It is a typical day in spring. Sean Smith is in his backyard microfarm (about 750 sq.ft in size) in East York. He has a full day of making compost, brewing compost tea, and tending to his first batch of cold-weather crops — bok choy, rainbow tatsoi, mustard greens, red orach, and Swiss chard.

A few years ago, Smith’s life was completely different. As a sessional lecturer, he taught sports management, business and marketing, and, eventually, sculpting at the Ontario College of Art & Design. About seven years back, he began growing produce as a way to teach his kids how to grow their own food. 

So what prompted this shift? “This was a response to climate change. At that point, I was a new father, and so I asked myself, ‘What am I doing for my kids?’” Smith said.  

Eventually, Smith realized that if he focused on growing the right kind of soil, the plants would take care of themselves. Now, as the owner of Crooked Farmz, he makes and sells compost and compost tea in Toronto to help professional arborists and home gardeners alike grow their plants naturally.     

Smith’s efforts to help revitalize the soil are aimed at addressing the larger problem of climate change. “It is something that we used to think was gradual, but now, it seems to be more abrupt and more linked to extremes,” said David Phillips, a climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

While climate change has far-reaching consequences on everything, it has a more direct impact on industries such as farming and livestock. This is especially true between winter and spring. “Spring is a very transitional season. It’s very fitful and very fickle,” Phillips said over Zoom. 

“Spring is a very volatile time. Everybody is trying to start their plants,” Smith said. However, increasingly sudden changes and extremes in weather have impacted these cycles. 

“The challenges that I deal with, particularly in the spring, are becoming more and more frequent because of climate change,” Solakofski said. “Everything is very snappy. It will go from very cold to very warm and then be extremely windy. Such fluctuations are very difficult for plants to adapt to.”

Farming during a transitional season

“I’ve been growing a garden for over 30 years, and I’ve been keeping garden journals,” said Maria Solakofski, owner of Wild By Nature Botanicals, an urban herb farm and apothecary in Toronto. “Every year, there are 10 different layers of spring before you can actually plant your warm plants, like tomatoes and basil.” 

Phillips described it as “yo-yo kind of weather.” He added, “I think April has been called the cruel month because of the weather. We think that it should be warm and it’s still cold. We feel cheated. We feel like it’s not fair.”

Daily mean temperature in Toronto in every month of April between 2020 and 2024

Winter-like weather in April can be devastating. “Hail is a big one. An unexpected hail storm, late frost or late snow can kill crops,” Smith said. 

Hail is a common problem faced not only by urban farmers but even by some fruit growers in the Niagara region. “There are a few things we can do for cold temperatures during bloom. But, we have very little protection against hail,” said Clay Eborall of Eborall Farms, a family-owned and operated fruit farm in Lincoln, Ont..

“If we get hail when it’s picking time, during harvest, the damage is much more severe than if we were to get it when the fruit is really small,” he said at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto. The family was there selling a wide variety of apples and apple cider.  

Adapting solutions

Smith and Solakofski have both steered towards growing more native and local species as those seeds would be more adapted to this region. “I also specifically look for varieties of zucchini, or beans, or lettuces that have shorter seasons. Our season is not shorter, it’s just more volatile,” Solakofski said. 

She has also created more infrastructure to support her plants. They are kept in a protected space or covered with a cold frame, creating a condition similar to an incubation chamber. “I can’t trust that the climate isn’t going to destroy everything. I am always going to err on the side of caution,” she said.

While caution is key, Phillips believes the shifting climate might bring new opportunities for Canadian growers. “There are going to be risks with climate change, but they’re also going to be benefits,” he said, adding that a warmer future and shorter frost periods might let farmers grow crops that Canadian farmers couldn’t grow before.

Smith continues to place focus on the soil. “I don’t dig my soil up as much as before, I try and disturb it as little as possible,” he said. “Cities are artificial places. But we can still try to make our gardens as natural as possible.”

Read more from the Toronto Observer:

• Urban farming in Toronto offers a grassroots solution to rising food costs
• Farmers in the GTA have been prepared for the extra heat
• Here’s how an innovative food hub is helping feed St. James Town

One of his main priorities has been to grow everything naturally with the use of his own compost instead of using any chemicals. “They are a big part of climate change. The soil is meant to be the great remediator of the atmosphere. When we hurt the soil or poison the soil (with chemicals), it blocks that function,” Smith said.  

He firmly believes that everything in the farming ecosystem – soil, plant life, water, weather, and much more — is connected. “A holistic systems approach is very much what agriculture is like, especially if you’re trying to follow a natural farming style,” Smith said.

With that, he signs off Zoom to go back to brewing compost tea for the upcoming season.