Despite drought and heat, the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden’s annual donation of vegetables to the SC Community Services Food Bank more than doubled this growing season.
The garden has worked in collaboration with the food bank for 14 years. Under the current leadership of Vanessa Choo, the Veggie Garden is planted and maintained by a team of 22 dedicated volunteers, who rotate shifts and seed beds to meet demand.
According to Choo, the food bank reported that last year, client numbers increased by 40 per cent due to the rapid increase of food prices. “At our year-end meeting last year, we resolved to increase our yield and extend the harvesting season.”
These goals were achieved: by increasing the size of the vegetable beds by as little as six inches, implementing the French Method, which recommends planting vegetables closer together, and making use of trellises to grow them vertically, Choo’s team estimated they were able to increase planting by 30 per cent. “Happy to report, our year-to-date donation to the food bank is 3,393 pounds of healthy vegetables, more than double the highest of any previous year’s output,” Choo said. She gives all credit to the committed, hard-working volunteers, who will continue tending the beds until the first snowfall.
Cathy Hallam is a garden board member and volunteer. When she isn’t pulling on rubber boots and gardening gloves to help tend the Veggie Garden, she helps patrons at local food banks. She affirms that the increasing costs of living make it difficult to make ends meet, and thus, the number of people experiencing food insecurity on the Coast is on the rise. The food donated to the Sunshine Coast Community Services is also used for the organization’s “Fresh Food For All” program, which provides participants access to fresh vegetables at a low cost.
“The Veggie Garden volunteers enjoy working outside together. Knowing that we are growing fresh food for people and families drives our work. To be involved from planting to harvesting, then offering fresh produce to those who need it, is really, really special.”
The garden’s primary seed supply is provided by West Coast Seeds as a part of the organization’s community giving initiative. The Veggie Garden team members work with the food bank to determine what produce to grow to meet clients’ requirements.
To volunteer with the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden, visit www.coastbotanicalgarden.org or phone 604-740-3969.
