There are going to be some new faces around the Rosemont-Petite-Patrie borough this summer.
Fourteen sheep will be living in Pelican Park.
As part of a new pilot project, the animals will be trimming the grass in parks around the borough.
“This project is an urban sheep farm,” explained Laurence Barchichat, a shepherd who works with Biquette a Montreal, the group responsible for the project. “We're creating an urban barn, which is going to house about 14 lambs. They're going to be herded through different parks in Rosemont and pastured on the grass here.”
The project was given the green light from the borough, providing a summer home for the sheep. They are on loan from La Ferme Gastronomique Chez Anouk, in Mont-Laurier, about 250 kilometres north of Montreal.
The animals will do more than trim the grass, explained Barchichat.
“Teaching people about the work of peasantry done around the world, bringing the culture closer to home and really reconnecting people with what they're eating,” she said.
The woolly creatures will live in a mobile barn and will graze many parks in the borough. The barn is being provided by the main funder for the project, Terra Perma.
They will be fenced in, but the group will offer workshops to the public.
Similar projects also exist in several European cities, as well as Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta and Atlanta, Georgia.
Compost Montreal will assist by managing the soiled straw and hay.
The lambs are set to arrive on July 9.
