Project Description: (version française ci-dessous)

This garden is located on the seventh-floor mezzanine rooftop of the Freesia, a 181-unit highrise condominium in downtown Vancouver, the first to incorporate garden plots for residents. The garden area features 60 wood-frame raised beds, a tool shed, and garden lockers. Herbs, beans and other vegetables are grown here.

In 2006, Ward Teulon, an agrologist, started City Farm Boy, a company that promotes urban agriculture. He uses private backyards in the city that owners do not have the time or the skill to look after, and puts them into food production. Garden owners get fresh vegetables, and the City Farm Boy sells the produce to farmers’ markets. “It is really rewarding to be able to grow your own food, harvest it, take it to the market and sell it for people to eat it,” says Teulon.

The Freesia’s rooftop is the latest addition to his 8,000-square-foot inventory of garden space. Initially the Freesia garden plots were offered for sale to the building’s residents at a price tag ranging from $2,500 to $3,000. Only two plots sold. Concerned that the unkempt garden would quickly become an eyesore, the building strata council asked Teulon to maintain it. Teulon hopes to develop a network of urban farmers in the city who will learn how to grow food in neighbourhood backyards and sell it at the local markets.

When Teulon took over the plots they were covered with weeds, and nothing useful was growing. He was surrounded by construction and car traffic noise. A high-rise building was growing out of the concrete across the street. The soil was not good soil, probably acidic because of the rain, and lacking in nutrients. However, he spotted the potential for food production in this location that gets plenty of daylight and rain. Teulon grows herbs, beans and other vegetables in the summer. He believes he can grow anything in the city, and make money at it.