At first glance, Pitt Street Garden grows standard garden fare—tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, kale, chard, and broccoli. But on closer inspection, you can see this farm is anything but ordinary. Its urban setup is located on a two-acre property in the north end of town and is quickly expanding into exotic choices like ground cherries, mouse melons, edible flowers, Siberian pea shrubs, and hardy kiwi.
“The conventional way of growing food has a significant negative impact on the environment and the quality of our food,” says Daniel Marion, the owner. “Our goal is to grow awesome vegetables and reverse the problems of current food production. The more that I move to perennial plants, the more efficient the system is and the more resilient it becomes.”
With an eye on perennial production, intensely diversified fruit orchards are a central focus at the farm. Last year, Daniel installed more than 80 fruit trees and 80 fruiting shrubs at his farm including apples, plums, pears, paw-paws, seabuckthorn, currants and six varieties of berries.
Pitt Street Garden runs a Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) food program and sells microgreens at Mindful Cookery and The Kinsmen Farmers’ Market.
This season, the farm will be opening its doors on Saturday mornings to willing helpers. Anyone looking to get their hands dirty and flex their gardening muscles who doesn’t have a garden or simply wants to learn more is welcome. Labourers will be rewarded with lunch and hands-on gardening education.
