Urban farmers bring the Montreal melon back on old horse race track site

Urban farmer brings back the Montreal melon An urban farmer is growing a variety of produce in the city, including the once-scarce Montreal melon

With the exception of two huge U2 concerts on the site, the Hippodrome Blue Bonnets has been dormant since 2009, and while Montreal and Quebec plant to build the green space is being used to grow food, including the once thought lost Montreal melon.

Multi-Caf Farms is using a hectare of land on the garden oasis next to the Decarie Expressway (A-15) to grow fresh produce.

"You leave the Decarie Expressway, pass the Walmart, and come in here," said Multi-Caf's Justine Senechal. "We have 43 acres of greenspace."

The non-profit food bank provides aid to Cote-des-Neiges residents.

"Solidarity markets in the neighbourhood, in strategic markets to get the vegetables to people who need it," said Senechal.

Multi-Caf grows tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, eggplants and Montreal melons, a crop that was grown on the land a century ago.

"In NDG, CDN and Ville Mont-Royal, it was a very popular crop, and this melon got lost over the years," said Senechal.

Through years of research, Souvenirs and Memoires de Cote-des-Neiges, a local historical society, brought back the Montreal melon to the land that was agricultural before it became a horse race track.

"We did a good crop with the citizens," said Senechal. "It was their project. They helped seeding and then we had a tasting party with the community."

The melon is the child of a cantaloup and a honey-dew melon, and the group said it will grow even more crops next year.