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Community Initiatives
The Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC), in pursuit of implementing the Agricultural Plan, supports a range of community initiatives in Maple Ridge.
It's Growing! The 2024 Food Garden Contest Opens April 26
The Agricultural Advisory Committee is running its annual Food Garden Contest again as part of promoting and supporting food security.
Plan your garden, grow some great food, take a few photos along the way and maybe you'll be one of our 2024 prize winners!
Who Can Enter?
Everyone is welcome to enter - families, individuals, groups, and all ages! No experience is necessary.
We are happy to see a variety of gardens - large and small, containers, raised beds, in-ground, vertical, patio, front yard, back yard, roof top, etc.
Gardeners are encouraged to get creative with their space through the use of artistic expression and keeping in mind all the beneficial plantings that support our pollinators!
How to Enter and Participate (Entry Deadline: June 3, 2024!)
Enter yourself or nominate a neighbour by the deadline!
1. "Before" photo: Take one or two "before” photos of your garden.
2. Enter: Email your photo(s), name, address, phone number, and email address with the subject line "Food Garden Contest 2024" to ARieu@MapleRidge.ca .
3. Confirmation: You will receive an email confirming your contest entry.
4. Take photos: Take pictures of your garden - throughout the growing season, in bloom, or as you see fit - to showcase the judging criteria.
5. Final submission (Deadline Sept. 3): Submit up to five photos of your garden during or after the growing season and an optional 200-word description (max) of your experience by September 3, 2024.
6. Judging and Winners: Judging will be done in late summer with recipients being announce shortly after. Prizes will include items or gift certificates from local businesses.
For more information, please contact Adam Rieu, Agricultural Advisory Committee Staff Liaison, at ARieu@MapleRidge.ca
Important dates:
- April 26, 2024 Contest opens
- June 3, 2024: Deadline to enter
- September 3, 2024: Deadline for final photo submissions
Judging Criteria
- Quality and range of food grown
- Health of the plants
- Gardening practices
- Garden design and artistic expression
Previous Contest Winners
View the winners of previous Food Garden Contests
Need help deciding what to grow?
Theme it: Theme your garden around your favourite food! Grow the ingredients for a summer salad, a zesty salsa, or your favourite pizza toppings.
Plant-a-Row, Grow-a-Row, Donate-a-Row: The Agricultural Advisory Committee is proud to support the "Plant-a-Row, Grow-a-Row, Donate-a-Row" initiative, which supports local food security and further helps to provide healthy and nutritious food options for our local foodbank. Please see attached link for details. *Note: There is no need to sign up for this initiative through the Foodbank. They accept donations (washed with dirt removed) each week Monday to Friday before noon.
Helpful Gardening Resources:
PAST EVENTS
Speaker: Darcy Smith
This event took place on July 23, 2022 during the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Country Fest Event.
This session, featuring the ‘Young Agrarians’, provided an overview of the BC Land Matching Program, and discussed what goes into creating a solid land arrangement.
About Young Agrarians: Young Agrarians is a farmer-to-farmer educational resource network for new and young farmers in Canada. Our work is to grow the next generation through access to land, mentorship, apprenticeship, community, resources and more. youngagrarians.org
About the B.C. Land Matching Program: The B.C. Land Matching Program (BCLMP), delivered by Young Agrarians, provides personalized land matching and business support services to farmers looking for land to start or expand their farm, and landholders interested in finding someone to farm their land. The advantage of working with a Land Matcher is free hands-on support to understand regulations, evaluate opportunities, access resources, and ultimately find a land match. The program addresses the high cost of land as a significant barrier for those seeking to enter the B.C. agriculture industry. There is no cost to participate, and our services are available to farmers and landholders of all ages across B.C. youngagrarians.org/bc-land-matching-program/
Speaker: Dieter Geesing
This event took place on October 20, 2021 via Zoom. You can see a copy of the presentation slides here.
Soil loves compost and composting reduces landfill waste. In this session, Dieter discussed all things compost: the science behind composting, compost materials, structures, equipment and touch on various composting methods – from bins to drums, from vermicompost to bokashi.
Speaker: Paul Van Westendorp
This event took place on Jul 22, 2021 via Zoom.
Many of the world’s flowering plants are dependent on pollinators for their reproduction. The transfer of pollens from one flower to another flower ensures seed and fruit set. While there are various kinds of pollinators including birds, marsupials and mammals, the majority of pollinators are insects. Over millions of years, insect pollinators have co-evolved with flowering plants to meet each other’s’ dietary and reproductive needs.
This presentation focused on the extraordinary diversity of pollinators and their critical role in maintaining sustainable environments. It also included suggestions for what the public can do to enhance and preserve pollinator populations.
Let’s Get Farming took place April 4, 2019. The AAC invited Dr. Kent Mullinix (Director, Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at KPU), Kim Grout (CEO, Agricultural Land Commission) and Chris Zabek (Agrologist, Ministry of Agriculture) to speak to the challenges and solutions to achieving food self-reliance as well as the importance of preserving farmland for future generations.
Talking About Backyard Hens
Throughout 2018, the City of Maple Ridge’s Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) has been looking at options to accommodate backyard hens in residential areas in Maple Ridge. Over the summer of 2018, City staff and members of the AAC attended community events to talk about backyard hens in Maple Ridge. Event information boards are available to review here.
At the December 11, 2018 Council Workshop meeting, City staff presented a summary of the consultation activities and feedback. A copy of the staff report is available here. The meeting was recorded and is available for online viewing here. At the December meeting, Council directed staff, in consultation with the AAC, to prepare an Options Report that would explore possible regulatory measures that could permit the keeping of backyard hens in Maple Ridge.
As a follow-up, on June 4, 2019, staff presented a report outlining possible regulatory directions for Council consideration. A copy of the staff report prepared for the June 4, 2019 Council Workshop is available here (Item 4.4). At that meeting, Council tabled the presentation and discussion to a future Council Workshop.
City staff presented the Options Report at the June 18 Council Workshop meeting. Council discussed the keeping of backyard hens in residential areas of Maple Ridge and determined that, given the immediate priorities of Council and limited staff resources, that no further work on backyard hens would take place at this time. Council will re-consider this project during a future business planning process. A copy of the staff report is available here. (Item 4.3) and the meeting was live streamed and available online here.
Updates will be provided online as well as via email. If you wish to be included on the City of Maple Ridge Agriculture Update email list, please send an email to agriculture@mapleridge.ca.
Check back regularly for information about the conversation on backyard hens in Maple Ridge.
Grant Program
The Maple Ridge AAC has a grant program that provides small disbursements to worthy organizations involved in promoting agriculture who may not qualify for other grant opportunities. The AAC also provides ongoing support to Country Fest and the Haney Farmers Market.
Interested in being considered for a grant? Fill out an application form (PD