Discover TMU’s rooftop oases this summer by visiting the Urban Farm
With such nice weather upon us, don’t miss the opportunity to explore all that TMU’s Urban Farm has to offer.
With summer officially underway, the Urban Farm at TMU is bustling with activity and ready to welcome visitors to their two rooftop spaces. Exciting new activities and classic favourites are available this summer for the TMU community to take advantage of, so here are few things you won’t want to miss out on:
You don’t need to go far for lunch with a view
The Summer Open Farm program means the farm’s doors are open to community members every Wednesday in July and August. Bring your lunch!
For the first time since construction was completed in 2022, the Urban Farm is opening the doors of its new Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex (DCC) rooftop farm as part of its Summer Open Farm program!
On Wednesdays in July and August, community members are invited to bring their lunch up to the 8th floor of the DCC and dine amid the crops and medicines the Urban Farm is growing as part of the Indigenous Foodways and Black Food Sovereignty initiatives.
While you’re there, stop by the pop-up farm stand and purchase some produce or fresh cut flowers harvested right here on campus or quench your thirst with a rooftop iced tea made with farm-grown ingredients.
In July, the Urban Farm is participating in TMU’s Plastic-Free July Challenge and they encourage guests to bring reusable bags and beverage containers when purchasing from the farm stand to help them reduce their use of single-use plastics.
When: Wednesdays from July 12 to August 30
Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: DCC rooftop farm
Book a tour and explore the farm
The Urban Farm also offers ticketed tours with a guide.
Ticketed tours
Want to experience a day in the life of an Urban Farmer? Ticketed tours are a great way to get a behind-the-scenes peek into what it takes to run two rooftop farms in the heart of downtown Toronto.
Visitors will learn about the Urban Farm’s history, gain insights into how they grow 80+ crops and medicines and hear about the exciting research and food justice work they engage in here on campus.
When: Wednesdays from July 12 to August 30
Time: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: ENG rooftop farm
Cost: $10 for students, $15 for general admission
Chartered tours
Has your team visited the Urban Farm before? Able to accommodate groups of up to 40 individuals, private chartered tours are a great team building activity! To learn more about available dates, fees and the registration process for chartered tours, visit the tours page on the Urban Farm website.
Bringing the Urban Farm into the classroom
Are you an academic interested in bringing your class to the Urban Farm for a visit or have an idea for a research project that could be conducted at the Urban Farm? Visit the academic requests page to learn how you can use the Urban Farm as an outdoor classroom.
Participate in the Harvest Collective and Learning Circle
The Urban Farm’s Black Food Sovereignty Initiative is offering two programs during this year’s growing season that aim to engage Black students, faculty, staff and the broader community through the sharing of food, from farm to table: the Harvest Collective and the Learning Circle.
Harvest Collective
The Black Faculty & Staff Community Network do a weekly harvest of culturally significant and seasonal crops.
The Harvest Collective is a weekly harvest of culturally significant crops on the DCC rooftop that members of the Black Faculty & Staff Community Network are invited to participate in. Members can get their hands dirty and help staff with the Urban Farm’s weekly harvest. Plus, participants will leave with a variety of freshly harvested, seasonal, rooftop-grown crops and medicines that are culturally significant to the African diaspora.
When: Wednesdays from July 12 to August 30
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location: DCC rooftop farm
Cost: $10 per week
Learning Circle
The Learning Circle invites community members to come to the space to learn about different themes each month.
Grounded in the program’s four key pillars of food literacy, food and social justice, environmental stewardship and community healing, each month the Learning Circle explores a different theme through a hands-on learning module. The Urban Farm’s Learning Circles invites community members who self-identify as Black (African, Caribbean and Black of African descent) or First Nations, Inuit or Métis to participate in a variety of experiential learning opportunities, allowing community members to engage in the full spectrum of the production, processing and storage of food, medicine and seeds.
Register for the next Learning Circle by visiting the Harvest Collective and Learning Circle page.
When: July 21, August 18 and September 15
Time: 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Location: DCC rooftop farm
Cost: Free
Volunteer with the Indigenous Foodways program
Are you an Indigenous student interested in getting hands-on experience with traditional agricultural practices and ecological knowledge? The Indigenous Foodways program is seeking Indigenous student volunteers to assist with the growing and harvesting of traditional medicines, including sweetgrass, tobacco and sage, as well as processing medicines for distribution through the making of tobacco ties and braiding sweetgrass. Volunteers will also help harvest traditional food crops like corn, beans, squash, berries and more.
If you’re interested in volunteering with the Indigenous Foodways program, please (google form) complete the volunteer sign-up form (external link) . If you have any questions about the program, please contact Samantha Williams, Indigenous-led programs coordinator at the Urban Farm, at swilliamsbarrantes@torontomu.ca.
When: Thursday July 27, and August 24
Time: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: DCC rooftop farm
Learn more about the Urban Farm
To learn more about the Urban Farm or for additional information about its summer programming, visit the Urban Farm website or reach out to urbanfarm@torontomu.ca!