Behind a hedge, next to a sidewalk, hides a secret Marie-Claire Legaré has kept in her front yard for years, something that might’ve upset neighbours or even earned her a citation from the Saint-Laurent borough.
“I’ve been growing them for about seven to 10 years but they were hidden,” she giggled.
It’s a vegetables garden which includes cucumbers and tomatoes.
“So I know they were not totally legal but it doesn’t show that much,” she told Global News.
Now she has less reason to hide. A new borough bylaw allows residents to plant vegetable gardens anywhere on their property, and even build greenhouses in their backyard.
“We’re also expanding it to our industrial sector,” explained borough mayor Alan DeSousa, “where we will be able to have rooftop greenhouses in over 1,000 non-residential buildings.”
Two such examples already exist. The Lufa Farms rooftop greenhouse next to the Place Vertu shopping centre, and the rooftop garden at the IGA supermarket on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard.
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As for residential properties, DeSousa points out that growing food at home is better for the environment.
“There’s no need to transport stuff that’s happening in your own community,” he pointed out.
Legaré agrees that in the context of food insecurity, doing so will help families who’re struggling financially, saying, “It’s cheaper and it’s nice to know where your food comes from.”
She added that when people produce their own food it helps them appreciate what goes into growing what we eat.
Other residents think the initiative is admirable, but some wonder how it might affect neighbourhood aesthetics.
“I think there’ll have to be maybe some rules and regulations in terms of how to maintain it,” Erin Freedin said when she heard the news about the bylaw, “because it could maybe get quickly out of control.”
According to DeSousa, for now there are no restrictions but that could change.
“We count on people using their good judgment to determine how to best tend for it and how to make sure that it’s done in a pleasant manner,” the mayor told Global News.
Legaré says she tries to keep it simple, and if she can find the space, she’ll keep growing her garden.
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