HALIFAX — An urban farm on the site of the former Queen Elizabeth High School is offering garden plots to the public this year.
Common Roots Urban Farm in Halifax is offering garden plots to the public this year.
The operators say the garden was a hit last year and they expect to grow more this season.
The plots were only offered to community groups last year.
“We’ve opened it up to individuals and families as well, so our intention is to have hundred plots,” says Jayme Melrose, who operates Common Roots.
Seventy plots have been snapped up already. The plots are $30 each with a limit of two per person.
The area gets sunlight all day long, but Melrose says wind is sometimes a problem and she’s also working on getting a better setup for water.
“Right now it will be hoses. Hopefully by mid-summer I’ll have like a nice irrigation system in.”
A former genetic engineer and Common Roots volunteer, Dr. Jason Hofman, says urban farming is a great idea.
“It’s about time”, says Hofman, “people are getting a lot more concerned about their food, how it’s grown, where it’s grown and we want to help educate people to learn about that, do it for themselves.”
Mindful Mango is one of several restaurants growing food at the farm.
Some crops were left in the ground over the Winter, such as parsnips, garlic, and purple kale and are still growing.
Melrose says all of those vegetables are going to the Parker Street Food Bank.
She says the garden is soon getting some cold frame plots to grow more Winter vegetables and a flower farm.
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