Windsor couple transform tornado-ravaged backyard into urban farm

In 2016, a tornado tore throughBryan Kavanaugh andBreanna Whitford's home and backyard onRiberdy Road.

"It took out everything. Fence, shed, everything," said Whitford, who works as a pharmacy technician in Harrow. "The only thing that was left was the vegetable garden."

• Tornadoes touch down in LaSalle, Ont. and Windsor

That remnant was a sign of things to come.

The avid gardeners, who started growing their own food out of frustration with the availability of organic produce,made a habit of posting images of their small crop on social media.

A chef at Windsor Club saw the pictures and approached Kavanaughand Whitford about supplying the private clubwith microgreens, mini-versions of vegetables popular in the food world.

"They loved the stuff that we were growing," Whitford said. "So then we decided that when we were rebuilding [our backyard], we were going to rebuild it to strictly just grow produce."

In the wake of the tornado,Bishop's Urban Farm named after their son was born.

"We mainly just focus on salad greens," explained Kavanaugh, who works for a local machine and tool shop. "The space is so small that you can't grow your big crops. You want less than 60 days to maturity."

Between their Riberdy Road backyard and a second plot at Kavanaugh's mother's house in South Windsor, the farm has approximately 278 square metres of growing space.

In addition to supplying the Windsor Club, Whitford and Kavanaughsell their produce at the Harrow Market and the Downtown Windsor Farmers' Market, where they say they complement, not compete with farmers from Essex County.

"I talked to one farmer at the farmers' market and he said its not worth for them to grow what we grow," Kavanaugh said. "They got huge acres to deal with; they don't want to deal with small stuff."

Now that the couple have a greenhouse and walk-in cooler, Kavanaughand Whitfordbelieve they have the infrastructure in place to grow their business in 2018.

They plan on selling at more markets,and getting their producein more restaurants even grocery stores. Increasingtheir growing space by expanding to additional urbanbackyards is also part of the plan.

"If people have a backyard that's got really good southern exposure ... we'll take care of it and you'll get fresh veggies every week," Kavanaugh said.

Harvesting kale at Bishop's Urban Farm

7 years ago

Duration 0:30

Bishop's Urban Farm co-owner Bryan Kavanaugh uses special machinery to harvest greens at their urban farm in Windsor.

Jonathan Pinto is CBC Windsor's food reporter. Hear his latest tasty story every other Mondayat 4:45 p.m. on CBC Radio'sAfternoon Drive with Chris dela Torre.