Growing up in the West Island, where wild spaces are abundant, I’ve never paid much attention to the Canadian Pacific’s green space, right next to where I live. I’ve used the space as a shortcut to the Metro station. Other times, in the summer, I’ve walked its paths to avoid the heat of my loft.
Last Spring, the city’s project to revitalize St-Viateur Street East and the creation of the Sprout Out Loud! gardening project helped perceive this vacant lot in a totally different way: I suddenly realized how important the space is to our community. Keeping this green oasis is essential to the Mile End’s environmental equilibrium, which is mostly composed of brick, asphalt, and cement.
Last summer, while in the vacant lot, I saw ground hogs, hares, and fireflies. Yes, folks, fireflies in Montreal! Isn’t it wonderful? Then, when you start paying attention to the trees and plants, you can discover so many beautiful, different varieties there! It’s a chunk of paradise for us all and for the dogs that roam the terrain freely.
Now that I’ve gardened in this space, that I’ve cleaned it up, and that I’ve got to know more about its trees and flora, the lot is part of my life and I hope that we can preserve and maintain its wildness.
Diane Boyer is a resident of the Mile-End and a member of the Sprout Out Loud! gardening collective. Photo of Emily Rose Michaud in the Roerich Garden by Diane Boyer.