Canada: City Farmer’s 2024 in-house beer has been named Purple Potion

And other colourful tales from the secret garden!

By Maria Keating
City Farmer
Dec 14, 2024

This year, we wanted to celebrate the Stories of the Garden. These are the stories handed down from staff to volunteers, from visitors to staff, over and over again. Our beer label encapsulates many stories from 2024. The idea was inspired by the new collage mural painted on our portable office this fall.

To start off, the beer contains almost 2 liters of juiced mulberries collected this summer from our mulberry tree in the teaching garden. At the peak of mulberry season, we stretch tarps under the tree and shake the branches to catch the falling berries, like gifts raining from above. Mulberry stories abound, and this year was no exception. Mr. Canada 2000, a bodybuilder originally from Iran, reminisced about his childhood, took off his shoes, and climbed the tree as he did 40 years before.
This year’s berries were frozen and added to the brew to give it a beautiful berry hue—the purple behind the potion.

The label’s template is a stylized version of the intertwining wisteria leading down the garden path to the back garden. Perched in its branches this November was a barred owl, the first we’d seen in 40 years. It stayed for a whole day, despite being heckled by crows, flocks of other birds, and the irrigation technician, who loudly blew out our irrigation lines for winter right beneath the owl. The giant bird simply blinked and paid no attention to the loud blasts or the gathering paparazzi.

Behind the owl on the label is the glow of the Northern Lights, captured by our neighbour, photographer/astronomer Robservatory.ca. We never get tired of talking about his view into the universe just above our back garden. He captures the most amazing photos—truly out of this world.

The collage also shows a path to the back garden covered in scarlet runner beans, transformed into purple pebbles. In the children’s tea party area, we tell the story of Jack’s Beanstalk. The arbour on which the beans climb doubles as a hummingbird perch. The hummingbird not only perches but pollinates each bean, producing the most runner beans we’ve ever had. When we crack open the long green beans, they reveal the magical purple seeds within the pods.

Another story happened this summer when a small starling became famous up and down the Greenway between Maple and Cypress. The little bird landed on people’s dogs, shoulders, and—one afternoon—came into our back garden, landing on our hats and phones. We showed it where to find food by flipping rocks and gathering cocoons so it could learn to live amongst the wilds of Kitsilano.

On the morning we were heading out to bottle the beer, we were still struggling to decide on the central theme for our beer label. As we walked into the back garden, much to our surprise, we were greeted by a young coyote that had decided to create a bed in the sweet woodruff ground cover under the big spruce Christmas tree. Its bed was a dry and cozy spot, and the animal remained there for the next few days. One of the gardeners managed to sneak up and capture a picture of it sleeping.

The dahlia is a favourite flower in the garden, and these luscious blooms inspired a hairstyle and dance party by the Dahlia Darlings. You know who you are!