Lodge and Legend: Volume1 • Issue3

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
In addition to the potager gardens that both decorate the
common spaces around the restaurant, as well as feed
its patrons, Chris wanted to create a more defined space
simply for gardening for the restaurants. So, behind the
restaurant (all along the area’s future Swamp Rabbit
Trail), he installed 50-foot rows filled with all the veggies
commonly used in Saskatoon’s dishes and Paleo meals—
effectively furnishing the restaurant with a large portion of
their needed produce.
“The biggest challenge is to grow the quantity that they
need, but also to have enough diversity to give them
options. And it is a big challenge as the restaurant sales are
multiplying every day!” Chris says.
“I can’t say enough great things about the Woos…it’s
been great to work with them and to get to help them with
their overall vision which has been really cool, and there
is a true community aspect of growing food that they get.”
Chris says. “It’s this thing that used to be so commonplace
and people used to grow their own food, and that’s
been lost—especially in younger generations, with mine
included. I thought what I do would be a unique service
and maybe I can be a catalyst for that—or maybe when the
bugs come and the weeds I can just be added elbow grease.”
Working alongside Edmund and his team in the development
was a great opportunity, but Chris notes that the lodge’s
completion didn’t release him from the grounds. In fact, he’s
remained engaged the entire time, watching gardens, and
replanting as needed for different seasons.
As each season changes, so do the plants growing at
Saskatoon. After the summer ends, he’ll pull out basil and
other summer plants, to replace them with kale, collards
and other vegetation that loves the cold weather. In the
potagers, he’ll replace annuals with perennials that will
come back year after year, and add more herbs for the
kitchen, as well as lavender, rudbeckia (which brings along
beneficial insects), and snapdragons and violets.
The goal is to produce four different seasons of interest
and functionality within the outdoor spaces, and ideally
produce around three to seven crops per row over the
course of the year to yield the highest amount of produce.
So far, he’s close. “For a production garden we’re right
around a quarter of an acre (with plans to grow to at least
an acre or so), so I have to be smart with what I grow in
terms of days to maturity,” he says. “I’ve already grown
four or five crops in one of those beds since July.”
While Chris has loved working with the team at Saskatoon,
Chris notes that his heart is truly in helping others
understand the connection between farming and food in a
way that is up close and personal.
People used to grow
their own food, and
that's been lost.
CHRIS MILLER
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