Urban Agriculture Summit 2012 Toronto Ontario Canada

1. URBAN AGRICULTURE SUMMIT
August 15-18 2012
Toronto Ontario
Learn, Network, Train, Tour,

2. Marie, Linda & Yoonhee
Ryerson University Thursday morning

3. A warm welcome for the local Native
Community

4. Joe Lobko
President of Ryerson University

5. Some of the Sponsors of this Summit

6. Keynote speaker: Will Allen

7. Promoting growing your own food as a group
and partnership. Green Roofs, Hoop Houses,
Growing soil, Bee keeping.

8. Chicago-Art on the Farm
www.growingpower.org
• Urban Farm Sites in Chicago:
• Altgeld Gardens Urban Farm
Established 2010
• This 2.5-acre urban farm on Chicago's Southside will grow and distribute healthy produce and create job
opportunities in one of Chicago's most isolated and impoverished communities. In 2010, Growing Power in
partnership with the Chicago Housing Authority employed 150 adults and 40 at-risk youth from the local
community. The site currently has one-acre in production and has a large-scale compost and vermicompost
systems and a hoop greenhouse for year-round production.
• The Chicago Lights Urban Farm
Established 2003 Located at the intersection of W. Chicago Avenue & N. Hudson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60610.
•
• Since 2003, Growing Power has worked in collaboration with Chicago’s Fourth Presbyterian Church to facilitate
the Chicago Avenue Community Garden. In 2002, Fourth Presbyterian Church bought property in the Cabrini-
Green community on Chicago Avenue between Hudson and Cleveland. The purchase of this former unkempt
basketball court was an outgrowth of Fourth Church’s forty-year involvement with the children and families living
in Cabrini-Green. As the neighborhood transitions from low-income “projects” to mixed-income housing, the
overarching goal of the community garden is to help facilitate a thriving diverse community and ensuring that
present residents are not cast aside in this process of transformation. As the first step in this important endeavor,
Fourth Church with Growing Power’s help, transformed the Chicago Avenue site into a community garden, as a
way to strengthen the church’s relationship with the families and children in the Cabrini community.

9. Seminar #1
Presenter: Gaston Remmers-
Netherlands-City of Almere
• Getting clear about the purpose and scale of your
project is crucial: we don’t need more to eat, we
need better quality.
• 1. cultivate diversity
• 2. connect place and context
• 3. combine city and nature
• 4. anticipate change
• 5. continue innovation
• 6. design health system
• 7. Amsterdam- children work on a farm 2-3 times
a week

10. Bright Farms: Keynote speaker:
Paul Lightfoot- Chief Executive Officer
• Need to produce year round to make it
profitable.
• Talked about getting roof top gardens on top
of super markets??
• Use of hydroponic greenhouses
• Look into supermarket, commit to long term
purchase for better produce with fixed prices
• Hire a local to produce, focus on two zones,
eg. Tomatoes and lettuce

12. Seminar #2: Design your Common Space by
Carolin Nees, Architect and Edie Stone- Director
Green Thumb- www.greenthumbnyc.org
• Space organized by citizens- what is your vision- communal or
individual?
• Have a Community Garden Council- guidelines???
– Health and safety
– Need resources to help people who don’t garden but want to learn
– Finding a lot
– Type of gardening, square foot gardening, green house
– Structures- gazebo, stage, storage, rainwater catcher
– Provide vocal point
– Bee hives- check with neighbours
– Composting
– Raised beds and clean soil- prevents contamination
– Think about vertical growing
– Plant pollinator plants for pest control
– Build in self watering- put in PVC pipe across whole lot and tap off with a house as
needed
– Windbreak around garden if needed
– Tree removal company to get chips possible free
– ****Extra Share .org – good website to share food and garden help and ideas. This type
of website can be started in any city. ***

13. Example of a community building

14. Another style with garden on roof with
a cover

15. Funding
• Where to get grants from?
– Rona: for material
– TD Bank: Friends of the Environment Foundation
– Service Canada
– Heart and Stroke Foundation- Youth
– CMHC- funded gardening-rooftop planter boxes back
in the 70’s, anything now????
– Telus: getting the community involved
– Try local organizations: working with children and
seniors.
– Live Green Grants

16. Toronto’s Rooftop Garden City Hall
New city Bylaw: All new building must have green roof.

24. End of Day One

25. Saying Yes to Urban Agriculture, What it Brings to the City,
Why are people saying yes and How can we say yes in the
FUTURE??????
• Shelia Penny- Toronto District School Board
• Many schools in Toronto are now letting students
participate in growing food for their own
purpose. It is a great opportunity for them to
learn how vegetables are grown and how they
can improve the process to get better quality
food for themselves.
• Schools will need to check into insurance policy
etc.
• Gardens can be right over top of asphalt. Need to
check with onsite Design Consultants in your
area.

29. Over 60 school gardens in Vancouver
Summer time need to work with other people such as camps, daycare, volunteers

32. Define Community Gardens
Clare Wagner: Program Coordinator, Green
Venture/Hamilton Community Garden
• Definition: where plants are grown by a
community to meet that community needs.
• Networking: connecting, promote new growth,
enhance benefits, support sustainability, good
communication.
• Define Structure and Leadership: who’s on board-
citizens not for profit, other community groups,
church, school, municipality. Then define vision,
purpose, goals and structure.

33. • Know and Develop resources: What do you need?
– physical goods, people power, outreach and
educational materials,
• “BUDGET” How can you get money?
• Municipality
• Grants
• Sponsors
In-kind support
• Donations
• Staff time
• volunteers

34. Tips for Success
– Make things manageable and realistic start small
– Consider risk, liability and insurance
– emphasize benefits
– don’t be afraid to ask
– Consider project based components verses
ongoing needs
– Where will the resources go? Tools, money: Get a
bank account
– Make it “FUN”

35. • Create: Data Base- info in one place
-google maps, facebook, garden info
Establish communication:
-Internal- emails groups, phone tree
-External- signage (children make sign good idea),
printed material, blog, social media.
Develop Maintenance Plan:
-who and how, revisit steps
Resources: American community Garden Association-
Step by Step Guide http://www.communitygarden.org/

39. Roof Top Gardens

40. Mark Morrison
- President Mark K Morrison Landscape
Architecture PC
• Mark has been in the business for 38 years
• Depth determines the type of plants you grow
• Veggies should be 24”
• Blueberries food for all season for yearly looks
• Size of area 30-36” in width
• In an area that is 6-8” you need 40% compost
(from mushrooms good), 60% shale and clay
• Popular in New York- hot peppers- low shallow
roots, less maintenance and water, 32 different
types

47. Good resource: rooftopfarms.org

48. Sub irrigation recommended if going
to have certain plants in the same
place.

49. Compost enhanced potting soil:
“no perelite”

58. Support Dwarf trees, check for wind.
Planter bottoms need to be open.

60. Try some vertical planting

61. Cold frame made out of aluminum.

62. BBQ Dinner Friday Night

63. Concrete to carrots: Building Productive School
Gardens on Asphalt

64. Starting our first layer with the clay and concrete
mixture blocks.

65. First layer needs to be flat and straight.

66. Everyone helps

67. I’m sure it is level.

68. Just about finishes the first layer.

69. Yeah!!!

70. Start gluing and stacking.

71. We are getting there.

72. Still one more row.

73. So much fun.

74. Filling in the final crack with glue.

75. Complete: the extra block will be used
for something else.

77. The Team

78. Notice: built right on the asphalt.

79. Mosaic done on the previous gardens
by the students.

80. Gardens and compost done by
students.

81. The school’s first garden.

82. Two great little plants to try: Stevia-
(sweet) and Sorrel-(sour). Mix together and
get a sweet and sour taste.

84. The end of the day!
The end of our weekend!