Downtown Montreal just got a garden on the roof of the Esplanade Tranquille pavilion.
The Esplanade Tranquille—the home of the gigantic free skating rink and bumper cars this winter—is working In collaboration with the Laboratoire d’agriculture urbaine (AU/LAB) and the Ville de Montréal.
Montrealers love their rooftops and terrasses, especially when they’re hidden. This new green rooftop is 7,000 sq. ft. and will be shared by three urban agriculture start-ups: Biome, Emporium Safran Québec and Fleurs en Ville.
During the fall, Fleurs en Ville (Paola Saavedra) will plant tulip bulbs that will bloom in the spring; Biome (Stephan Senghor) will take over and grow vegetables, aromatics, herbs, fruits and edible flowers and finally Emporium Safran Québec (Micheline Sylvestre) harvest saffron (crocus pistils) in October.
Designed to help achieve sustainability goals—and extraordinarily unique for operating year-round—the rooftop garden is where urban agriculture companies can experiment.
Produce will be distributed through local markets (Le Beau Marché or the Marché des éclusiers in Old Montreal, for example), along with several restaurants in the Quartier (Galaxie Brasserie, Restaurant Zinzin, Morso and Pintxo).
The rooftop garden also contributes to the greening of the downtown core and mitigating heat islands.
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