A visit at one of Toronto’s most innovative greenhouses

Last week I was in Toronto to do some interviews for a project I’m doing on urban agriculture, and my interviewees referred me to a new innovative project called Artscape Wychwood Barns. I had a bit of time so I decided to go check it out.

The project is located in a residential district not very far from the downtown area, in the St. Clair and Christie neighbourhood. These former streetcar repair barns, which had been vacant and decrepit for decades, were retrofitted by the organization Artscape and turned into a community centre. The space opened last November and now hosts offices for arts, environmental and community organizations, housing for artists and a state-of-the-art greenhouse operated by The Stop Community Food Centre.

I met with greenhouse coordinator Lord Abbey and with garden and education worker Kristen Howe. Kristen gave me a tour of the greenhouse and I made a little Soundslides animation with the interview I did with her and the pictures I took.

Please forgive me for the poor sound quality (especially when the ventilation starts toward the end,) I hope to be able to buy a decent digital recorder soon.

Stay tuned as I’ll be posting more material that I collected during my trip, including an interview with the curators of the exhibition Carrot City.