We’re excited to share this guest blog post from The Backyard Urban Farm Company (BUFCO) CEO Arlene Hazzan Green, who is launching their operations from a new home at our 10 North Queen Street project.
10 North Queen Street is part of TAS’s Commercial Community Hub strategy, which sees us transform a portfolio of underutilized warehouses across the GTHA into new, sustainable spaces for a lively mix of office, social enterprise and not-for-profit tenants.
Pinch us, we must be dreaming. How is it possible that our yearning to live off the land in harmony with nature has made itself manifest? And to our surprise, it didn’t take moving away from a bustling metropolis to farmland in the country. It happened by cultivating the best of country living in the city and by discovering a thriving community of city-dwelling nature-lovers who share the very same dream.
Despite the mounting challenges of exorbitant real estate prices, outdated food policies, inflation, and systemic inequities, many local food growers, producers and businesses have found innovative and sustainable methods of bringing healthy, fresh food to our tables. And we are thrilled to be counted among them.
But we haven’t done it alone. Thanks to our growing relationship with the very forward-thinking TAS, we’re excited to announce that we are part of their new initiative to transform existing industrial warehouses into dynamic commercial community hubs where like-minded businesses can thrive.
What it means in practical terms is that after 12 years of operating from our home in Roncesvalles Village, we have found a new home with TAS in south Etobicoke where we can lay down roots for the long term. We moved into the building and have built our own hoophouse, established a woodworking shop and setup portable offices and storage where we can serve our clients with greater ease and efficiency.
TAS and BUFCO’s missions align so beautifully. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to partner with a high impact company that champions conversation and collaboration in order to push the boundaries of innovation and explore what is possible. We have experienced this firsthand, with support over the years through discussion, planning, dreaming, problem solving and visioning for the future. #TeamTAS understands the many challenges that small, local businesses like ours face and have been key to helping us establish our permanent home at 10 North Queen Street.
We are not the only small business that benefits from their clear vision of livable cities of the future. TAS believes that affordability, climate change and social capital are the most pressing issues facing our neighbourhoods, and thankfully they both talk the talk and walk the walk. As happy beneficiaries of this vision, BUFCO is now able to expand our ability to inspire, enable and empower urbanites to grow their own food and help them to reconnect with nature.
We welcome those who have made an online purchase for vegetable, herb, fruit and flower seedlings and other garden goodies to pick up their orders at our new yard at 10 North Queen Street in Etobicoke. We are not set up as a retail operation and can’t accommodate drop ins but please stay tuned for possible events in the near future. And if you haven’t ordered your certified organic seedlings yet, there is still plenty of stock available at bufco.ca/seedlings.
About BUFCO: After three successful decades working in the motion picture industry, husband and wife team Arlene Hazzan Green and Marc Green co-founded The Backyard Urban Farm Company (BUFCO), an award winning, organic vegetable landscaping company in Toronto. They are on a mission to inspire, educate, and empower urbanites to grow their own food and help them reconnect with nature.
