The Roots to Harvest Urban Farm is home is nestled in the Grandview neighbourhood of Port Arthur, right next door to the Volunteer Pool Community Centre. 

With just under 1/2 acre under production, this site hosts our two seasonal employment programs, an active apiary, and grows many different types of fruits and vegetables. Food grown goes to market, is donated to local food security agencies and is used in school programming and cafeterias. 

Using season extension techniques, small cultivation machines and hand tools crops are planted,weeded, and harvested by participants of both the Urban Farm Intern Program and the Urban Youth Garden Program. 

The public is welcome to visit the garden anytime, walk through and enjoy the space with friends, family, pets or alone. It's a lovely place to pass time and take in all the goodness of the land. We can also arrange organized tours of the site. 

Check out the Veggie Market!
When: Thursdays from 10 - 3 pm.  mid July - late August
Roots to Harvest, in partnership with the City of Thunder Bay and Rutter Urban Forestry, and with funding from TD Friends of the Environment Fund, Trees Canada and T-Bay Tel for Good, transformed a small underused city parkette into a productive and bountiful Edible Urban Forest. 

Featuring apple and plum trees, multiple types of wild berries and wild forage-ables (fiddleheads, mushrooms), the Edible Food Forest aims to highlight how green spaces can be used to promote wellness and educate the public on the diversity of fruits which can be grown in a northern climate. 

In time, the space will fill in with layers of different edibles surrounding the trees and landscapes and will be a legacy in the neighbourhood. Everyone is welcome to enjoy this space at any time, sample the fruits and berries and help us steward it. We can also arrange organized tours and/or workshops of the site. 
 We're so excited to get this site growing! In a new and exciting partnership with the Lakehead District School Board, Roots to Harvest began developing this large piece of property starting in spring, 2017. It features large production spaces, perennial fruits, open pollinated varieties for seed saving, educational growing spaces and training aspects for the community. 
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It is home to community events and our employment programs, and is quickly becoming a vibrant hub in the south end of Thunder Bay.

​Elements of the new site this season included:
  • 9 large blocks tilled, with three under vegetable production, growing more than 15 varieties of vegetables (including a perennial asparagus bed!)
  • one shed built and one shed moved from our old site
  • A community garden space was develop boasting over 15 community members with their own plots growing food in the space
  • A seed production garden for growing out ecological, northern adapted seed varieties
  • Three varieties of fruit trees and 4 varieties of berry bushes planted
  • A 4 season greenhouse (_almost complete_) built in partnership with Nishnawbi Aski Nation and ASM Innovations.
  • Waterlines installed, thanks to the Lakehead District School Board
  • A walk in cooler and storage unit was built and wired and now stores harvests
Check out the Veggie Market!
When: Wednesdays from 10 - 3 pm.  mid July - late September