An urban gardening pilot project might open a world of possibilities where ‘local’ wine is concerned. Vignes en Ville (Vines in the City) is growing grapes in grow bags on four Montreal rooftops, including the Palais des Congrès. But wine is not the primary goal of this unique endeavor. Montreal’s Urban Agriculture Laboratory is studying the use of crushed glass from a local recycling center as a growing medium!
A second project is exploring the use of glass as a cover crop to retain moisture and to reflect the sun, qualities desired in chilly climates that are not conducive to growing grapevines. Montreal’s changing seasons mean the grapes don’t have a lot of time to mature and are more acidic, so Vignes en Ville has harvested some of the fruit and made it into a sparkling rosé.
The wine is not yet ready for resale, but this urban gardening initiative demonstrates that rooftops in cities everywhere have so much potential to go green!
Innovation and inspiration.