Comments on: Lawns to Loaves: growing grain in the city!

By: Andrea Bellamy

Andrea Bellamy — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:31:13 +0000

Hi Lee L – Nope. Discovered the backyard garden all on my own! (Well, technically, I don’t have a backyard, but whatever.) The Lawns to Loaves project was already underway before City Council approved our grant application. And I’m happy they did – it will help get the word out to others interested in growing grains in an urban environment.

By: Lee L

Lee L — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:54:27 +0000

Wow..you needed $5K from city council to ‘discover’ the back yard garden?

By: Andrea Bellamy

Andrea Bellamy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:34:35 +0000

Hi Toby,

Good to hear from you – the photos of your roof garden look fabulous! It’s too late to plant wheat for a fall harvest, but there are several varieties that can be planted in fall for harvest next year. Check out saltspringseeds.com — they have an amazing variety of non-GMO, heirloom and organic grains for sale and can help point you toward a good overwintering variety. Good luck and keep me posted on the results!

By: Andrea Bellamy

Andrea Bellamy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:31:20 +0000

Hi Laura,

No, the seeds are not GMO. I can’t comment on what the other wheat growers in this project are using, but I’m not using any fertilizer (other than compost), pesticides, or herbicides — and certainly not RoundUp. I have yet to water. Once the wheat is harvested, we’ll till the remaining stalks under to provide organic matter and nutrients for next year. So yes, I think this is a sustainable project. Thanks for your interest!

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:42:32 +0000

are the seeds GMO? I hear they are.
What about fertilizer? Are people using roundup?
How much water is required? Can the system sustain it?

By: Toby Barazzuol

Toby Barazzuol — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 16:58:35 +0000

This is a great post…your project is really inspiring and timely for us! We just cleared our green roof and so I was wondering if we might try replanting it with wheat. We have about 300sq.ft. and the soil is about 3″ deep, so it’s not a large space. Do you think it might work or is it too late in the season?

By: Andrea Bellamy

Andrea Bellamy — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:14:55 +0000

Thank you all for the great feedback and support! I will definitely look into how to DIY yourself a “bike mill.” As for the cost-to-pizza ratio of this project… I don’t think that’s really the point. It’s about bringing people together, creating community, inspiring people to try something new, and showing them that grain can be grown in small urban plots. Even on the Coast ;)

By: Flower Delivery Guy

Flower Delivery Guy — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:00:44 +0000

Funny, I just seen a story about this on one of the news programs and at the time thought ” what a great idea”.

Sure a single plot probably won’t produce much in the way of caloric intake, but it is the thought and devotion behind this that impresses me. Just irks me it is taking place on the coast instead of here in Edmonton right in the middle of the prairie grain belt….lol

By: Oliver Closeoff

Oliver Closeoff — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 19:36:57 +0000

Boy, a lot of cost, labour, time and effort for a pizza crust. Probably around a few hundred thousand calories burned to gleen back a couple of hundred calories.

By: Nature Drunk

Nature Drunk — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 06:29:58 +0000

Wow! I am continually impressed with the creative minds out there. What great food for thought. Thanks for the post!