Since 1978, City Farmer has helped urban people start organic food gardens at home, in back and front yards, on balconies and rooftops, in community open spaces, in school yards, classrooms and hospitals. The group is now connected to the world through their award-winning home page on the Internet. Research Garden Opened in 1982 as a demonstration organic food garden and later as a horticulture therapy centre, City Farmer's garden now functions as the City of Vancouver's Compost Demonstration Garden and Water Conservation site. The Garden's primary purpose is to teach people how to compost rodent-resistantly.
Staff provide hands on instruction and a variety of brochures are available as well.
On display at the Garden are numerous types of compost bins - in all sizes, shapes and materials, including the subsidized bins offered by GVRD municipalities. Garden staff test bins and work with manufacturers on bin modifications. The 230 square metre organic garden demonstrates the abundance of food which can be grown in a small urban space using no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. A variety of crops and organic gardening methods are demonstrated. Produce grown is given to a local hospice as well as staff and volunteers.