Urban farms a challenge

Re While urban farming is growing, concept needs further nurturing, Jan. 5 Community gardens are a place not only for food to grow but also people. One of their key aspects is that they bring people together to work side by side and develop a new perspective.

The fact that Toronto has taken so many steps toward the development of more community gardens shows that the city is taking positive actions toward a more environmentally friendly and intimate city.

I have had years of exposure to gardening through my family’s own home garden. The most important feature in gaining the interest of more people to community gardening is to make the community garden an irreplaceable part of the community.

By educating and engaging the people of Toronto and surrounding areas to understand the many benefits that come in nurturing and developing green spaces for food production, we are one step on our way to helping make a more sustainable future. Peter Krzeminski, Omemee, Ont.

While I wholeheartedly support the idea of growing vegetables in the city, I have found it nearly impossible to do so. I have tried many ways to thwart the competition from a voracious population of groundhogs, raccoons, rabbits and skunks.

Unless the gardens are on rooftops, they must be enclosed by sturdy wire fences, extending well below the ground surface.

Another important consideration is soil renewal. One cannot use the same patch of ground over and over without rotating crops or letting the land lay fallow for a year.

If these points are not kept in mind, there will be a lot of disappointed gardeners and the worthy objectives of raising locally grown produce will fail. Peter Broughton, Toronto