Food for physical, mental, emotional and cultural wellbeing is a priority to secure and sustain our future. We need locally grown traditional and world foods, with a focus on food growing, healthy cooking and composting. Understanding and working to strengthen the connections between food, farming, economy, health and the environment are Greenprint priorities for the City of Markham.

Food insecurity has increased and local agencies have seen an increase in demand for food resources like food banks, seed libraries, food shares, and food boxes.

Community Garden and Allotment Expansions in Ward 7!

The City of Markham is excited to partner with York Region Food Network (YRFN) to create a new community garden space in Ward 7 for the 2022 growing season. YRFN will host meetings and practical workshops to help bring the group together in the first season.

The new Community Garden will be located at 120 Kirkham Drive. Community gardens are spaces governed by a community group, where planning, planting, growing, maintenance and harvesting is done collaboratively. It will have its own water supply, tool shed and fence. This new hub will welcome local residents who want to garden together and will also host gardening workshops for the entire community.

This new garden will be situated next to the existing allotment plots at Kirkham that are leased to individual families, which will also be expanded this year. The Draft Garden Master Plan and Garden Master Plan Community Meeting recording can be accessed in the folders on the right. The proposed plan includes more space for individuals and groups to grow their own food as well as spaces for engagement and education. Incorporating the existing garden, the project will eventually create a centre for food production incorporating the entire property (2.84 acres - 1.15 ha).

This project is supported by a grant from the Canadian Healthy Communities Initiative, Safe and Vibrant Public Spaces stream as well as funding from the City of Markham.

If you'd like to get involved in this community garden or learn more about this project, please contact us.