Canada: Millennials are discovering the soothing powers of gardening

Tending the land offers “a way to feel empowered and a way to feel less despair” amid climate anxiety.

By D’Loraine Miranda,
The Star
Apr 28, 2024

Excerpt:

Everyone fills their cup in different ways. My idea of joy is a serene morning spent puttering around my garden with a coffee in hand. I breathe in the bouquet of scents, which varies according to the season: fresh lily of the valley for a few fleeting weeks in May, sweet peonies come June and the indelible whiff of marigolds all the way until the first frost. I stop to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and watch bumble bees buzz around the chives. A mourning dove calls. By the time I’ve wrapped up my morning ritual, I’ve sampled at least one cherry tomato, pricked myself on a cucumber and inevitably managed to get a speck of dirt in my mug.

Like me, many city-dwellers have been learning to cultivate their own land, be it a sprawling yard, nearby allotment or a pint-sized balcony.

Gardening blossomed during the pandemic—what else was one supposed to do while sheltering in place? As supply chain issues left many store shelves bereft of essentials, self-sufficiency became top of mind: People began making their own sourdough, sewing their own clothes. This was one of the many reasons more people began honing their green thumbs, said Toronto-based urban gardener Luay Ghafari, founder of Urban Farm and Kitchen and author of “Seed to Table.” Subscribing to community supported agriculture (CSA) boxes loaded with produce from local farmers had opened his eyes to the possibilities of urban gardening over a decade ago.

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