Edmonton pilot project will rent garden plots on city lands
One of the vacant lots offered by the city of Edmonton for garden use in the new pilot project. (Travis McEwan/CBC)
A City of Edmonton pilot program will rent out vacant city lands to gardeners for the 2018 growing season.
For a $100 rental fee, gardeners who are approved can grow food or or flowers on municipal land starting April 1. The licence expires after seven months.
"This pilot gives us a chance to test out other types of land tenure in ways where we might look at unconventional types of public land that could be used for growing food or for growing flowers," said Kathryn Lennon, a principal planner with the city.
"We could potentially change the landscape of the city and integrate edibles and flowers more widely into the environment that we see every day."
A map shows the vacant lots offered by the city as part of the Vacant Lots for Urban Agriculture pilot. (Google Maps)
Almost 100 available lots have been posted on the city's website. They range from 45 to 400 square metres, while many are approximately 200 square metres. Many of them are between homes in residential neighbourhoods.
The rental licence costs $100 plus a $100 deposit, which is returned after the growing season ends pending the clean up of the lot.
"It's a bit of an experiment. I really have to applaud the city for making this available," said Dustin Bajer, a sustainable food advocate.
The city recommends gardeners use raised beds because it can't guarantee the quality of the soil below.
"It will be really interesting to see what models and what the uptake is this growing season," Bajer said.