The Shelbourne Community Kitchen (The Kitchen) would like to share their gratitude for the generous seed donation provided by West Coast Seeds for our 2024 growing season. Your seeds have introduced us to new varieties like Sakura and Caiman tomatoes, Goldilocks acorn squash, Burgess Buttercup squash, Touchstone Gold beets, and Winterbore kale—all of which have been a great success. Our garden Lead Bruce Saunders raved about the Sakura tomato variety sharing "After experimenting with several tomato varieties, we found that the Sakura tomatoes—perfectly sized like ping-pong balls—are not only easy to harvest but bursting with flavour, making them a perfect fit for our needs. This year, we’ve expanded to a 75-foot row in the greenhouse, and they’re thriving".
Currently, The Kitchen’s programs provide healthy food for over 2200 people in the Greater Victoria Area, this includes 1,554 registered program participants, plus 655 children.
Ultimately, The Kitchen strives to meet immediate food needs in dignified and accommodating ways, while inspiring systems of reciprocity that serve to build community knowledge and foster resilient networks. The Kitchen’s ethos emphasizes and values relationship building, community, and reducing social isolation, and recognizes the power of food to bring people together. We provide resources and support within dignified spaces where skill-sharing and intergenerational learning can thrive. By integrating meaningful leadership and volunteer opportunities, we recognize and celebrate the wealth of knowledge that our participants bring to the community.
A key focus of our Garden Program is to encourage home gardening and help people get creative with the resources and space they have available. Through workshops, educational resources, and gardening supplies, we empower our members to grow their own gardens. We believe that gardening not only increases access to fresh, healthy food, but it’s also a therapeutic activity that supports overall health and well-being.
Collaborating with the City of Victoria’s “Get Growing, Victoria!” initiative, our Garden program by provides seedlings, West Coast Seeds, garden supplies, and ongoing educational resources to program participants who face barriers to growing their own food. In 2024, the Garden program distributed 1,230 food seedlings and many seed packages, helping to supply over 65 participants with plants for the season and supporting 10 new participant home gardens.
Our Garden Leads and teams of volunteers, provide hands-on opportunities for participants to learn gardening skills, and to connect with the land and the food we eat.
The Kitchen has two garden sites - (1) Omnivore Acres(OA) garden is located on a Saanich farm owned by Jim and Catherine Gowans, who generously provide The Kitchen with 15,000 square feet of farmland, including a greenhouse, and water. (2) Cedar Hill Garden, located across the street from The Kitchen on land generously donated by St. Luke Cedar Hill Anglican Church, is our 350 geotextile container garden. Along with seasonal produce, this site provides space for events and workshops teaching the skills to grow food at home.
For the 2024 garden season our two garden sites produced 8,099 lbs of vegetables that were distributed to both our Pantry and Food Skills programs. In 2024 our Pantry Program distributed 2,950 grocery orders, including 358 home deliveries to those with chronic illness or mobility barriers.
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