Friday May 9, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Also see: EVENT REPORT – May 10, 2025 PORCHER PARK MEET-AND-GREET
The opening season of the first year at Porcher Park Community Garden in Langford starts with a meet-and-greet event on Saturday May 10.
This first community garden in the fast-growing municipality is for people who may not have a yard or food-growing capacity because they live in condos, apartments or other circumstance without land or indoor green-growing.
The Porcher Park Community Garden aims to support individual households in this way, as well as donating food to the broader community where needed.
Even if people don’t need a garden space they are welcome to come help maintain the overall garden space and become part of the Porcher Park Community Garden community including teaching others to grow food.
The City of Langford officially announced Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society (UFRIS) as the garden operator, on Earth Day April 22, at the park.
May 10 event:
On Saturday May 10 Langford residents are invited to visit the community garden, meet fellow gardeners, and sign up for a growing-plot (if they have not already done so).
- Where: Porcher Park Community Garden, 822 Wren Place (in central Langford)
- Date: Saturday May 10, 2025
- Time: 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
- What: Find out how the garden will operate. Meet fellow gardeners. Add your name to the garden plot selection system. Assigned plots will be announced in the week of May 12; a wait list will be built after that.
- Parking: Some street parking. Walk/cycle/roll is encouraged.
- Who: Everyone welcome. Sponsors, donors and volunteers welcome.
- Pets: Dogs not allowed with the food-growing fenced area; there is other open park space at Porcher Park.
Who operates the garden:
Porcher Park Community Garden is operated by Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society (UFRIS).
The UFRIS Executive Lead is Mary Brooke, B.Sc. (Foods and Nutrition) who has organized the design and launch of the physical garden as well as develop the plot-assignment/sharing format.
Ms Brooke will guide the garden to many great things including food production, developing food-growing expertise, and building community.
Who built the garden:
The conceptual garden layout by UFRIS — with various sizes. With the project manager Jay’s Construction Group the final design offers 33 growing boxes.
Several volunteers helped with moving items on site, preparing growing-boxes with liners and soil, and getting the garden ready for the May 10 event.
Growing season starts May 15:
The Porcher Park summer gardening season officially starts on Thursday May 15, 2025.
Using a growing plot:
Garden-plot users will be asked to sign a user agreement and to pay a per-season plot fee to UFRIS.
As many people as possible will be given growing space. If two families/users are assigned to one plot they can split the user fee.
Fees are passed on by UFRIS to the City of Langford to help cover on-site operational costs.
CATEGORIES/PLOT FEES: (per-season fee – summer & winter)
A. Langford resident with a small family or aging-in-place senior – $40/plot
B. Langford resident with a large family – $60/plot
C. Langford resident growing to provide for community food donation – $60/plot
D. Langford resident with accessibility needs – $30/plot
E. Langford resident self-identifying as Indigenous – $50/plot
Getting involved:
Applicants have been indicating their interest for a growing plot for several months.
To inquire about this event and/or get your name on the email info list write to: info@urbanfoodresilience.ca .
===== RELATED:
- Porcher Park Community arden supports Langford household resilience (May 11, 2025)
- NEWS SECTIONS: LANGFORD | URBAN FOOD RESILIENCE