Are you ready to dig in and discover the joys of growing your own food? Join our summer program for young growers and meet people working in sustainable career pathways, get hands-on experience gardening, harvesting fresh produce, and even running your own market stall. Youth will share 100% of all market sales through the summer.

Where you’ll grow

We’ll be regularly gardening in school gardens at:

• Royal Bay Secondary
• Belmont Secondary
• Edward Milne Community School
• Reynolds Secondary
• Plus less frequent visits at 5 vibrant elementary school gardens in Colwood and Langford

We’ll also visit farms and organizations like:

• Greater Victoria Compost Education Centre 
• Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture
• Metchosin Farm
• FED Urban Farm
• More to be confirmed soon!

Click here to view our full summer schedule.

Flexible and Fun

The program runs Monday - Thursday for 8 weeks in July and August, and you can join as much or as little as your schedule allows (though 80 - 100 hours are required to achieve a WEX credit). Whether you're a seasoned green thumb or new to gardening, this program is open to everyone.  

How to Join

• Sign Up Here: Registration Form
• Once registered, we’ll send you all the details about our summer schedule and how the program works.
• If you’re interested in earning high school course credit, we’ll connect you with your school’s career center to complete the required paperwork.

What you’ll do:

• Grow a Garden! - Plant and care for delicious fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers.
• Harvest and Prep - learn how to harvest and prepare fresh produce to sell at a farmers market.
• Sell your Harvest - Set up a market stall, work with your peers and keep all of the money you earn!
• Create Something Cool - Try out fun activities like making herbal lip balms, preserving food, brewing your own tea, dying clothes with flowers and more - all in the garden!
• Explore Sustainable Career Pathways - Meet and learn from local farmers, people working with native plants, in sustainable agriculture, seed saving and more! 
• Build and Innovate - try your hand at composting, basic garden maintenance and even design your own garden projects!

Why join? 

• Hands-on Learning - grow real-life skills like gardening, teamwork, sales and marketing in a fun, relaxed environment. 
• Inspiration and Creativity - pursue exciting projects that interest you, whether it's learning about herbs for teas, growing culinary mushrooms or building a water collection system - the possibilities are endless. 
• No Cost, Big Rewards - there's no fee to join and all the earnings from your market sales go to you. Everyone who attends the program will get a portion of profits based on hours attended. The more you attend, the more you earn! 
• Outdoor Fun - spend your summer in beautiful gardens, enjoying fresh air, engaging in meaningful work and making friends!
• Abundance of Food - leave with yummy fruits and veggies for you, your friends and your family!
• Flexible - Come as much or as little as you’d like. If you join for 80-100 hours, you will earn a Work Experience (WEX) credit toward your graduation, however it is not mandatory to participate. 

This volunteer program is a chance to learn valuable life skills, connect with nature, and share the fruits of your labor with your friends, family, and community at large - all while having fun with other young gardeners! There is no cost to participate, and all the earnings from market sales go directly to you!!