Grow and Eat an Abundance of Organic Veggies!
Introduction
We match apartment dwellers who have a commitment to learn and experience growing an organic vegetable garden but do not have access to a garden space and we pair them with homeowners who have an under-utilized garden space to share. By connecting these 2 communities together, we build robust and nutritious gardens that provide healthy abundant food for the apartment dweller and the homeowner.
The world is shifting and there is a growing movement to reclaim garden growing knowledge by learning and experiencing hands on how to grow an abundant, organic food producing garden that can supply you with healthy nutritious food.
Donate
Food 4 Thought has and continues to be committed to providing community members with education, courses and workshops in sustainable living, permaculture and organic gardening. We also provide our members with seeds, plants, soil, plant pots, compost, tools, lumber to build garden beds and various other resources to fulfil upon our vision of having people develop a powerful skill and experience how to grow an abundant, nutritious, organic food producing garden.
We are asking fans to support our work for the price of a delivery box of organic produce!
Volunteer
Maybe the commitment of growing and tending to an organic garden is not something you can see yourself fulfilling this Spring and Summer, but you can see yourself volunteering some of your time and resources over the upcoming growing season and you’d like to offer a few hours of time to assist where you can. If so, please reach out to us at garden4food4thought@gmail.com to let us know what skills you might be able to offer and how you would like to volunteer.
We’ve had volunteers who made time to drive vehicles/vans to pick up compost, timber, and bags of Fall leaves and deliver these items to specific gardens. We had other volunteers who offered to create social media posts, hand out flyers, or assist in our demonstration garden etc. If you have a skill/ability that you would like to offer or volunteer for a period of time…we would love to connect with you!
Learn how to grow nutritious vegetables that feed you and your family for a lifetime!
Tell me more about the Food 4 Thought Garden Matching Program
What is it?
Food 4 Thought is a vegetable garden matching and organic garden support program that matches apartment dwellers who have a love, longing and passion to connect with soil, plants and a desire to learn and experience how to grow an organic veggie garden and we pair them with a local homeowner in their area that has a front or backyard garden space to share.
We offer a step-by-step guided program that educates and informs new and novice apartment dwellers how to build, prepare and grow an abundant organic vegetable garden. We connect community and neighbours together. Both the apartment dweller and the homeowner get to enjoy organic produce.
Who is it for?
Homeowners and Renters of Homes
If you own or rent a home with a sunny front or backyard garden – This garden matching program is perfect for you. If you have a front and/or backyard garden space and you are not able to tend to a portion of it because it is either too large for you to manage, or you are not able to garden because of health reasons or maybe you have family and work commitments that make it challenging for you to spend time outside overseeing and maintaining a garden, we are able to connect you with community and match you with a committed and respectful gardener.
As a homeowner or renter of a home with a garden space, you love the idea of connecting with and building community and you enjoy eating organic vegetables. Your time may be limited but you would love to see your front and/or backyard garden space being used to its fullest potential whilst also benefiting from receiving organically grown vegetables straight from your garden space all without having to lift a finger!
Apartment Dwellers
And…If you’re an apartment dweller with a passion to grow an organic vegetable garden of your dreams – Then this garden matching program is perfect for you! If you’re accepted into our program, we’ll do our very best to match you with a homeowner in your area who has a garden space they’re willing to share. You’ll have the option to be supported throughout your gardening journey and you’ll gain the knowledge and hands-on experience to be able to grow a nutritious and abundant vegetable garden to feed yourself and your family for a lifetime.
How does it work?
It’s a simple process. Fill out either the Apartment Dweller Sign-Up form or the Homeowner Sign-Up form, and we’ll reach out to you to begin the matching process with participating members in your local area.
Why does it exist?
We created the Food 4 Thought garden matching and organic growing initiative in March 2020 in our city, Vancouver, BC. It was an idea originally born from meeting many apartment dwellers over the years who came to visit our lush urban backyard vegetable garden who would then express over and over ‘Oh! I wish I had a space like this to garden’. When the lockdowns came into effect in March 2020, we decided to bring our idea of matching apartment dwellers who don’t have space to grow a vegetable garden with homeowners who have an under-utilized sunny front or backyard garden space together.
Our program teaches new and novice apartment dwellers how to grow nutritious organic vegetables while also building community and relationships with homeowners in their local area. Both groups of people get to experience connecting with their neighbours and both get to eat an abundance of delicious, nutritious organic vegetables.
Here is why you NEED to build your knowledge and experience on how to grow your own organic vegetable garden
- Wellbeing and optimal health are how you want to feel about your body, mind and spirit. It is a fact and a likely continuing trend now that people are spending more and more time at home and they are becoming more aware about how they want to spend their free time and create ways to feel their best when preparing and consuming the food they eat.
- The world is on a great mission. More than half of consumers are searching for ways to spend their time and money in socially and ethically conscious ways.
- It is human nature to want to learn new skills especially in changing economic times parallelled with the need to care for the environment at a deeper level. We can all play a part in supporting the environment whilst creating and building new skills required to grow an abundant, organic food producing garden – skills that will stay with you for a lifetime!
- Become a steward of the environment and Mother Earth. It has become an urgent and necessary fact that you must have a complete understanding of the key components of knowledge coupled with hands on experience to be able to grow an abundant, nutritious and organic vegetable garden for the optimal future health for you, your family and the planet at large.
Sign up for our Spring 2024 Intake today!
Fill out the Sign-Up form below to be considered for our garden matching program. We will reach out to you in early Spring to share with you how our program works. Don’t miss out and secure a garden space for Spring 2024!
“Let thy food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food”
– Hippocrates
Please fill out the Sign-Up form below and we will be in touch with a follow-up email and next steps.
Our Sponsors
A few of the many
Gardening Perks you’ll
receive
- Learn the in-depth gardening growing cycle for the top 25+ best veggies that grow the best in Vancouver
- Learn from a ‘boots-on-the-ground’ 18 year urban organic backyard vegetable gardener
- Experience what it takes to journey through the step by step and week to week full organic gardening process from Spring thru to early Fall
- Have the opportunity to join our weekly Live Q+A Zoom calls with other urban new and novice vegetable gardeners and have your questions answered exclusively for our community
- Be part of our What on Earth bi-monthly workshops
- Access group savings on purchase and delivery of soil, organic compost, plant seedlings, seeds and more
- Join our energetic community of organic gardeners. Be part of our exclusive and interactive organic growing vegetable community chat group
- Access to monthly deliveries of bulk organic fruit from the Okanagan
- Expert mentorship – Troubleshoot your garden problems and get personal and guided direction on your gardening challenges
- Participate in the Food 4 Thought summer community BBQ or wine and cheese event
- Participate in a Summer members only garden tour
- Growing vegetables on your own can be lonely – be surrounded by supportive and like-minded gardeners. Get inspired, ask questions, generate ideas, make friends and have fun!
Here is what our gardeners have to say!
- Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into this group! It’s such a great initiative with so many positive outcomes for the people involved as well as for the environment!
- This project introduced me to the most supportive community and gave me purpose during this unusual COVID Summer. Thank you!
- If everyone was as nice to one another as they are so in our garden, the world would be a much sweeter place.
- This opportunity has brought so much joy and satisfaction. I appreciate the time and effort put into developing and guiding the gardeners through this experience.
- Thanks for all your hard work and awesome organization to make this such a great learning experience!
Imagine being able to reduce your conventional vegetable shopping by 80%? It is possible!
Homeowner testimonial
The Food 4 Thought Organic Gardening Journey
Step 1.
April – May: Complete our 10 day Get Ready To Garden Challenge
Step 2.
April – May: Meet and Greet with your new gardener or homeowner
Step 3.
May – June: Prepare your garden for everything you’ll need to grow a successful organic vegetable garden. Plant your seedling babies here.
Step 4.
June – July: Watch as your newly planted seedlings begin to grow and grow and grow plus harvest your early maturing veggies! Plant your veggies for a fall and winter harvest here!
Step 5.
July – August: Harvest and maintain your organic garden. This is the month to harvest, harvest, harvest!
Step 6.
August – September: The organic garden harvest continues …plus join us for our Summer Food 4 Thought community celebration.
Step 7.
September- October: Harvest Fall crop of vegetables. Planning and preparation begin for putting your garden to ‘bed’ for the winter months.
Step 8.
October – March: Planting garlic and planning for the following year’s vegetable garden growing season. Stay connected with your new and growing organic vegetable garden community and receive your organic gardening completion certificate.
Gain all the knowledge and experience you need to tap into this year’s growing season!
Workshops
- Down To Earth 1: New To Gardening Basics
- Starting plants from seed – how to grow strong healthy seedlings
- What on Earth 1: Managing aphids, ants, rodents, Pests & disease
- Learn the best transplanting techniques for a variety of starter seedlings
- How to Collect and Save Seed From Your Favourite Fruits and Vegetables
- Kiss the Ground: Herb-walk presentation and discussion
- Fall planting planning and seed starting (late June, early July)
- Learn how to plant garlic
Learn how to grow your own organic vegetable garden and reduce your intake of conventionally sprayed vegetables.
Homeowner testimonial
Apartment dwellers from a variety of backgrounds and professions join our program;
- Yoga teachers
- Optometrists
- Medical researchers
- Construction workers
- Veterinarians
- Lawyers
- Physiotherapists
- Chefs
- Doctors
- Software and web developers
- School Teachers
- Nurses
- University Students
- Retired professionals
- A Filmmaker …and even
- An opera singer!
By joining our community, you are building and discovering a new way to learn and be in the world, creating a healthier, more sustainable, and conscious way to participate with nature and experience all the secrets and magic Mother Nature has to offer.
Read apartment dweller testimonials here
Meet Camille
Camille is the founder of Food 4 Thought. She is originally from New Zealand and grew up in the City of Sails. There is no other place she would rather spend her time, however, than in the garden during the Summer months right here in Vancouver harvesting all the delicious organic produce that was planted by James earlier in the Spring 😉 Camille is an abstract painter, photographer, and is an interior designer by day.
For the past 18 years, Camille has been growing a substantial urban backyard organic veggie garden along with her partner James, and she now wants to share the joys and the journey with others showcasing what it takes to grow a successful nutrient-rich organic backyard veggie garden and she wants to encourage and cheerlead others on to have the same success.
Meet James
James is Food 4 Thought’s 18 year hands-on veteran master organic vegetable gardener. He grew up in a small town in the Kootenays. His family were avid vegetable gardeners and he spent many after-school days helping his father maintain the lush and abundant family veggie patch. James’ grandmother was also an avid gardener as well as a knowledgeable herbalist. James has built an extensive number of raised garden beds and has in-depth knowledge of all things relating to soil and plant health, as well as how to keep and store your own seed for future planting.
James will lead Live weekly Q+A Zoom calls for our dedicated vegetable garden growing community. He’ll answer all your questions on the week to week stages and best practices of growing a successful organic garden such as how to care for the soil, the top 30+ best vegetables to grow in the Pacific North West, where and how to plant your seedlings, how to nurture and maintain your plants, optimal harvesting practices and how to prepare your garden for the winter season to maintain soil integrity and so much more.
James will be uploading several How-To videos on how to prepare your garden for the best and most fruitful production of organic produce for our dedicated gardening members.
James is energetic, passionate, lively and brings humour and fun to all gardening components. He will demystify the growing process for your ultimate vegetable garden success.
Invest your energy into a worthwhile cause – See immediate impact in your own life, your community and the world at large
Some of the reasons apartment dwellers want to grow their own organic veggie garden
- To be able to grow my own food to cook with, try new things, spend time outdoors, and learn how to take care of a garden.
- Because the first time around was amazing!
- I am passionate about growing food and I want to learn more about gardening!
- It’s such a great initiative and I’ve learned so much over the past season.
-
Always dreamed about having a garden and being part of a community.
-
Wanted to learn how to grow food, and buy less plastic packaged food.
-
The chance at having my own garden!
-
We really enjoyed the fresh veggies we were getting at the farmer’s market and wanted to try growing our own.
-
Have always wanted to try growing my own garden! Motivated by the environment and health, also just a love of food and cooking!
-
The chance to learn about organic gardening and meet like-minded people.
-
Desire to plant a vegetable garden after a number of years of passive interest.
Why you should join us today?
- Grow your own independence and develop your confidence through learning a new skill
- Invest your energy into a worthwhile cause – see immediate impact in your own life, in your community, and in the world at large
- Because growing your own veggies is cool!
- Be part of a greater awakening by setting an example for others to follow
- Develop a powerful foundational life skill
- Build resilience
- Begin to eat more healthfully
- Connect more consciously with nature
- Build your awareness and understanding of permaculture
- Develop a network of friendships that build community for a lifetime
healthy organic eating⚬
healthy organic eating⚬
healthy organic eating⚬
healthy organic eating⚬
healthy organic eating⚬
For the apartment dwellers, we provide ongoing gardening support throughout the Spring and Summer. We host weekly Live Zoom Q+A sessions and provide ‘How To’ videos relating to all things growing organic food as well as bi-monthly outdoor hands-on workshops.
awaits you⚬
awaits you⚬
awaits you⚬
awaits you⚬
awaits you⚬
Apartment Dweller Testimonials
Our gardeners are excited… here is more of what they had to say!
- Finding purpose during my stress leave, building VERY strong connections and being part of the most supportive community in times of social isolation, meeting lovely Joanne and her family, learning new things and being motivated by constant (fun) challenges, feeling empowered by making my own decisions, being creative, being outside and getting dirty, eating delicious food. I honestly feel the food is just a byproduct of the 2 most important things: community building and finding purpose in the current challenging times.
- I love having a garden to care for. To watch transform. It is creative and inspiring. A garden offers me so much more than I could ever imagine. It reminds me of my great grandmother and grandmother who both tended to their gardens daily. I am surprised with how much we can grow on a small piece of land, it’s truly a blessing. I am at awe with how fresh our produce is from the garden plot. Kale from our garden is way more tender and fresh than store bought. It fascinates me that everything we grow comes from a very small seed. It is kind of magical if you think about it. It’s a miracle. Mother Earth is amazing and offers us so much.
- I have noticed that I am much more inspired in the kitchen to create meals that I would have otherwise not tried. I tried fresh figs for the first time and made tea from leaves and it was very delicious. I am now into canning and learning about how to take care of my gut with fermented foods. At the moment I have a fermentation station at home which includes carrots, cauliflower and corn. I also started kombucha inspired by a fellow gardener who gave me a starter. I am beyond grateful for this incredible garden space.
- Excited to continue with the program and keep learning! Loved it last year!
- I participated last Summer and it was an amazing experience I would not want to miss out this year
- I love the feeling of growing food and I am super passionate about sustainable agriculture and building community.
- It’s been a huge learning experience. I’ve really enjoyed seeing how the plants grow and discovering which plants grow best during which months. Of course, the food we’ve gotten from our own garden has been incredible and it keeps coming! Also, the other gardeners are really friendly, it’s been great getting to know them and being part of this gardening community.
See what more gardeners are saying about their experience with Food 4 Thought
- A great help for my mental health during a difficult time.
- Increased knowledge of gardening practices and methods
- Way more fresh food I can eat each day than I would have been able to grow otherwise in my small balcony!
- Eating fresh organic produce, fostering a lifelong love of growing food and desire to continue and teach others, meeting new friends and being part of a supportive community
- Gardening is a nice break from being inside most of the day. It has given me more appreciation for food and taught me much about gardening. Thank you Camille and James for the opportunity!
- I am eating more fresh produce, I feel more connected to the community in Kitsilano = physical and mental health benefits!
- I feel like eating all the fresh veggies have had a positive impact on my health. Also, the act of growing the veggies makes me appreciate the effort that goes into growing food.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”
– Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, Founder of Taoism
Hear from homeowners their favourite reasons for having a new gardener garden in their space:
Sign up for the Spring 2024 Intake today!
Fill out the Sign-Up form below to be considered for our garden matching program. We will reach out to you in early Spring to share with you how our program works. Don’t miss out, secure a garden space for Spring 2024!
Change is happening. The world is awakening to a new way to participate in its own healing journey and healthful living – Will you join us too?
SHARE THIS PAGE WITH A FRIEND
Contact us here at garden4food4thought@gmail.com
Address: PO Box 74629 Kitsilano RPO, Vancouver, BC, V6K 2G0