Donation to Royal Roads University helps grow garden project

The donated money will go towards expanding existing garden space, as well as to establish more garden space, including an Indigenous medicine garden and polyculture orchard. (CTV News)

Royal Roads University in Colwood received a $196,000 donation to its annual garden fundraising campaign Tuesday.

TD Bank Group made the donation to the Vision in Bloom drive at an event held at the school’s walled Edwardian kitchen garden, dubbed the Farm.

The money will go towards expanding existing garden space, as well as to establish more garden space, including an Indigenous medicine garden and polyculture orchard.

“With support from TD, our efforts to address food security, climate adaptation and reconciliation on the Farm will help us transform the space and become home to an expanded, diverse, community-based resource in the years to come,” says Royal Roads University president Philip Steenkamp.

Last year, the university launched the Farm project by establishing the Giving Garden which the school said produced more than 400 kilograms of food.

The food was shared with food-insecure seniors, single parents, newcomers to Canada and students.

The school said it plans to increase the number of trees and the biodiversity of plants will increase 100 percent over the next two years.

Part of the expansion will include the "Market Garden," which will sell produce from a farm stand on campus. The money raised will go back into the Farm.

Solara Goldwynn, food systems manager at Royal Roads University, said the Farm is an important model for people to see how they can "turn lawn into a thousand pounds of produce in a couple months."