The bounty from Royal Roads University’s food garden this year was more than double the output from 2022 — more than 1,360 kilograms.
The garden, called The Farm at RRU, provides produce to such organizations as Our Place Society, Iyé Creative, the Victoria Community Fridge and the RRU Community Fridge.
“It’s such a joy to see this space on campus grow into a community gathering place,” said Royal Roads president Philip Steenkamp. “Thanks to the work of many hands, we’ve expanded our harvest and were able to support local food production that directly benefits organizations right here in the Greater Victoria area, as well as stock our own RRU Community Fridge for students who may face food insecurity.
“Our faculty, staff, students and garden volunteers truly care about our community, and this is an incredible way of showing it.”
The fall harvest was made possible through the annual Vision in Bloom fundraiser, which generated more than $250,000 to support ongoing work to restore and maintain the university’s century-old gardens and other landscapes. The TD Bank Group donated $196,000 in the spring to support the work.
“We’re grateful for the support for The Farm,” said Royal Roads food-systems manager Solara Goldwynn. “Donors, volunteers and partners have made this idea a reality and I look forward to seeing its continued success.”
Next steps for The Farm at RRU include the creation of an Indigenous medicine garden and expansion of food-growing space to integrate a market garden.
Victoria Green Team removes invasive plants
The Greater Victoria Green Team has been hosting hosting events in recent weeks that include removing invasive plant species near the headwaters of Bowker Creek on the University of Victoria campus and planting native trees at Colwood’s Murray Pond Park.
Those two initiatives alone brought out 114 student volunteers from a UVic outdoor-education class, Mount Douglas Secondary and Royal Bay Secondary. Eight cubic metres — the equivalent of about 50 bathtubs full — of invasive plants were pulled up at UVic and 175 trees were planted around Murray Pond behind Royal Bay Secondary.
The local Green Team is part of the Green Teams of Canada, a national charity, and does everything from building trails and nest boxes to picking up garbage from beaches and working at farms to boost sustainable agriculture. New volunteers are asked to register at http://bit.ly/2GEDEO9. If volunteers are under 19, a parent or guardian should fill out this form for them http://bit.ly/parentguardianform.
Work is done in concert with municipal and provincial governments, watershed groups and other organizations.
Upcoming for the team is the Oct. 14 removal of invasive plants from a Lochside Drive property overseen by The Land Conservancy, planting of native trees and shrubs on Oct. 15 at Esquimalt Gorge Park as part of TD Tree Days, and a similar TD Tree Days event Oct. 21 at View Royal Park.
Spencer school library to get a boost from Indigo foundation
Spencer Middle School has been chosen as the lone Greater Victoria site to be part of this year’s Adopt a School fundraiser put on by the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation.
The Langford school says the non-fiction section in its library is about 20 years old and needs a “refresh” that features new voices — including more Indigenous authors — “to better represent the beautiful mosaic of our school community.”
From Tuesday through Oct. 31, funds will be raised for books for the school at Indigo books in Mayfair Shopping Centre and Coles bookstore in the Westshore Town Centre.
Customers can donate online or at the stores, with Indigo matching donations up to $1,200.
The foundation was created in 2004 to help schools with high needs obtain new books and educational materials for their libraries. More than 3,000 schools have received funding since the foundation began.
In a statement, the foundation said it believes books “have the power to change lives and inspire a life-long love of reading.”
Art gallery special events include mushroom foraging
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has several special attractions this month, including a pop-up library, the season’s first Family Sunday at the Gallery and an opportunity for people to forage for mushrooms.
The pop-up is called Blackspace Library and features books written by Black authors from Canada and around the world. Its aim is to highlight the contributions of Black authors and create a space for readers from diverse communities.
“The project was developed in support of the exhibition While Black: a forum for speculation on what the gallery can’t hold, in collaboration with guest programmer Kemi Craig, whose vision for the library is to centre ‘Black communities, Black experiences, Black thought and Black possibilities,’ ” the gallery said in statement.
Blackspace Library locations are in place until Oct. 22 at Liberty Barbers, Who Dyd Your Hair, Stir it Up, and the Mifflin Wistar Gibbs Study Room at the sxʷeŋ’xʷəŋ taŋ’exw James Bay Branch of Greater Victoria Public Library. For more information visit Blackspace Library.
Family Sunday at the Gallery is set for 2-4 p.m. Oct. 15 and includes hands-on art activities with painter Natalie Shumka, with inspiration from the current exhibition Unexpected: The Life and Art of Sophie Pemberton, Canadian Artist. Family Sunday events are included with admission or membership.
The collecting of mushrooms and other plants happens Oct. 26 from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at Royal Roads University, led by artist Diane Borsato and the Southern Vancouver Island Mycological Society’s Kem Luther and Andy MacKinnon. Tied to the current gallery exhibition Symbiosis, the event is a gathering in the forest to learn about the linguistic, cultural, edible, medicinal and ecological meanings of the collected specimens. Participants will hear about Symbiosis from curators Jaimie Isaac and Mel Granley and learn about Indigenous perspectives on the connection of culture, land, flora and fauna.
The event takes place rain or shine and tickets are $50 plus fees. The meeting place is to be announced.
Visit Mushroom Foray Information and Tickets to register.
For more information, visit aggv.ca or call 250-384-4171.
Take a Thanksgiving stroll through Abkhazi Garden
Abkhazi Garden will be open Monday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to allow members of the public to take a Thanksgiving Day stroll and enjoy its beauty.
It’s also the final day of the art show and plant sale at the 1964 Fairfield Rd. attraction, with paintings and wooden bowls on display in the teahouse and fall plants for sale at the front gate.
Also of note is the site’s Georgian Garden, which was filled with “peace rocks” from Glenlyon Norfolk School on Sept. 21 to mark the United Nations International Day of Peace.
The opening will be held rain or shine, with admission by donation.
Abkhazi Garden was created in 1946 and purchased in 2000 by The Land Conservancy.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
