I am an urban gardener through and through. My current garden is small, bowling alley-style yard in Toronto. Prior to this I maintained four very urban spaces: The rooftop of my building where I have been growing a wide assortment of edibles in containers for over a decade, a Guerrilla Garden on a very busy urban street corner (also about 10 years in the making), a community garden plot, and a local yardshare (new for 2010).
Local filmmaker Stacey Dodge visited my rooftop garden in the spring to shoot a short for the Toronto Urban Film Festival. Fast forward several months and her film (edited by Beau Dickson) was selected and will be showing this Sunday, September 8 on monitors in the Toronto Subway System. The short will be in rotation …
I found an entire tree laying flat across the street garden this morning. Just, you know, laying there. How it got there or why is beyond me. Okay. Here’s the thing: The garden’s a mess. I have barely touched it since the last big incident. I just haven’t had it in me. Call in the …
Click the image to see full-size. This is a panoramic of the roof garden taken just this week. There are a lot more plants out there then I was able to get into a composite. Unfortunately with the gazebo top on I could not shoot the photos from above, perched high up on a ladder …
The street garden has been significantly damaged again, this time by a painter my landlord hired to paint a so-called mural on the wall. He had to have the mural done to save the garden from “graffiti peoples”, he told me in a letter left in my mailbox as a so-called apology. Yet “graffiti peoples” …
I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at this scene lately. Just standing still for minutes at a time staring into what is quickly becoming known as The Abyss. Staring and thinking. Thinking about where these plants will go. Thinking about which of these plants will have to be given away. Trying to keep …
This was going to be a much better post wherein I was going to tell you all about the goings-on in my little community garden plot, however I started writing it ten days ago and then…. well… clearly that ball was dropped. But I didn’t want to leave it, stuck forever in the drafts folder …
The CBC News at Six sent over videographer Michael Dick this morning to shoot a segment on the rising trend in growing food gardens on roof tops for what I believe is tonight’s news. I guess I should have asked. It was still cold and windy on the roof by noon but the sun has …
Click the image to see full-size. This is what the roof looked like last Friday shortly after we had commenced project The Best and Most Ass Kicking the Roof Garden Has Ever Been, EVER 2008. High winds on the roof have made me a little fearful of getting up on a ladder to take and …
While the street garden and the community garden plot are both merrily on their way the roof is a disaster. I started an assortment of edibles a while back amidst the chaos with the intent of organizing it, and then didn’t. When the local television stations starting calling about coming to shoot the garden for …
I recently added a new category, “Gayla’s Gardens” to the site archive. I’m sorry about the title, I know it’s lame. Just reading that back makes me think it should be displayed in Mistral and accompanied by a photo of me sporting matching floral-patterned knee pads, apron, gloves and a GIANT smile. I’d be wearing …
Right. So. Yet another reason why I can not grow edibles in the Guerilla / Street Garden. The other night we stepped outside for a walk to discover a giant patch of bright blue paint slapped onto the raw brick wall of our building… much of which splattered onto my plants below. There are so …