Three vacant lots in Bridgeland, where gardeners pull potatoes and carrots out of the ground, should be designated a historic resource and protected from development, members of a city hall committee voted Wednesday.

The lots at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac on 7 Street N.E. are the last of what was once a common sight — neighbourhood vegetable gardens. The city bought land in the 1920s and 1930s and allowed residents to grow vegetables on the plots.

Through the years, the little gardens in Calgary all disappeared, except for the one in Bridgeland.

On Wednesday, members of the city's land use committee approved protecting the plots, forbidding anything other than vegetable gardens on the properties. The decision still needs to be given the final stamp of approval by city council.

Marsh Livicz, 86, is the patriarch of Bridgeland's vacant lot garden, first turning the soil there as a young man in the 1930s, when the gardens were an essential food source during the Depression.

"It is something that goes back in the history of this location and it's nice to see that something [will be] preserved that's old," he said.

Mike Ricketts has been gardening in the quiet patch of land for about five years. He will pull the carrots and potatoes next week, but his pride and joy – the corn – should be ready any day.

He said over the years the Bridgeland gardeners have overcome everything from pests to pilferers.

"Marsh one year lost all his pumpkins," he said. "And a couple of years ago somebody came and stole the Russian garlic the fellow in the corner was growing."