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Dear Friends,
Greetings from Greenest City and Parkdale’s Neighbourhood Land Trust (NLT)! In this special joint newsletter, we’re excited to tell you about how we are transforming the Milky Way Garden into a vital Community Food Hub!
The story of the Milky Way Garden is rooted in the site’s operation as a newcomer community garden run mostly by Tibetan community elders, who have cared for the space with the support of their ESL teacher Tish Carnat, and Greenest City, for the last five years.
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In 2017, we developed the initial plan for the Milky Way through a Community Planning Process that engaged Milky Way gardeners and community members. As our plans evolved, we continued to seek and incorporate feedback from our community.
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All of this summer, construction work was undertaken by Building Up, Toronto's leading non-profit social contractor, which provides training and paid apprenticeship to people facing barriers to employment in the trades. Read on to learn about our progress, what our plans look like, and how you can help make it all happen!
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We added seven raised garden beds to the Milky Way Garden this season! These beds are for growing food and pollinator-friendly plants, as well as medicines and other Indigenous plants. Among many benefits (such as increased drainage and fewer pests), raised beds allow for more reachable gardening and accessible pathways throughout the garden. Our community gardeners have enjoyed the new beds, and have kept busy this summer managing our first crop.
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"I love the new garden! I take care of it and we are so happy! We have planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplant, kale, celery and so much more! The new beds are higher for more accessibility. Next we will build a greenhouse. It's so good!"
- Sonam Yangzom, a Lead Gardener and one of NLT's Board Members
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The Three Sisters Garden is a new feature at the Milky Way and a representation of our pledge to honour and work with the first peoples of this land. This garden, cared for by the Indigenous Guides of Parkdale-High Park, has four mounds planted with corn, squash, and beans. When planted together, these plants - known as the Three Sisters - help each other grow and thrive. The stalks of the corn give the beans a place to climb, the beans release nourishing nitrogen, and the leaves of the squash shelter the soil.
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COMING SOON
(SPRING/SUMMER 2022)
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Container farms are able to conserve water and grow a large amount of food in a small space, so we’re very excited about what a container farm will provide for Parkdale! In addition to vastly increasing food production, the container farm will provide training opportunities for urban food growers in the community.
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Similar to a greenhouse, a hoop house will allow us to grow food and provide agricultural programming year-round. In the warmer months, the hoop house will serve as an outdoor education centre where we will run workshops and programming on food growing, cooking, and more.
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To complement the education space in the hoop house, a shade pergola will shelter an accessible gathering space for community meals, cultural celebrations, and other events.
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As environmentally-minded organizations, we have made sure that sustainability is a key part of our development plans. The Milky Way Garden will contain several eco-friendly features:
- Composting facilities
- Rainwater storage
- Sedum green roof (container farm)
- Rammed earth construction (hoop house)
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With greater capacity for food growing and community gathering, the Milky Way Garden Urban Agriculture and Community Hub will increase access to healthy fresh food, as well as create opportunities for learning, training, employment, and community connections in Parkdale.
The Neighbourhood Land Trust and Greenest City are currently raising funds to build the community gathering space and pergola, and NLT is administering the fundraising. Please consider donating to shape the future of the Milky Way! Select Milky Way Garden and Pergola Improvement Fund from the Fund list:
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Thank you for making the Milky Way Garden Community Food Hub possible.
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