Urban farming is great and all, unless you live in Hamilton...

... then your food will taste like garbage and cigarettes -- user comment on Canada.com.

 Here are a couple of quick stories from elsewhere in Canada on a potentially-popular MVB theme.
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I don't buy it (the title), and neither do Hamiltonians, apparently.

image from hillstreetgarden.org

On one of my first bike rides in Hamilton, I came around a corner to be surprised by the Hill Street Community Gardens (pictured above a couple of weeks ago).

The plot of land before the gardens

Short of a discussion on the topic, I'll say that it's good to see underutilized spaces (former 'lawn' pictured above) given value. Besides, there's a bigger park, including a dog off-leash area across the streuet).

On a similar note, I wanted to share two related, closer-to-home stories that were recently shared with me (thank yous to Lonny and Jenny).

First, Davie Village Community Gardens is a project by developers in Vancouver. Their lot in downtown Vancouver has been sitting unused, with development a couple of years away. So, what did they do? Start a community garden. Hmmm....

Before growth:

Last summer:

And, more recently, Vancouver's first rooftop farm takes shape atop a parkade on East Georgia:

image from cityfarmer.info

And article can be found, here, at cityfarmer.info

The city’s first rooftop urban farm atop a parkade on East Georgia Street could become a model for similar projects across Vancouver, says Seann Dory, manager of sustainability for United We Can.

“This will be a fully functioning farm that will create and support a social enterprise and increase job creation,” Dory said.

The farm, slated to start May 8 when volunteers will gather on the roof at 211 East Georgia St. for a “farm raising,” is the second phase of a project called SOLEfood, which began last year with a farm garden on an empty parking lot at the corner of Hawks Avenue and East Hasting Street next to the Astoria Hotel. With their rooftop location, the organizers behind SOLEfood II hope literally to take the urban farm concept to a new level.

Stories and ideas re urban farming/gardening in Vctoria to come, including one friend's vision for a Pandora St. community garden.

Stay tuned.