This past month, I had the pleasure to visit five garden sites in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley. While each site was different, each has the same goals: growing produce, education, and sharing with community. They were all inspiring!
More than a Roof Housing (Burnaby) – This family supported housing site with 43 units has a garden nestled in a grove of trees. Gardeners grow produce for housing residents and the broader community. Although small, it provides many varieties of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. The garden was started in 2021 by a community member who also shares the seeds and seedlings at the high school where she works.
University Endowment Lands (UEL) Community Garden (Vancouver) - UEL started a community garden space in 2021. Over two years, they built 55 plots that range in size and include some children’s plots and wheelchair/ mobility accessible plots. Gardeners grow for themselves and donate their excess produce weekly to the local food bank. The garden is lined with blueberry bushes and apple trees and has a shared herb bed. Each month, gardeners come together for a site clean-up and a social event. Like many community gardens, there is a waitlist, so there is hope to expand in the future.
Sunshine Community Garden (Sardis) –Sunshine has 80 community garden plots, a food forest filled with fruit trees, and communal raspberry bushes. It also has a small vegetable and herb bed that is used by the gardeners and the Chilliwack Society for Community Living (CSCL). Further, there is a food bank garden space run by a group of volunteers, and gardeners harvest on Monday and Thursday to support the Salvation Army Food Pantry. I visited on harvest day, and it was heartwarming to see volunteers sharing potatoes, tomatoes, beans, carrots, and beets with those in need.
Sardis Secondary Farm School (Sardis) – Students from the local area attend this school to learn about growing and farming. Since my last visit, the farm school has added a small corn field and a section to provide cabbage, potatoes, and onions to the Salvation Army Food Bank Pantry. While I was there, food bank folks arrived for a pickup and filled the van with freshly picked produce. The school now offers spaces for elementary and middle school students, and the summer program (about 20 students) was ending the day I visited the site. The students, teachers and volunteers were cleaning up and mulching the garden beds, working on pest management for the cabbage crops, and harvesting crops for the food bank.
Khalsa Aid Community Garden (Richmond) - Originally in Surrey, this garden recently moved to the Gurdwara Nanak Niwas Temple in Richmond. Because of the move, the 15 raised garden beds were built after the start of the growing season. It was too late for many crops, but they benefited from seedlings left over after our seedling sale. They have since thrived with the new garden beds built within a fruit orchard, and they harvest peppers, pumpkins, melons, and herbs. Khalsa Aid provides meals and produce to community members and donates to charity groups such as the Downtown East Side women’s shelter.