Community group plans urban farm school in Fredericton

Edee Klee wants to bring farming back as a viable career option in the New Brunswick.

A passionate gardener, Kleeis part of a group that is planningto set up a teaching farm but not one in the middle of the country. Rather, thisfarm school would occupyeight acres of land in Fredericton, at 577 Hillcrest Dr. in the north side of the city.

Urban Teaching Farm Project

Klee, co-chair of the N.B. Community Harvest Gardens Inc. board and executive, told CBC's Shift NB that the Urban Teaching Farm Project would be a full-time, 32-week intensive course for prospective farmers.

Buteven though the school is located in an urban area, Klee said the goal is to have graduates eventually repopulate rural communities, workingon their own land.

"We want to make sure these students have a very good comprehensive understanding of the business and marketing that needs to go along with farm skills," she said.

The focus is to teach regenerative organic agriculture practices, which allows farmers to make a living on less than five acres of land. The course will involve work in the field and in the classroom as well as visits to different types of successful farms in the province.

Last week, the farm group met with about 60 area residentsto discuss the project.Klee said the meeting was positive.

'A good neighbour'

"We just want to make sure that we're a good neighbour," she said. "I think the support is definitely there from the community."

Also, the location makes it convenient for people living in the city to walk, bike or take a bus to school and learn how to farm.

"If we look over the last few decades, the rural population has been slowly migrating into the urban centres because that's where the services are. And that's where, maybe, the work is."

Klee said she is hoping the farm school is up and running in March 2018. More information on the project is available on the N.B. Community Harvest Gardenswebsite.