The Urban Farmer, Ron Berezan, stopped in Jasper on May 11, to discuss ideas for turning a backyard into a productive farm.

Berezan, originally from Edmonton, says his first garden was an accident. He was living with five other students in university. When it came time to clean out the house at the end of the year, Berezan found a sack of old potatoes that were sprouting in a dark cupboard. He decided to plant them. Sure enough, when they returned in the fall, the potatoes were ready to harvest. He never looked back from that experience, and has been gardening ever since. 

Gardening is making a resurgence in culture, Berezan says. Many people are now turning to growing their own food for many different reasons. 

“There’s a whole re-awakening at looking at our relationship with food,” Berezan said. 

One thing Berezan enjoys about his garden is the social connection. He noticed many people stopping by to sample his Saskatoon berries in his Edmonton yard, including a young neighbour. He enjoys chatting with people in his neighbourhoods about their plants, and sharing information. 

The garden movement has been burgeoning in bigger cities such as Vancouver and Montreal, where societies are being formed to oversee urban farming. The City of Vancouver has implemented public orchards and added edible plants to its green spaces. 

An important reason many people are turning to growing their own food, is the declining nutrition in industrially farmed food. 

“We can eat our fruits and veggies, and maybe we’re not getting the nutrients we think we are,” Berezan said. 

Industrial food operations favour size and appearance of vegetables such as tomatoes, rather than the nutritional value. 

“If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, you know they don’t all look identical,” Berezan said. 

There is a lot of time between when the plant is actually picked, to when it lands on your table, Berezan said. Nutrition declines in that time frame. Soil quality has also plummeted world wide. Berezan says that growing your own food allows you to control all of these variables. 

The main reason why people are planting their own food according to Berezan, however, is the taste. 

“When you eat fresh out of your garden, there’s no comparison,” he said. 

A quick stroll through a grocery store may yield three or four different kinds of tomatoes, when there are actually thousands of different varieties available to a home gardener. 

Berezan says that the way produce is being farmed has a negative impact on the environment, as synthetic nitrogen, an important nutrient for growing vegetables and fruit, requires fossil fuels to create. Transport also adds to the environmental impact. 

“The way we feed ourselves has tremendous environmental consequences.”

Berezan isn’t suggesting that everyone stop shopping at grocery stores, but encourages everyone to do what they can, whether it be nurturing a few tomato plants, or planting rows and rows of produce. 

“We can all do what we’re able,” he said, adding that small-scale farms are often more productive, use less water and conserve soil better. 

Berezan raised the question of whether food is really secure in today’s society. 

“It’s been an era of unprecedented abundance in some ways,” he said. 

The City of Edmonton estimates that should a food shortage (or full stoppage) occur, grocery stores have about three days worth of food on the shelves throughout the city. 

Factors contributing to food security include a decline in bees. Berezan said 30 per cent of all food we eat has been pollinated by a bee. 

“When we have a population who knows how to grow food, we’re just that much more resilient,” Berezan said. 

The final reason people are turning to gardening, is that people love getting outside and getting their hands dirty while creating something. 

Berezan discussed what vegetables and fruits can grow in Alberta. Fruits including Evan’s cherries, pears, apples and plums could be successful here. Berezan said he has seen plums growing in Hinton. Berries like Saskatoons, raspberries, pin cherries, buffalo berries would all be successful in Jasper’s unique climate. They are also a great nutritious snack. 

“Any dark berries are always super good for you,” Berezan said. 

Nuts would be a little tougher to grow in Jasper, but Berezan said the slow-growing stone pine should be successful in Jasper, however it would most likely be ready to bare fruit for the next generation of Jasperites. 

Vines such as hops, hardy kiwi and grapes may work in Jasper. Berezan said hops are not only used for beer, the leaves can be used as a salad green. 

Edible perennials such as asparagus may be able to take on the tough Jasper climate. After canvassing the room, one attendee said she had a tough time with asparagus. Rhubarb, however will grow almost anywhere. 

“Rhubarb would grow on the moon, I think,” Berezan said. 

Rhubarb and asparagus are the only vegetables native to North America. 

Herbs are handy to grow near the door so they are easy to grab when cooking. Berezan said herbs can be used to create decorative touches in the yard. 

Welsh or Egyptian onions are a hardy vegetable that can grow in difficult climates. Berezan suggests lovage, a perennial that can be used as a salad green, in soups or as a spice similar to fennel, and can be grown in cold climates. He says the plant grows quite large, and any leftovers can be mixed into compost.

Edible flowers are a great addition to any garden, according to Berezan, because they bring in beneficial insects as well as look great. 

“There’s actually good reason to have that ecological diversity,” he said. 

Berezan tackled the issue of mushrooms, admitting that many people avoid them because they are unaware of which varieties are poisonous. 

“I think there’s a fair bit of fungi phobia out there,” he said. “You don’t want to play Russian roulette with that.”

Berezan said there are many safe varieties of mushrooms that can be grown right in the back yard on logs or even inside a burlap sack. Varieties such as oysters and garden giant will grow easily. He recommends fungiperfecti.com for more information on mushrooms, and where to find mushroom spawn. 

Before Berezan moved from Edmonton to the west coast, he had joined a group hoping to lobby the municipal government to allow chickens in resident’s backyards. 

“I’ve been part of the pro-chicken movement in Edmonton for five years,” Berezan joked. “Folks from England would laugh to hear you can’t keep a few hens in your backyard.”

Berezan says that when it comes to gardening, there are many different methods; “There’s no one right way to grow food.”

He suggests chatting with your neighbours to find out what works and what doesn’t in your area. 

“Walk down the alleys and look over fences. Our front yards are like the super ego, but if you really want to see what’s going on, look in the backyard – that’s the id,” Berezan said. 

The urban farmer has noticed that a lot of gardens in back yards resemble large-scale productions: Neat rows of labelled produce. Berezan urges gardeners to think outside the box when planning a garden. 

“We can be more experimental,” he said. 

Ideas such as a herb spiral set on a mound of dirt not only conserve space, but look interesting too. Keyhole beds, mandala gardens, hanging tomatoes, espaliers, wall-mounted eavestrough beds and growing in pots all use space well and can create unique backyard gardens. 

More information on Berezan and his urban farming can be found online at www.theurbanfarmer.ca