Wychwood Barns – HOT House

Artscape (the kind people behind the Distillery District in Toronto’s east end) have had their ups and downs in recent years.  Their sky-high vision has occasionally fallen short as they trip over their own proverbial shoelaces and squabble amongst themselves in public view.  If an organization had a Zodiac sign, Artscape would be a Gemini (takes one to know one I suppose) – they have stuck a chord with wonderful projects that have changed our city for the better yet seem to struggle with the same things most companies and committees do – the people side of things. 

Artscape launched a new project this fall with little fanfare – Wychwood Barns.  It shares similar genes of the Distillery project – abandoned urban infrastructure meets re-visioning as a community hub and affordable place for artists and community to gather with much support from many until the details roll out and the local community tends to feel they aren’t sure they are getting what they signed up for and, eventually, people divide between cheering madly and running away. 

Wychwood Barns   HOT House

 Sue, Dana and I had the chance to visit last weekend – I thought the entire project was stunning.  A pleasant dog park with smiling people (and puppies) greeted us before giving way to the stoic `barns`(the site is a historic property that was home to street car `hangars`).  There is a farmers market through the winter on Saturdays from 9am-noon.  We were visiting for Seedy Saturday (more on that to come in a later post).

The site is stunning and contains a wonderful Greenhouse (the photo above shows part of it).  I thought I`d let today`s post speak for itself – even in the heart of winter there`s fresh produce and new life forming nearby – it made me feel a bit like spring was here.  Enjoy!

 

Wychwood Barns   HOT House

Inside the Greenhouse at Wychwood

Exploring the hot house made me remember that winter wasn’t all cold and that spring wasn’t as far away as I thought.  Some posts are better in photos than words – so enjoy! 

Red Quinoa

Red Quinoa - I had no idea what it looked like

My Grandmother found a 4-leaf clover and beleives it saved my Grandpa from the front lines in WWII.
My Grandmother found a 4-leaf clover and believes it saved my Grandpa from the front lines in WWII.
Mini Forest
Mini Forest
New life in the middle of winter
New life in the middle of winter

Trackbacks

  1. [...] February 20, 2010 by Joel Many of our readers are not from the Toronto area.  If you`re not, you may still be interested in reading more about the unique location of this event (it`s super cool and food related) here. [...]

  2. [...] Onions direct from a farmer (our friend Mark Trealout from Kawartha Ecological Growers) at the Wychwood Barns farmers market in Toronto (Saturday mornings).  Thee onions were beautiful and I came home with [...]

  3. [...] this Friday evening at Wychwood Barns (we also posted some pics of this super cool urban project here) as they share the fruits (and grains and meat and..well you get the idea) of their labour.  The [...]

  4. [...] here’s a post from the evening we met with them the first time that introduces the project.  Wychwood Barns came alive with more than 500 guests and what seemed like endless amounts of Ontario Chefs and [...]

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