Isn’t June wonderful in Mount Pleasant? Tree-lined streets, beautiful yards, outdoor activities, and, more often than not in the last couple of years, veggies growing in a multitude of displays! From planter boxes to pots or front yard “foodscaping,” there are a lot of interesting ways to grow food in Mount Pleasant and get inspired.
Growing your own fruits and veggies often brings a sense of pride, but we also quickly realize how tricky it can be to produce food in Calgary and why we rely so much on imported food. With cold nights, hailstorms, hot days, or pests, it is very easy to lose the fruit of your labour overnight. Mount Pleasant is, however, very fortunate, as we still have some options to grow food ourselves.
Our community garden is a wonderful place to start and the go-to place to receive some advice from seasoned gardeners (hopefully, the garden will open up again next year), or you can try to plant some veggies in flowerpots or flowerbeds and create edible landscapes in your own yard. If you are not committed to a full veggie garden, why not try foodscaping? It’s an aesthetic way to integrate veggies into your landscape. Several houses in the neighbourhood are already doing this, maybe try and spot them on your next walk! The Calgary Zoo is also a good place for inspiration as they often use herbs and veggies as part of their landscape (did you know that parsley looks great as a border crop?).
As more and more people are interested in growing their own food, it’s also a great opportunity to talk to your neighbours and exchange seeds, seedlings, or fresh produce. If you don’t know any gardeners around you, why not ask on our Mount Pleasant Calgary Buy/Sell/Trade/Give Facebook group?
With the price of food soaring over the last year, it has become clear that regional food resilience is now a priority. Despite an increase in local food production, Calgary is still very dependent on the global food system. The City of Calgary is taking action on food resilience through the Calgary Food Action Plan – Calgary Eats! The goal is to provide more places to grow and sell local food in order to increase access to local or regional food in Calgary. If you are interested in the current projects (such as the urban hen or urban beekeeping programs), visit the City’s website (Calgary.ca/major-projects/food-action-plan.html). It is also possible to request a permit for boulevard gardening if you want to extend your growing space (contact 311 to learn about the approval process).
The City is also working with community partners and offers programs that promote a circular food economy in Calgary, such as EcoCooks with Elements Society, Spill the Beans with Green Calgary, or the Seed to Table program with the Calgary Horticultural Society. Programs are also in place to boost food production in Calgary, such as the Highfield Urban Farm (on the location of the former Blackfoot Farmer’s Market) or the Farm Stand program that brings fresh farm produce to community centres. One of those stands will be set up at the Mount Pleasant community centre over the summer; stay tuned for more info!
If you are interested in the subject of urban food resilience, check the Resilient Cities Network program “Urban Eats,” and see what other cities around the world are doing (Calgary is featured in one of those articles). A lot is happening in Calgary, and there are many ways to strengthen our food resilience, from starting a “kitchen garden” to getting a plot in a Community Garden, or taking advantage of the City’s or community programs that support local food production and distribution.
Fun Fact: Did you know that food will be produced in the Calgary Tower? A company is using vertical farming to find a new use for empty commercial space at the bottom of the tower!
If you want to get involved and be a part of making Mount Pleasant a greener community, we would love to have you join the committee. Please email [email protected] for more information, if you have any questions, or if you would like to get on our email list. Also, please check out our Mount Pleasant Green Initiatives Group on Facebook! You can find us on the Mount Pleasant Community Association page. The Facebook group is a great place to share knowledge and resources and check in to see what others are saying.
Happy growing!
The MPCA Green Initiatives Committee
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