Idle balconies transformed into lush inner-city oasis

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/10/2008 (6237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IN Nigeria, Jane Agomuoh farmed crops of maize, Guinea corn, wheat and cassava to feed her family of five.

She’s still growing her own food in Winnipeg more than a year later, except the fields have been replaced by dozens of vegetable containers on an apartment balcony, and she’s now growing produce for a family of six.

“I really enjoy it, honestly,” said Agomuoh, who was working in her garden earlier this year when she went into labour with her youngest son, Jason.

Agomuoh is one of 10 participants in a fledgling program spearheaded by longtime urban gardener Jim Beckta and organized through the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba (IRCOM) housing complex on Ellen Street and McDermot Avenue.

Beckta thought the large, underused balconies at IRCOM House would be an ideal space for residents to have container gardens.

The centre’s 300 residents come from more than 20 countries, and many have farming backgrounds, said Beckta. Two tenants immediately got involved when he tested the idea last year, and this year the volunteer co-ordinator has helped 10 residents fill IRCOM’s five balconies with containers of vegetables.

Another half dozen people are involved in a similar project through the William Whyte Residents’ Association, growing produce in backyards and community gardens.

The seeds, soil, plants, watering cans and other supplies were paid for with a $1,000 Manitoba Government and General Employees Union grant, said Beckta.

“It was dirt cheap, no pun intended, and it came together really fast, and well,” Beckta said.

lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca