Healthy Harvest in Action: Friends of the Garden's First Harvest Social

Marking The First Friends of the Garden Harvest Social

On May 27^th, our Friends of the Garden, horticulturist and the Sustainability & Community Programs (SCP) team met in the Food Garden for a very fruitful gathering.

The morning began with a discussion about the past, present and future of the Healthy Harvest program. Part of this included information from the Community Programs team on how yield and nutrition data are tracked, and how the harvest is shared with the community.

“The Healthy Harvest program was started in 2017. It has since blossomed into a collaborative initiative that has served our community for nearly 10 years! When we talk about the Healthy Harvest program, our goal is to demonstrate a circular food system on a local level; a reciprocal system that supports the needs of both people and planet.

The fresh produce grown fills a nutrient gap – many food banks or food share programs get a lot of canned and processed food.  The produce grown here in the Garden provides local fruits and veggies for families and students in our community who may not have access to fresh food.

During the 2025 season, approximately 1,400 kg (3,080 lbs) of food plants composed of over 139 varieties were harvested and donated to food security organizations.

In 2025, the top crops harvested include; apples (230kg), tomatoes (178kg), and chard (130kg). The most abundant harvest month was September with 289 kg harvested.”

— Lauren & the Sustainability and Community Programs Team

Dedicated FOGs Orla and Jill also shared their experiences harvesting over the years.

“Being part of the Healthy Harvest team is an opportunity for FOGs to get their hands dirty in the garden. As well, it’s an opportunity to work alongside Linda, who’s the best! She’s so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the Food Garden.

At the end of each session there’s a poster board summarizing the harvest for the day – which is great exposure for the garden with the visitors wandering through the Food Garden later that day.”

— Orla Cousineau, FOG & Harvest Volunteer

Food Garden horticulturalist, Linda, also shared her knowledge on growing approaches and ideas of future water infrastructure plans.

“Looking ahead, we want to utilize the existing metal roof structure of the Taylor plaza for water collection and storage.

We plan to research the installation costs for a water collection or storage, as well as the food safe components of materials and water. This will allow the Healthy Harvest team to utilize this collected rainwater for their food cleaning and preparation for donation of the food we harvest in the garden, rather than using the potable water in the Pavilion basement to clean the vegetables. Ideally, this could potentially take form as an outdoor double sink for wash and the drain.

Another goal with this infrastructure is to initiate conversation for the public about alternative water sources.”

— Linda Layne, Food Garden horticulturist

After discussion, everyone got their hands dirty and harvested alongside horticulture staff for ingredients to make some garden-fresh salads in the Pavillion with SCP staff. The room was filled with music, the scent of fresh herbs and excitement as everyone worked together to create various garden-fresh dishes.

Together we learned more about the Healthy Harvest program, each other and enjoyed some delicious food.

Here’s what participants had to say:

“This event was a great chance to increase our knowledge of which foods are grown, how they are harvested and donated and encouraged some newer FOGs to become part of the volunteer group working in the Food Garden.

It also introduced us to a number of the Horticultural staff who expertly and enthusiastically explained about the plants growing in a particular section as well as introduced us to other Garden staff who were responsible for the making of a most delicious lunch.

Overall, it was a great excuse for a get together of FOGs from various working groups in the Garden to share in a community event.”

— Penny Pederson, FOG

Looking Back

This was one of many Biodiversity Days events held throughout May, and highlights from the event will soon be available on our page.

If you’re interested in funding projects at the Garden go here.

Interested in volunteering for the Healthy Harvest Program? Please contact Lauren at garden.volunteering@ubc.ca or contact Pat Spice if you are a Friend of the Garden at paspice@gmail.com

Happy Harvest!