Neal Michael is digging his new role as an urban gardener.
Michael, who moved to downtown New Westminster with his wife in 2000, spotted a plot of unused land beside the Burger Heaven restaurant last year and thought it would be an ideal spot to garden.
"They were totally up for it," he said. "I think they probably thought I was a little bit crazy."
Burger Heaven helped out by providing some tools, including shovels, spades, hoes and a pitchfork. When Michael started work on the garden, the land was overgrown with weeds.
"Last February, we cleaned it up over a couple of weekends," he said. "I added some new soil."
That set the foundation for a vegetable garden, where Michael and friend Natalie Whiteway grew carrots, lettuce, arugula and beans. While Whiteway has some gardening experience, Michael had limited gardening skills when he embarked on his urban gardening adventure last spring.
"I really love cities and have been interested in some of the things going on around the world with urban gardens," he said. "The results were pretty great in terms of the yield of the garden, and people walking by saying 'Hello, it looks great.'"
Downtown resident Jason Shanks is among the area residents who are thankful for efforts made to beautify the empty lot at 10th and Agnes streets.
"There was nothing but weeds and ugliness. It was really unkempt. It was really a blight," he said. "It really improved the look. It looks good."
Shanks was so impressed with the gardeners' efforts that he dropped off a small donation for them at Burger Heaven to help buy seeds for this year's garden.
"I dropped off $10 to give to them and say thanks," he said. "Hopefully they can use it to plant some more nice things."
Chris Geib, manager of Burger Heaven, said the garden has created a bit of a buzz among restaurant patrons and area residents.
"Last year he got it going by trial and error," Geib said. "He is back at it again."
Michael and Whiteway are once again tending to their crop and expanding the size of the garden from last year.
"We got a fair bit," Michael said of last year's crop. "We got a lot of lettuce, a lot of radishes. Our carrots were doing good - but someone finished them off one weekend. We had lots of beans. With the zucchini, we had lot of flowers, but we didn't get any fruit."
The urban gardeners learned a few lessons from their inaugural year as urban gardeners and will plan this year's garden accordingly.
"We planted a bit too much at once. We are staggering it this year," Michael said. "Last year I didn't want to overthink it. We got really good results."
In addition to having homegrown food, Michael has also enjoyed the camaraderie that's developed with passersby as he toils in the garden.
"It's been a lot of fun for sure," he said. "I've had some really positive feedback."
Diners at Burger Heaven have been among those who have commented on the gardeners' efforts. Impressed by the transformation of the space, a man even offered him a beer one day while he was gardening.
"I looked really grizzly that day," Michael laughed. "He said, 'you look like you could use a beer.'"
Michael said it took a "fair bit" to clear out the lot to make it useable as a garden. A larger area has been cleared for this year's garden.
"This year we have the whole patch to work with," he said. "It's pretty big - it's about six or seven feet wide but 55 to 60 feet long. It gets a lot of sun. We can really grow just about anything."
When the weather warms up, Michael will swing by daily to water the garden on his way home from work.
Whiteway, who works with Michael's wife, also helps plant and tend the garden.
"It's been really fun in terms of the spontaneous interest that comes out of it. People walk by and will give me some tips, which I am happy to take."
Michael is also thankful that the folks at Burger Heaven allowed him to use the land for gardening and provided tools to help make it happen.
"They are fine with me coming in and out," he said. "Their support has been huge."
Michael is hopeful that he'll be able to get a composter for the garden, which would allow him to compost some of the garden waste.
He'd like to see this type of urban garden becoming more commonplace as the downtown densifies.
"New Westminster is ripe for that," he said. "It's a very dense area. I hope this type of spirit comes out of the density."
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