'It's my yoga, it relaxes me': Rooftop veggie garden provides salads and serenity
Pat Martel | CBC News | Posted: August 16, 2017 11:00 AM | Last Updated: August 16, 2017
Charlottetown man grows everything from zucchini to cucumbers on his roof
When Mamdouh Elgharib sold his house in a leafy neighbourhood of Charlottetown in 2014, he didn't want to be a gardener without a garden.
"I knew I was going to miss a garden right away," said Elgharib. "It's one of the things that gives me joy, working in the garden with the vegetables, the flowers."
Elgharib bought an old red brick, three-storey building in one of downtown Charlottetown's most vibrant spots — Victoria Row.
And fortunately, there was a small rooftop terrace that Elgharib has turned into a thriving veggie garden.
'A break from the business of the city'
"It's a refuge," he said. "We're living downtown on Victoria Row with the music and the hustle and the bustle, so sometimes it's a nice escape to come up here on the roof and sit and just be surrounded with the plants so you take a break from the business of the city," said Elgharib.
The rooftop garden also provides Elgharib and his wife Margot fresh produce all summer.
"The basil, I use it all the time in the pasta and in the koftas," said Elgharib.
"The zucchini as soon as it is big enough, I'll be using it for stews and the tomatoes. Margot and I like to eat them raw standing on the terrace here. They are very sweet."
Elgharib climbs the 69 steps to his paradise in the sky two or three times a day. When he's not relaxing, he's weeding and watering.
"You just watch over them as they grow and do some work. It's my yoga, It relaxes me and it's very calming."
The view up above is breathtaking — from the magnificent spires of St. Dunstan's Basilica to the sailboats in the harbour.
"I don't know if I'd be very satisfied with living downtown without some plants around me so I'm very lucky and I'm very happy that I was able to do this."
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