The Cultivate Your Neighbourhood program is an eco-friendly initiative to help support food security in our community through the planting of gardens, whether it’s at community gardens, businesses, schools, or residences in Greater Sudbury.
A city-wide pilot project is being undertaken in 2020 throughout the City of Greater Sudbury to encourage more people to grow food. It is designed to encourage residents to stay active and productive at home during the COVID-19 emergency and to gain skills that can be used to garden in the future.
The goals are to:
- During the Provincial State of Emergency: provide residents with the means to contribute to community wellness
- Provide an activity to improve mental and physical well-being
- Increase food security across the city by engaging more neighbourhood and yard gardening
- Provide fresh food to local residents
- Increase gardening interest and skills among first-time gardeners as well as diverse vulnerable and newly economically-challenged populations (due to COVID-19)
The project is led by the Sudbury Community Garden Network, Sudbury Shared Harvest and the Sudbury Food Bank in partnership with the Greater Sudbury Food Policy Council, local businesses, the City of Greater Sudbury and the Greater Sudbury Housing Corporation.
Home Garden Free Soil
Through the generosity of Healthy Community Initiative funding from the City of Greater Sudbury, free soil will be delivered to City of Greater Sudbury residents' homes. So if you're new to gardening, or haven't been able to start a garden at your home in the past, this program is for you!
Participate
Registrations are now closed. We received almost 500 applications towards our goal of 300 gardens. We will be contacting everyone the week of May 11 with an update.
The Greater Sudbury Housing Corporation is also providing soil to select social housing complexes. If you are in a housing complex that is eligible for this program, a flyer will be distributed to you with information on how to register. Anyone not eligible for the social housing complex program can still apply to this free soil program.
If you need seeds for your garden, the Sudbury Community Garden Network is distributing free seeds at select locations throughout the city, including Seasons Pharmacy and Culinaria on Lorne St. If you are unable to travel to this location, contact us and we'll do our best to help you out. More information here: Free Seeds
Volunteer
Email us at [email protected] if you would like to assist with the program as a volunteer. Volunteer hours can be used towards the high school requirement of completing 40 hours of community service.
Donate
If you are a business or organization that can donate gardening soil or seeds/seedings to this program, please email [email protected] or call 705-674-4455 ext 4236. Because people are working from home, someone will pick up your message as soon as possible, and will get back to you.
If you are able to make a donation to the Home Garden Project, here are a few options:
- online at https://www.sudburyfoodbank.ca/donate - please choose the “Home Garden Project" for your donation
- mail a cheque to Sudbury Food Bank, 1105 Webbwood Dr., Sudbury ON, P3C 3B6
- call 705-671-9663 to make a donation over the phone
When making a donation, please ensure you indicate that it is for the “Home Garden Project”.
Grow
We're building some great resources to help you successfully grow awesome vegetables and herbs. More info here: Grow
Share
These are challenging times and we encourage you to donate some of your grown produce to your family or neighbours.
And watch for some interesting social media contests to share your experiences and your success!