I hear this from a lot of people who just can’t believe someone would drive around with vegetables growing out of the bed of their truck. But in order to get your message out to people you need to stand out unless you have a multimillion dollar budget, which I don’t. And to stand out you have to be different.

The Strathcona 1890 Truck Farm was created to give people a small taste of what urban gardening is all about. This is especially helpful with our visits to schools and daycares. Kids can get bored easily and need stimulation to get them to truly engage. In short, it needs to be fun and entertaining. The truck farm does the job, in spades.

Ours is the first Truck Farm in Vancouver, and likely Canada but there is a small growing fleet in the US. I had heard of a Truck Farm that was wandering the streets of Brooklyn and wanted to bring the concept to Vancouver. I already had a 1993 Mazda which had been “relaxing” in the back alley for six years which was smaller than the Brooklyn Dodge making it an even better demonstration of small space gardening. I came up with a way to lighten the load while increasing the soil depth so I could also incorporate carrots (which I love) and other root vegetables. It is currently planted with sorrel, Swiss Chard, Chiogga Beets, Turnips, Rainbow Carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, chives, nasturtiums (edible flowers), snap peas, Red Runner Beans, dwarf sunflowers and miniature pumpkins. We are expecting quite the harvest.

Apart from visiting schools and daycares, the Strathcona 1890 Truck Farm travels throughout Vancouver. It takes between 3-5 minutes to start gathering a crowd. Every one who stops to chat with us also gets a sample pack of Strathcona 1890 Truck Farm Seeds to try their hand at growing food (while they last!). I have heard so many great stories over the last few weeks. From one woman who was snapping photos to send to her father who is a farmer in Japan, to another who regaled us with stories of milking the cows and sneaking veggie treats from neighbouring farmer’s fields.

Over the next few seasons the Truck Farm will work to bring change to the Vancouver landscape in the form of more balcony, rooftop and container gardens. No matter how small the change I know the Truck Farm has put a smile on faces young and old.

I hope you will follow the Truck Farm’s travels. It is sure to be an interesting journey.