When Donna Spencer touredan empty fire stationin Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in the early 1980s, she saw something few others might have: a potential launching pad for the arts and theatre community. Now, the Firehall Arts Centre is celebrating the start ofits 40thseason.

As well as teaching sustainability and how to grow our own food, gardening in urban spaces increases biodiversity, builds community relationships, uses otherwise underutilized space, and helps build cultural connections, supporters say.

The classes are one of many programs the Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice holds to connect youth and low-income immigrant seniors in Chinatown and Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.