Learning to grow food at home contributes enormously to food security and our community resilience, and the City of Victoria is responding to a renewed interest in learning to garden.
Get Growing, Victoria! provides food seedlings and garden materials to citizens in need, including people disproportionally impacted by the ongoing pandemic. The seedlings are grown in the City’s nursery in Beacon Hill Park and distributed in partnership with community organizations.
Now in its second year, the program is starting from seed again under the care and attention of City staff. Seedlings will be ready for distribution between May 17 and June 5, 2021 through public distribution days in each neighbourhood.
In 2020, over 81,500 edible plants were grown and 200 cubic yards of garden materials were distributed, supported by over 44 community partners that directly served over 10,000 households.
To request printed copies of the 2021 program poster shown above, email parks@victoria.ca.
2021 Seedling Collection Schedule
Get Growing, Victoria! supports communities in need through partnerships with non-profit organizations that help distribute the seedlings to residents who are facing barriers to access materials to grow their own food.
Many partner organizations of Get Growing support communities directly through their programs, like horticultural therapy for mental health support groups, and gardening and food access programs for community kitchens that support people with disabilities. The pandemic has exacerbated the need for more support and resources to help communities foster social and emotional well-being in safe ways.
This is why Get Growing, Victoria! has neighbourhood distribution days – a community collection hub in every neighbourhood where free food starts are available to collect for those who are facing barriers.
Please see the schedule below for the dates and times when seedlings are available to communities in need to collect free of charge.
PLEASE NOTE: Masks are required at collection sites. Please bring your own tray to transport seedlings. Some locations are by registration only.
Click to view the Spring 2021 Neighbourhood Distribution Days Schedule.
Garden Materials Collection a Success
Many home gardens are off to a healthy start following the distribution of free garden materials to Victoria neighbourhoods in spring 2021. Leaf mulch, compost and wood chips produced at the Parks yard in Beacon Hill Park were delivered to neighbourhood locations for residents to collect in mid-April. Thank you to our neighbourhood distribution partners for ensuring collection went smoothly and safely for everyone.
We’d like to hear about the wonderful ways you are using the garden materials. Share a story from your garden and/or send us some photos: engage@victoria.ca.
Are the garden materials I picked up safe to use on food gardens?
Yes, test results confirm that the leaf mulch and compost materials are safe to use on food gardens. The compost and leaf mulch materials for this program are tested annually in the spring for hydrocarbons and heavy metals, due to the potential low risk of contaminants from leaves collected from streets.
Can I plant food plants directly into the garden materials?
Both the leaf mulch and compost are high in carbon and should be used as an amendment and not a soil replacement. Food plants love nitrogen and a nitrogen-rich amendment (sea soil or liquid fish fertilizer) should be used alongside these materials.
It may be best to use these materials as a carbon-rich layer when sheet-mulching or as a topdressing for ornamentals and pathways. Gloves are recommended and proper handwashing practices after use should be followed.
Where can I learn more about soil health?
To learn more about soil health and contaminants, check out our friends at the Compost Education Centre and their information on soil contaminants basics. For more in-depth information regarding mulching practices, please refer to their factsheets on:
Our Partners
Thank you to our amazing community partners who help ensure the success of Get Growing, Victoria! We are proud to partner with First Nations and organizations that provide a variety of community services, such as:
- Indigenous foods initiatives
- Friendship centres
- Intercultural community organizations
- Mental health and addictions organizations
- Community centre operators
- Neighbourhood associations
- Mutual aid groups
- Emergency food access organizations
- Social service organizations
- Subsidized and supportive housing organizations
- Environmental stewardship organizations
- Public health organizations
- Greater Victoria School District
- School and community gardens
To learn more about last year’s program, check out this video from one of our partners, Growing Together:
What We’re Growing in 2021
Seedling varieties are selected for easy growing for the novice gardener, and suitable for a variety of locations, such as garden beds in yards or container gardening on decks and balconies.
Our spring seedling distribution will provide vegetable and herbs and include tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, lettuce, basil, chives, nasturtiums, and edible marigolds.
Who is eligible to receive plants?
The project prioritizes support for people who have been disproportionally impacted by the pandemic and want to grow food at home, but that may be facing barriers to access food plants and garden materials, and may not have access to fresh, locally grown food.
This may include, but is not limited to, Indigenous people, racialized people, people who have experienced loss of work, people who are immunocompromised, people living with cognitive, physical, financial or social barriers or disabilities, seniors, youth, families in need, unhoused people, and/or people who self-identify as food insecure.
How do I care for seedlings?
We want new gardeners to experience the joy of growing food successfully. To help make that happen, we have partnered with the Capital Regional Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable (CRFAIR) and its Growing Together campaign to offer free educational resources in the form of videos, webinars and access to a new-gardener mentorship program.
Growing Together shares knowledge from local experts, including site-planning your garden, building healthy soil, companion planting, how to safely transplant seedlings, best watering practices, organic pest management and more.
Start learning today: Growing Together
