Concordia Greenhouse City Farm School
Loyola Farm Teaching Site
The Loyola Farm is the main teaching and demonstration site of City Farm School. In this garden we demonstrate a variety of growing styles suitable for urban, sub-urban or peri-urban growers. The garden is divided in to four main areas.
This year we have converted our demonstration gardens into experimental collective plots for the the City Farm School interns. Here the students are given the opportunity to explore new growing techniques, while working collectively on team plots.
The production beds are organized more conventionally in long straight rows of market vegetables. Here we have seen a great success with our fast growing greens, fresh garlic and, of course, an abundance of heirloom tomatoes.
The herbs garden is the oldest plot at Loyola. Originally created in 2010 as the RealiTea garden by members of the Concordia Food Systems Project, this garden boasts many varieties of medicinal and culinary herbs. These herbs are harvested and dried right on site, and can be purchased at Le Frigo Vert or tasted in the Concordia Greenhouse Tea Atrium.
And last but not least are our permaculture inspired plots. Just last year planted an area with fruit bushes and trees taking cues from permaculture, these were planted along side a variety of flowers herbs to help create a dynamic ecosystem that nourishes each plant as well as the whole. Along side this, is our hugel mound – a raised bed plot with a decomposing log at the base. As the log decomposes is provides nutrients and increases the water retention capacity of the soil, making it an ideal garden plot.
The City Farm School is an initiative to develop partnerships and expertise in urban agriculture on the island of Montréal. Our aim is to promote a cultural shift towards more resilient communities able to meet the challenges posed by climate change by focusing on local food autonomy. With the support of Concordia University, The City Farm School (CFS) offers seminars, discussions, internship placements, volunteer opportunities and popular education style teach-ins on permaculture, organic crop planning, producing seedlings, mushroom cultivation, composting, pest management, organic plant nutrition, rain water harvesting, and other topics of great public interest, promoting a strong focus on experiential learning and the cultivation of a can-do spirit.
A major component of the programme is a eight-month urban agriculture training program designed to prepare participants to become leaders in the emerging urban agriculture movement. To achieve this, the school will address three main areas:
i) Organic food growing – learning how to grow food in the city,
ii) Food Politics – understanding and addressing food security and food sovereignty and
iii) Creating sustainable communities and engaging in community engagement.
Vegetables, Herbs, Teas
