THE SECRET GARDENS

A stone’s throw from bumper- to- bumper traffic, urban green thumbs are trying to nurture bumper crops. It’s a back- to- theland movement that is taking root in the concrete jungle.

For Dennis Scanland, the most interesting thing to happen during his tenure as board president of YYC Growers and Distributors is that he became a local food activist. “People are very concerned about food security and in knowing where their food comes from,” he says. “Urban farming is more of a community service than a revenue opportunity.”

A non- profit co- operative of nine urban SPIN farmers ( the acronym stands for “small plot intensive”) YYC grows vegetables on donated plots of land in the inner city. The food produced is then sold directly to restaurants, markets, and individuals through Community Shared Agriculture ( CSA) harvest boxes. Each box, which subscribers receive for 16 weeks, contains seven to nine vegetables and costs $ 500 for the season, monies the farmers receive upfront to help with costs. In only its second season, subscriptions for this year’s CSA boxes are sold out.

Scanland estimates he spends 20 hours a week on YYC duties, all of which are volunteer. They include sowing ( brussels sprouts and sunflower were started from seed in March), maintenance, and checking of the plots twice a week to determine what needs to be harvested. He clearly likes getting his hands dirty; when not on YYC business he runs his own, for- profit company, Dirt Boyz ( the boyz being Scanland and his young sons Cyrus and Heath), which helps city dwellers convert their own back and front yards into personal vegetable and fruit gardens.

To find out more about YYC go to yycgrowers. com

COVER & TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTOGRAPHED BY HEATHER SAITZ

3. “Kale is a constant,” Scanland says. YYC Growers provides all the kale for Una Pizza’s popular kale caesar salad. Other restaurants that use the co- op’s produce include Notable, Nash, the Coup, Open Range and Big Fish.

1. and 1. a Scanland and volunteer weeder Joan Margaret Laine tend to a patch.

2. Tomato plants growing in a sunny, detached garage.

4. YYC Growers’ largest plot, in Bridgeland, has kale, cilantro, red lettuce, onions, carrots, arugula, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and herbs. The co- op provided all the salad greens for the volunteers at this year’s Calgary Folk Music Festival.