City Herbal History

Formally known as the City Farm School (CFS), the City Herbal Apprenticeship Program (CHAP) is an initiative by the Concordia Greenhouse Project to develop partnerships in urban agriculture and to provide financially accessible herbal education.

City Farm School was started as a pilot project of the Concordia Greenhouse in 2011, serving residents and students near both Concordia campuses, and with time the project rapidly expanded with new partnerships throughout the city. Eventually CFS’s base shifted more towards the western part of the city, in N.D.G. This is where past apprentices and coordinators created the Loyola Farm, an urban garden on Concordia’s Loyola Campus that grew and continues to grow a variety of medicinal herbs, vegetables, and mushrooms.

CFS took on many shapes and forms over the years, and eventually came to offer two streams of education, the Market Gardener Apprenticeship and the Medicinal Herbs Apprenticeship. Apprentices gained hands-on experience following the growth of the Loyola Farm for an entire season, and participated in selling their produce and herbal medicines at the weekly market stand.

As of 2022, CFS ceased offering the well-loved Market Gardener Apprenticeship. Because of this, we’ve decided to change our program’s name to the City Herbal Apprenticeship Program to better reflect our current offerings and structure as a whole.

CHAP strives to carry on CFS’s legacy of approaching environmental and herbal education as a collective and interactive experience. We continue to work closely with the community, hosting our yearly Herbal Apprenticeship Program, as well as participating in the weekly Loyola Farmer’s Market, and offering volunteer sessions in our gardens located at the Loyola Farm.