Enter the Vancouver urban garden that's been teaching people how to grow their own food for over 40 years

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In the middle of a bustling Vancouver neighbourhood lies an agricultural oasis created from a couple of vacant lots that datesback to 1978.

That's when a group of peoplecallingthemselves City Farmercreated the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Gardenin Kitsilano to teach people living in the cityhow to grow their own food in asustainable way.

The garden and its work inspiring urban farming over the past 44 years is now being highlighted in a short film calledParking Lot to Paradise through theCBC's Creator Network.

"It is a marvellous place to be," Michael Levenston, co-founder of City Farmer Society and garden site manager, told CBC's On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko. "I was 27 in 1978 and I just turned 71, so it's been a lot of years."

The garden sits on more than a quarter of an acre of land and offers educational lessons, tours and gardening advice six days a week. Schools can book tours or people can just walk in to enjoy a lesson.

"It's like horticultural therapy," Levenston said, adding that staff alsoteachpeople how to compost in their own gardens.

WATCH | Parking Lot to Paradise:

Maria Keating, a City Farmer gardener and bug expert, said a mulberry treeshe planted in the garden 14 years ago has been helping her feed her silkworms, which she talks about in educational tours for students and visitors.

"The silkworm project started with me just wanting to show people the life cycle of a caterpillar," Keating said. "To grow silkworms, you need to have mulberry leaves to feed them."

She said the mulberry has grown into a "beast of a tree" and has become a draw in itself.

"I had no idea just all the magic that would happen under this tree as we get visitors coming in from all over the world," she said.