If you want some fantastic garden “eye candy”, then a visit to the Community Gardens at Colony Farm ƛ̓éxətəm (tla-hut-um) Regional Park is a wonderful free experience!  Our BGC was amazed at the number and variety of gardens there; more than 300 gardeners take care of 650 plots! Joining them would be a challenge though… the 7 year waitlist is currently closed!
Colony Farm officially opened in 1910 and was an extremely successful farm until it closed in 1983.  A public campaign resulted in the land becoming protected as a Metro Vancouver regional park in 1996.  The 260 hectares is located in the lower Coquitlam River watershed.

 

We certainly were in the presence of master gardeners... the produce was incredible!  Giant gourds and squash, huge tomatoes (the black variety was new to several of us), beans, cabbage, asparagus, kale, grapes... you name it! It was fascinating to see the corn cobs, lovingly protected by netting! Huge sunflower patches towered above us and rows of dazzling dahlias and patches of colorful flowers punctuated the mass of vegetables.

The garden plots reflected the many personalities! Whimsical Fairy garden arrangements and hand woven gates and arbours, made of twigs and vines, accompanied full size manikins dressed "to the nines". Some gardens looked like carefully groomed garden shop displays; others had looser, more relaxed collections of assorted plants. There were boots filled with succulents, mini greenhouses, and several plots had little tables beside garden chairs... for those necessary "break times"!

The gardeners we met were so friendly and happy to tell us about their community. You could tell they are really proud of their efforts and obviously spend most of their summers working in their plots. The whole area is totally organic with no insecticides allowed. Although the entrance sign warned us not to pick anything, we still were gifted several seed pods. BTW, garden "thieves" also include bears, deer, rabbits, and rodents!

 

 

We finished off our visit with a picnic on the grass followed by lots of good conversation. We brought lawn chairs but wooden picnic tables (and a great washroom!) made the spot very inviting.  You should visit!

 

See our AMAZING field trip photos!

 

RELATED LINKS

Coquitlam River Community Garden
“A garden in the community – a community in the garden.
https://crcg.ca/

7 Things to do at Colony Farm Regional Park
https://www.insidevancouver.ca/2023/02/22/7-things-to-do-at-colony-farm-regional-park/

Videos of Colony Farm Regional Park
https://metrovancouver.org/media-room/video/282890220
https://metrovancouver.org/media-room/video/218315574