Urban farmers bring the Montreal melon back [Video]

With the exception of two huge U2 concerts on the site, the Hippodrome Blue Bonnets has been dormant since 2009, and while Montreal and Quebec plant to build the green space is being used to grow food, including the once thought lost Montreal melon.

Multi-Caf Farms is using a hector of land on the garden oasis next to the Decarie Expressway (A-15) to grow fresh produce.

“You leave the Decarie Expressway, pass the Walmart, and come in here,” said Multi-Caf’s Justine Senechal. “We have 43 acres of greenspace.”

The non-profit food bank provides aid to Cote-des-Neiges residents.

“Solidarity markets in the neighbourhood, in strategic markets to get the vegetables to people who need it,” said Senechal.

 Multi-Caf grows tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, eggplants and Montreal melons, a crop that was grown on the land a century ago.

“In NDG, CDN and Ville Mont-Royal, it was a very popular crop, and this melon got lost over the years,” said Senechal.

Through …