels around Greater Montreal to talk about people, events or places that make the heart of their neighborhood beat.

“Who has gardened before and who will garden for the first time? », asks Laurence Deschamps-Léger to the people who will have their hands and feet in the ground for two hours for the chore of opening the collective gardens of the MIL Campus.

“The objective today is to meet and wake up the gardens, but also to do a little cleaning,” explains the co-founder of On seme, an NPO which encourages the development of a local and community food system.

On this magnificent second Saturday in May, the organization is launching its collective and educational gardening season on the grounds of the MIL Campus Ephemeral Projects. The decor could not better embody urban agriculture: we can see Mount Royal through two almost brand-new condo towers, while the sun reflects on the modern glass building of the University of Montreal.

“When we started eight years ago, the terrain was 100% gravel. All the soil and compost that we find today were transported one wheelbarrow at a time,” emphasizes Laurence Deschamps-Léger with pride.

Sara Maranda-Gauvin and Laurence Deschamps-Léger created On sème in 2016. The first studied at the City Farm School of Concordia University, while the second is the illustrator behind the pretty Laucolo fruit and vegetable posters and calendars . Originally, the two friends wanted to combine urban agriculture and local crafts with an event in Mile-Ex called the May Market.

Eight years ago, the University of Montreal lent them a small portion of the land of the former Outremont marshalling yard, which would become the MIL Campus. The objective was to make it a cultivable space, but let’s say you had to believe in it!

Today, the gardens of On seme are no longer in the middle of a fallow sector. They are a green enclave in the heart of a new neighborhood under construction, at the corner of rue Durocher and avenue Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, between Outremont and Parc-Extension. Their particularity? They are collective. “We share the tasks and the harvests,” summarizes Laurence Deschamps-Léger.

Collective and educational gardening

Until September, three gardening sessions supervised by a facilitator will take place each week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. You can register alone or as a family (for around $200) and there were two places left at last news.

Dominic Bouchard and his 7-year-old son Henri will try the experience for the first time this year. “We discovered the garden during our cycling explorations during the pandemic. We came to stroll in this natural space in the city,” explains the father.

At home, the family grows vegetables in containers, but the harvests will be richer and more varied on a larger scale and in groups. “With several people, we should have better success,” jokes Dominic Bouchard.

Isabelle Dubé, for her part, has been visiting the On Semme garden for three years. “For me, it’s like a haven of peace. Beyond gardening, there is the idea of ​​coming together,” she emphasizes.

The professional photographer also appreciates being supervised. “I have been on the community garden waiting list for seven years. But here it’s even better, because I’m learning skills that I wouldn’t have learned on my own. »

Good for spirit

We have counted Nafy Gueye among our hosts for four years. “It’s beautiful during the harvest to see how the gardeners are happy to bring home fruits and vegetables […] It’s rewarding, but it’s also good for morale and mental health,” she explains.

Nafy Gueye is a technical agent in horticulture and arboriculture in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. After our meeting, we learned on the City of Montreal website that it has already cultivated a field of lemon trees in Senegal and that it is currently in charge of the microforest project at Laurier Park!

Nafy is a graduate of the urban agriculture program at Cégep de Victoriaville. She did her internship in the collective gardens of On seme and applied Philip Forrer’s mound permaculture method.

Amandine Chamard-Bois, another student from the National Institute of Organic Agriculture – INAB, which has a campus in Montreal – is currently devoting space to growing small greens (mesclun, spicy mustard, chicory). “We are experimenting with intensive cultivation in the city,” she explains.

“Here, it’s a great breath of fresh air after a day of work,” she praises. It is a place of freedom and encounters. And for children, it is an extraordinary place of discovery. »

“It’s concrete here. We have our hands in the earth and we can hear the little goldfinches,” adds her lover.

During the opening chore, many were surprised that so many new condos had appeared around the MIL campus. The neighborhood is booming and everyone hopes that the University of Montreal will allow On seme to continue its activities for a long time to come. “There is an ephemeral nature, but we cultivate the land as if we were there forever,” assures Laurence Deschamps-Léger.

— Do you want some asparagus? offers us Nafy Gueye.

We could never have thought that one day we would bite into such tasty asparagus that grows at the MIL Campus.

Visit the On seme website