Black Creek Community Farm

Today on the podcast we visit the Black Creek Community Farm in Toronto.

The farm is located along the northern boundary of the City of Toronto, in a densely populated neighbourhood where Toronto meets one of its northern suburbs, within walking distance of the Jane and Finch neighbourhood.

If you’re from Toronto, you’ll know Jane and Finch — at least by name — from the media attention it gets.

The good things going on in the area — and that there is a vibrant community here — don’t get a lot of media attention, so it might be a surprise for some people to connect Jane and Finch with urban farming, with growing food, and with growing community through food.

“When you do something from the heart, when you’re passionate about what you do, I think you can do big things.”  Mildred Agsaoay

Unique Property

Founded in 2012, the Black Creek Community Farm is on an eight-acre property that includes three acres of farmland, a heritage farmhouse and barn, and forest that extends into the Black Creek ravine.

The property has a market garden, a food forest, greenhouses, an outdoor classroom, an outdoor brick pizza oven, a medicine-wheel garden, a mushroom garden, a chicken coop, and beehives.

At the Farm

There are a number of programs at the Black Creek Community Farm.

• The Urban Harvest program, a partnership with the City of Toronto, facilitates sharing of surplus harvest by community members with food banks.
• There are workshops about growing, cooking, and food preservation.
• Programs for seniors help prevent social isolation. Participants tend the gardens, cook together, and even have exercise programs together.
• Programs for school-age children build awareness of plants and growing—but also social justice and food justice. Adjowa Karikari, who facilitates student programming, also includes other topics that might grab the attention of students, including worms and worm composting, edible weeds, bugs, and weird plants and animals.

Sunshine Community Garden

Beyond the farm site, the Black Creek Community Farm has been involved in the creation of the Sunshine Community Garden on the property of a nearby high-rise apartment building. Agsaoay explains that the garden is more than just growing food: It’s a way to build community.

“Growing food is a great connecctor for people. It builds relationships and trust.” Mildred Agsaoay