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Mark April 2 on your calendar to join your fellow chapter members at this informative session.
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2026 | 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Humber College Institute of Technology
North Campus | T Building – Residence T132
205 Humber College Blvd, Toronto
Agenda
Registration is now open.
Session Information:
From Consumer to Producer: A MetamorphosisAny kind of change is difficult, but changing our spending and eating habits can sometimes feel near impossible. Transforming from a fortunate consumer with a world of choice at the grocery store, to a city-dweller growing their own food is not easy. Yet more and more people see the huge benefits of growing beautiful, healthy food at home, at school and even in the workplace. Edible gardens are becoming a game-changing movement and landscape professionals are perfectly positioned to help lead the way. Hear how former film professionals morphed into urban farmers and built a landscaping company that focuses on edible gardening and helps urbanites feed their urge to grow. |
Liquid Ecologies for Resilient Soils and LandscapesUrban farming depends on managing flows, not just soils. This presentation considers three critical liquids for an ecological urban farming practice: inoculation, introducing and establishing living microbial communities; fertility, supplying nutrients in bioavailable form; and hydration, the underlying flow of water as carrier, buffer, and regulator. Together, they form a liquid ecology enabling resilient, low-input food systems for the urban agriculture context. These principles can, and should be applied not just to edible plantings, but to ornamental plants used in a wide variety of landscaping applications. |
About the Speakers
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The Backyard Urban Farm Company Inc. (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. We are on a mission to inspire urbanites to grow their own food and reconnect with nature. Established in 2009, BUFCO designs, builds, installs and maintains organic edible and native pollinator gardens for homes, schools, and businesses, and offer educational programs for all ages. |
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Sean Smith – Crooked FarmzSean Smith is the owner of Crooked Farmz, a small-batch compost tea brewery and experimental market garden farm in Toronto. He is a member of the Many Hands Urban Farm Collective at Downsview Park and an experienced educator at the postsecondary level. Sean has received awards for entrepreneurial distinction while a student at both the University of Alberta and Acadia University, and is the author of ‘Bird and Fish, Flock and School: A Conversation with FieldLark AI’. |
Contact
Connect with Jaleesa Rhoden
Landscape Ontario Membership Events Specialist, Chapter & Sectors
jrhoden@landscapeontario.com
