In praise of plants with Councillor Nick Adey ... who provides a sneak preview of the Kaien Island Urban Farm

Work continues on the finishing touches before the September
Grand Opening for the Urban Farm in Downtown Prince Rupert

The final moments of Monday's Prince Rupert Council meeting took a turn towards something one might watch from the Home and Garden channel; with Councillor Nick Adey relaying some observations from a recent tour of the Urban Farm that is currently being created in the heart of the downtown core.

The Councillor recounted some of the key themes to the enterprise from his tour of the Kaien island Urban Farm which is being hosted by ecotrust Canada on the old Farwest Bus lines yard at Second Avenue West and Second Street.

"I just wanted to say that I had a chance to go through the urban garden last week, I was curious enough and there was people working and they were gracious enough to give me a tour and I have to say I was incredibly impressed; with not only the energy and commitment of the people behind it, but also the diversity of what they're able to grow there.

And I think that it's tremendously encouraging to know that so much of what you find in a grocery stores produce aisle can actually be grown here, if one is so inclined to give it a go.

It really is ... you know you take a relatively vacant city block now and you go by there and you see something growing there which I think is symbolically kind of cool. 

But in practice it's a really good project I was really glad to see it"

The project is a partnership for Ecotrust who have worked with the Metlakatla First Nation which owns the land, along with the City of Prince Rupert which offered some  help towards access to the grant funding from the Northern Development Initiative Trust for the initative in its development period.

Residents of the North Coast will be able to take their first tour of the new urban oasis early next month when the Kaien Island Urban Farm hosts its Grand Opening on September 3rd.

Follow the Ecotrust Canada twitter feed for updates as the progress of the Urban Farm moves towards its Grand opening event.

Some of our past notes on the Urban Farm can be reviewed below.

March 24 -- Food Security the focus for Demonstration Urban Farm planning in downtown Prince Rupert  
March 4 -- Ecotrust Canada introduces Prince Rupert's new Urban Farmer 
February 26 -- Ecotrust Canada plans in Prince Rupert for 2021 take members to the water and the farm ...
November 13 -- City Council issued invitation to Ecotrust Canada for update on Community Garden plans

Mr. Adey's overview of his tour can be found as part of the Video Archive of Monday's Council session starting at just before the  59 minute mark.

For more notes on the Monday Council Session see our Council Timeline here.

A wider look at past Council themes is available from our Council Discussion archive.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.