(Ottawa) Urban gardening is gaining more and more popularity, in part due to rising prices in grocery stores.
Shabana Buwalda, who lives in a townhouse in Ottawa, is part of this new generation of gardeners.
His land is not the biggest to cultivate, but his family now owns several flowerbeds.
Now in its sixth year of gardening, the family of four can count on a supply of herbs and tomatoes for the whole winter. She also grows carrots, beans, kale and beets and keeps them as long as possible.
“I encourage beginners to start small, just out of curiosity,” says Ms.me Buwalda. Then, from season to season, we begin to realize how little we rely on grocery stores. »
Deborah Smeltzer has had a smaller garden since selling her house two years ago.
“I had a huge garden. Each space was a kind of garden. I learned a lot, but life changed,” she recalls.
Since moving into a tiny apartment, Ms.me Smeltzer is still trying to grow food in a tight space. She grew vegetables on her balcony during the summer, but her relentless battle with pigeons forced her to retreat indoors.
She installed a plywood panel over a radiator near her windows to grow lemon and avocado trees.
A sense of community
According to Cole Etherington, an Ottawa-area farmer, urban gardening increases a sense of community.
Mr. Etherington has started a small business to sell starter kits for new gardeners. In particular, he makes garden beds small enough to be installed in an apartment.
Initially, he was reluctant to reveal he was a trans farmer, fearing he would not be able to interfere in the community. He received a lot of messages of support from people like him aiming at agriculture.
“I then thought it was important to be that person. Receiving messages from people telling me they like me means a lot to me,” says Mr. Etherington.
Each of its kits contains a garden bed made of recycled wood accompanied by recycled chicken feed. Customers are treated to ready-to-grow seedlings, an instruction manual and manure “from the happiest chickens in the world”.
“Good food straight from the house. It doesn’t get any more local than that, says Etherington. I hope to inspire people to take up the challenge of gardening by giving them access to food, to food security. I want to show them that they can change things. »
For him, gardening is a way to reduce his carbon footprint and promote the diversity of flora.
“If you install a single tomato plant in a flowerpot on a balcony, you are helping to fight climate change. »
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.