Growing Opportunities Farm Community Co-op

09/05/2026

Farm Gate Crate week 9 of 12 is giving cozy vibes with carrots, celery, basil, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, Gala apples and Hungarian hot wax or jalapeño peppers! 🍎🍁🧅🥕🥬

As we head into Fall, we are back to our small and mighty core team of FarmHers! 👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾👩🏻‍🌾 Shayna, Rheanna and Bowen, you rocked it this week! Thank you for stepping up so I could do my thang today! Grateful for our team!!! 😘💜🧡💚

~Jesyka~

08/29/2026

Farm Gate Crate week 8 of 8 for some and 8 of 12 for others! 🎉 This week includes swiss chard, tomato, lettuce leaf basil, strawberries, summer squash, lemon cucumbers, onions and flowers🏵🌸🌼🌺🥬🍅🌻

Today was the last day for our Canada Summer Jobs students! 9 weeks flys by when you're having fun! 😎👩🏻‍🌾 As is tradition, to celebrate the students, we feast on delicious pizza from our crew’s fave... Mambo Gourmet Pizza!!! 🍕🤤🧡
The farm crew from Nanaimo Association for Community Living came to join us! 🥰 After months of working in relentless heat, wildfire smoke, and battling drought conditions, it was fun to spend an hour relaxing with everyone! 💚

We are incredibly proud of our youth!! 🥰 Flynn, Grace and Sara~we appeciate you hustling hard and trying new things without hesitation! You were rockstars out there!! Enjoy your week off before you head back to school! 💛🌻✨️

Rheanna, Bowen, Ocea and Maria will be staying on the team! 🎊🎊🎊🎊

Next week we switch gears and get ready for fall planting, cover cropping, seed saving, mulching leaves for the garlic beds and planning for our new accessible tea and herb garden! 🍂🫖🌿

~Jesyka~

08/26/2026

This will be a memorable event! Come join us and support our friends at Nanaimo Association for Community Living! 🌻

NACL warmly invites you to The Harvest Dinner on Saturday, September 26th - a meaningful evening dedicated to celebrating community, Inclusion, and local agriculture, while supporting the continued growth of our farm initiatives at Evanmorr Acres Farm and Empress Acres Farm. $100/person includes a thoughtfully curated 4-course farm-to-table dinner, live music, and the opportunity to support inclusive, community-driven agriculture. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/nacl-harvest-dinner-fundraiser - thank you for your support, and to all our wonderful community partners supporting this fundraiser! 🍂🍽️

08/23/2026

08/22/2026

Another wonderful opportunity to collaborate and support a organization that has worked with us!

Come chat, learn and contribute to our gathering at the Lions Pavilion in Maffeo Sutton Park, tomorrow from 11:00-3:00!

nanaimohorticulturalsociety

08/22/2026

Farm Gate Crate week 7 of 12 includes beets, baby carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries, kale, onion, garlic, and Tromboncino or summer squash!🫜🥕🍓🥬

Only 2 more sleeps until we celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Nanaimo Horticulture Society Est 1946 and STILL Growing!!!🎂🎉

We've been busy bees preparing for this event!🐝 We will have produce, herbs, flowers and seeds for sale.👩🏻‍🌾 We will also be taking sign ups for our 4 week Fall Farm Gate Crate.🍎🍂🎃

Where: Maffeo Sutton Park at the Lions Pavillion, Nanaimo, BC
When: Sunday, August 23, 2026
Time: 11am - 3pm

There will be a worm bin demo, tool sharpening by donation, plant propogation workshops, NHS members onsite to answer your questions, plants and seeds for sale and cupcakes and tea by donation.🧁 Come on down, have some fun and show your support for the fine folks at the NHS!!🌻

~Jesyka~

08/16/2026

Farm Gate Crate week 6 of 12 includes tomato, Genovese basil, peppers, strawberries, summer squash, peas or beans, cabbage or kohlrabi, onions and garlic! 🧅🫑🍓Biggest cabbage we pulled off the field this week weighed 6.8lbs!

Interested to meet the farm crew and our new Board members? Come join us as we gather to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Nanaimo Horticulture Society Est 1946 and STILL Growing!!! 🎂🎉🌱

Where: Maffeo Sutton Park at the Lions Pavillion, Nanaimo, BC
When: Sunday, August 23, 2026
Time: 11am - 3pm

We will have produce, herbs, flowers and seeds for sale. We will also be taking sign ups for our 4 week fall harvest Farm Gate Crate boxes! 🍂🎃🍎

The first 80 visitors to our tent will most likely get a free zucchini at this point! 👀😂

We will have 80 packages of sunflower seeds to give away, packaged in gorgeous, hand decorated envelopes, thanks to our crew member and resident artist, Grace.🌻💕

There will be lots to do and lots to learn at this event! Come on down, say hello and show your support for our friends at the Nanaimo Horticulture Society! 🌿🌸

~Jesyka~

08/13/2026

***Save the date!*** 💫
Meet cool people, walk the beds and see what a strong Community food hub can create! 🌱 Then enjoy delectable, locally grown food! No better way to spend a Friday night!! 😎💃🏻 We love to watch you grow, Nanaimo Food Hub!! 🥰

08/08/2026

HAPPENING NOW!!

08/08/2026

Farm Gate Crate week 5 of 12 includes Swiss chard, cucumber, celery, summer squash, Gravenstein (cooking) apples, beans, strawberries and garlic! 🍓🧄🍎

Ending a long, hot day with a full heart and deep gratitude that this is my "job"! 🥰

Two of our youngest FGC customers stopped in to "look for shoulders" on the Vampire carrots and do some weekly thinning on the row they helped plant. Oliver joined us and discovered carrot tops make a cozy nap spot. 😆🥕

Our first sunflower opened this week!!! 🎉These sunflowers represent resilience and remind us anything is possible when you have a strong Community.🌻
They are a part of an ongoing project we run in collaboration with A Taste of Learning; engaging their neurodivergent and diverse learners in Seed to Table learning in an Agricultural setting. Each Spring, these youth start the seeds, week by week we watch them grow, and then plant them out before we wrap for summer. When the youth return in the fall, we chop them down and save the seeds. And make our own snacks! TOL starts our peas, beans, cucumber, squash, pumpkins, melons and Flower Salad. They transplant tiny tomatillo seedlings destined for Baby Salsa Mexican Restaurant. They also trim and pot up our strawberry runners each fall, then help to plant them each Spring. This season they added 250 new plants to Strawberry Point! 👏 One of the best job perks... everyday we step onto the fields, we see their contributions flourish!

Engaging youth and people of all abilities in Sustainable Agriculture just makes sense to me. Providing people with a physically and psychologically safe work site also makes sense.👌 This week has been a whirlwind of meetings to line up all the pieces to make that happen. We've made powerful Community connections and I'm motivated to action things forward! Thank you to everyone who came to the farm recently to see the efforts GO has made towards our overhaul. We appreciate your eagerness to be involved! ❤️

We'll be sharing some exciting progress updates very soon✨️

~Jesyka~