2024 was an incredible year of growth and exciting changes!
Take a moment with us, and reflect on just how much our communities come together to support each other and our environment.
EDUCATION
Camp Odyssey was well attended in summer 2024. Registration was significantly higher than
2023 in both Kimberley and Cranbrook and all of the planned weeks ran as expected.
With weather usually causing an issue for the summer camps, we were excited to have the curling rink as such a reliable indoor space in Kimberley again. We learned some great lessons with the Cranbrook camps and have secured a relationship with the College of the Rockies for the 2025 camp season.
A spring break camp was piloted successfully as a 3 day camp for 5-8 year old students. The camp even ran at full capacity!
The field trips were historically consistent throughout the spring and fall semesters, with more trips taking place in the spring. A whopping 470 students participated in a mix of full and half-day trips for pond dipping, learning about rock cycles, and general outdoor explorations! We are very grateful for the private funding that this program receives from Rick and Daphne Hammond and family, via the Meadowbrook Community Association.
Looking ahead, we still have some concerns about the dropping water levels at McGinty Lake and continue to explore curriculum options for the elementary groups that rely on pond dipping. Overall, teacher feedback was great and several teachers have verbally requested field trips in 2025.
Fall 2023 was our first term of Forest and Nature School, it was a great success and continued to grow throughout the 2023 – 2024 school year. The winter and spring programs brought in 60 students in addition to the 31 that attended the fall 2023 programs, almost one third of those children were repeat attendees. We were able to award bursaries to 8 children across 19 spaces; 7 of whom were supported for multiple seasons thanks to two grants that we received from the Kimberley Elks Club and Regional District of the East Kootenay ReDi grant.
CONSERVATION
We hosted 18 pick and press events between Kimberley and Cranbrook over the 2024 harvest season. This season was not as fruitful as 2023, resulting in 2184 pounds of apples as compared to 2695 the previous season. Despite an equal number of yards from year to year, we harvested 50 fewer trees in 2024. This is in part due to many of the trees not producing fruit this year.
We had six different groups involved in picking and pressing: College of the Rockies, BGC Cranbrook, Cranbrook Garden Gala, Heartwood School, Purcell International School, and Bellies 2 Babies.
Over 10,000 pounds of apples have been harvested by the program over the last four years. We are excited to see the continued success now that we have dedicated Apple Capture Coordinator; Olivia Gauthier at the helm.
REGENERATION
Most of the garden beds performed well this season. In past years, the focus has been on
growing high-value crops (spinach, kale), but this year we focused on growing root vegetables
and experimenting with tomatoes and peppers. The latter were a moderate success, carrots were very productive, beets and beans moderately so. Several of the yard owners were very helpful in setting up automated watering systems or ensuring that crops were watered during hot spells.
Our goals for 2025 include improving the productivity of our newer beds and more productive crops, such as spinach, kale and chard that are quick-growing and can be harvested throughout the summer. We are working to increase volunteer participation, raising awareness about the productivity of small spaces by promoting household gardening and encouraging existing gardeners to grow and donate excess produce via the Plant a Row, Share a Row run through the Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank.
Kimberley Community Garden
In 2024, the garden was extended by 1000 square feet, for the purpose of growing produce dedicated to donation to the Kimberley Food Recovery.
Despite the loss of our initial crop of vegetables to ground squirrels, our replanted vegetables
produced very well, thanks to a long, warm autumn. A large portion (close to 50%) of the
produce was harvested by local residents, and the remaining 147 pounds were donated to the Kimberley Food Recovery.
Kimberley Farmers’ Market
With 50 unique vendors setting up throughout the 14 weeks of our summer season, we’d say it was a success! We averaged 25 vendors per week, topping out at 30 mid-season.
The season boasted a reliable team of volunteers that shared the work and helped foster a positive environment for all of the vendors and visitors alike. With the implementation of cancellation fees, we were able to maintain greater consistency with our vendors each week. Despite a bit of a slower season than in years past, morale was at an all time high.
2024 brought plenty of successes as well as learning opportunities, new team members, growth and exciting milestones. Your participation in and support of our events, fundraisers and other programs is directly related to the success of our education, conservation and regeneration initiatives. In short, we couldn’t do what we do without you! Thank you for your continued support and interest in our programs.
No year in review would be complete without an extra special thank you to the funders that made our work possible in 2024. In alphabetical order, the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, City of Kimberley, Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies, Government of Canada, Kimberley and District Community Foundation, Province of British Columbia, Regional District of the East Kootenay, Rick and Daphne Hammond and family, Columbia Basin Trust, and United Way of British Columbia.
Did one of these summaries pique your interest? We’re always on the lookout for new volunteers to help inform, educate, and shape our way. To receive more information, sign up here.