Diary Of A Compost Hotline Operator
Edible Essays on City Farming
By Spring Gillard
New Society Publishers
October 2003

Whether it’s the sight of city folk pulling weeds or mixing compost, harvesting juicy berries or plump tomatoes, or just caring for green grass without chemicals, one thing is certain: urban agriculture is booming! One example of a longtime urban program is Vancouver’s City Farmer, otherwise known as “Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture,” where Spring Gillard was lucky enough to have the job title – Compost Hotline Operator. With City Farmer’s encouragement and help, more than 44% of the people in Vancouver are growing some of their own food. Luckily for the rest of the world, in the 1990s the City Farmer workers had the good sense to spread their gospel to the Internet. Apparently, it has filled quite a need: in 2002, the City Farmer web site received more than four million hits from people bitten by the urban agriculture bug.

In Diary Of A Compost Hotline Operator: Edible Essays on City Farming, Gillard gives readers a taste of the sweet life at City Farmer, weaving together essential gardening facts and tips, charming stories about quirky urban gardeners, and a healthy heaping of good humour.