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Pumpkin smashing a good way to mark end of Halifax’s Common Roots Urban Farm

Click to play video: 'A farewell celebration to one of Halifax’s most popular urban farms'
A farewell celebration to one of Halifax’s most popular urban farms
WATCH: Thousands of people have dug into the earth of one of Halifax's most popular urban farm for the past seven years. Now, the urban farm is on the hunt for a new location – Nov 4, 2018

It was the kind of laughter that catches on like wildfire, cutting through the crisp air and soaking into the bones of all who felt it.

The kind of laughter that warmed the spirits of those celebrating the final farewell to an urban farm that’s brought a taste of green thumb magic to thousands of people in the heart of downtown Halifax.

“This is the last hoorah on this very beautiful site that thousands of people have helped make together over seven years,” said Jayme Melrose, the former project coordinator of Common Roots Urban Farm.

READ MORE: Two-year-old with a green thumb grows garden in Halifax

The laughter stemmed from families gathered around jack-o-lanterns being smashed into tiny pieces of neon-orange guck.

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The annual hootenanny celebrates the harvest Mother Earth has provided to its gardeners.

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“We just thought it was a good opportunity to smash pumpkins without making a mess of pumpkin on our own lawn,” said Kieva Diamond, a mother of three whose children were on cloud nine with every whack of their pumpkin.

Common Roots Urban Farm has brought new life to a plot of land that used to be home to Queen Elizabeth High School.

When the school was torn down in 2011, the land was revitalized into an urban farm.

READ MORE: QEII Health Sciences Centre redevelopment to cost $2B, funded with P3 model

Now, the urban farm has until April 2019 to find a new home, as the land will become part of the Halifax Infirmary expansion and QE11 Health Sciences Centre New Generation Project.

“The hunt for a piece of land is complicated, but we’ve got a few interesting leads and if people have ideas we’re really open to hearing them,” Melrose said. “Especially if it is a developer that has large swathes of sunny land near apartment buildings.”

A fundraising project is currently underway to help with the moving expenses.

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WATCH: How Halloween was celebrated around the world: Underwater pumpkin carving, pumpkin mural and more

Click to play video: 'How Halloween was celebrated around the world: Underwater pumpkin carving, pumpkin mural and more'
How Halloween was celebrated around the world: Underwater pumpkin carving, pumpkin mural and more

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