Grow Calgary avoids worst of city’s wicked weather
Posted Aug 5, 2015 11:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Grow Calgary has already had an incredible year, managing to avoid the drought that has plagued farmers this year in Western Canada.
The urban farm, in the city’s northwest, got another big break Tuesday, dodging the storm that caused mayhem in other parts of the city.
President and director Paul Hughes said they were all breathing a sigh of relief after the storm passed.
“We got off really, really lucky, we were very fortunate compared to a lot of other gardens which were just hammered,” he explained. “Some of the pictures I’ve seen on Twitter, some of them were just virtually destroyed.”
They’ve already started an early harvest, and if they’d been exposed to that wall of hail much of the rest of the city saw, it would have seriously impacted how much they would be able to donate to the Calgary Food Bank.
Hughes is extremely grateful that dry conditions didn’t impact them this year, crediting cover crops and mulch, helping to protect the soil from the direct impact of the sun, and helps retain moisture.
“In the past, we haven’t had that much rain, so, this year we’ve been incredibly fortunate. It’s kind of been a dream year for us, so, we’re very, very grateful for whatever powers that be,” he said.
