Fairfield Community Gardens
Welcome to the Fairfield Community Gardens! We are currently managing the Fairfield Food Forest & the Ross Bay Native Plant Garden. Learn more about the gardens and how to get involved.
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Please contact us for more information on how to participate.
Upcoming Events:
March Work Parties (Fairfield Food Forest)
Help us prep for growing season! Get outside, and help us prep the food forest for spring. Meet fellow gardeners in your neighbourhood, and prep the beds with us. No experience required. Tools and gloves provided. Remember to dress warm!
Location: Fairfield Food Forest
Time:9:00am-12:00pm
Date: Friday, March 21 & 28
March Work Parties (Ross Bay Native Plant Garden)
Top up the garden beds to help our new establishing plants thrive this season. Learn about the diverse native plants in our area, and how to help foster this new little garden! No experience required. Tools and gloves provided. Remember to dress warm!
Location: Ross Bay Native Plant Garden
Time: 12:00-3:00pm
Date: Saturday, March 29
New Roots Planting Party!
Thanks to input from local residents, we’ll be planting Oso Berry, a native plant known for its early spring blossoms, ecological importance, and cultural significance. Participants will have the opportunity to take part in planting the Oso Berry while learning about its role in the ecosystem and its connection to local traditions.
No experience required. Tools and gloves provided. Remember to dress warm!
Location: Fairfield Food Forest
Time: 1:00-3:00pm
Date: Saturday, April 5th
Ross Bay Native Plant Garden
Location: Between Ross Bay Cemetery and Memorial Crescent. It extends from Dallas road to Bushby St.
This Ross Bay Native Plant Garden has officially been installed and opened the summer 2024.
Salt-spray and wind resistant native plants are planted on the site. It is a natural community gathering area where anyone can come and learn about coastal plants that thrive in our area.
Some plants that we know will thrive in this area include:
Ocean Spray, Oregon Grape, Nodding Onion, Sword fern, Junegrass, Seablush, Evergreen huckleberry, Snowberry, Pearly Everlasting, Woolly sunflower and more
More information & FAQs on this project here
Fairfield Food Forest
Location: Porter Park, on Thurlow Rd between Kipling & Durban Streets.
Fairfield Food Forest is a permaculture garden growing a wide variety of small trees, berry shrubs, herbs and more!
Everyone is welcome to visit the Food Forest at any time to grow and harvest food while following permaculture techniques. This is not meant to be a vegetable garden but instead be a garden where anyone can come to and cultivate plants for the whole community can enjoy for years to come.
Some things that need to be done in this garden include: tree pruning, weeding, compost mulching, under-story planting, irrigation revamping, preparation for installation of a second fence to encircle the rest of the garden.
There are many edible and medicinal plants in the Food Forest! Click the plant maps below:
Fairfield Community Gardens are generously supported financially by the City of Victoria
Garry Oak Restoration Project
Location: Robert J. Porter Park along Fairfield Rd.
There are specific plants that grow in healthy Garry Oak eco-systems that each help keep that area in balance and provide an important habitat for Indigenous animals. We have an opportunity to reintroduce species that are lacking in the meadow and foster healthy soils to make those plants thrive. Increasing the biomass in the Garry oak meadow will also greatly reduce the flooding experienced in the lower fields of Porter park and also reduce the dryness seen in the summer months.
An important part of this project will be community education through activities in the meadow as well as signs and barriers. You can be an influential part of this project just by helping a few weekends a year.