Butler Urban Farm

The Butler Urban Farm was started in 2015 by our partners in the Jubilee Urban Movement and Partners (JUMP) program. The KFPC was asked to take it over in the spring of 2020 and it seemed like the right project at the right time. The COVID-19 pandemic had caused a lot of uncertainty about the reliability of our food system and increased interest in growing food and self-sufficiency. With a lot of enthusiasm from our board, and support from our network, we launched a new and exciting food security initiative!

Through our Gleaning Abundance Program, we already have the pieces in place to distribute produce to community organizations service our food-insecure populations. Adding regular farm harvests to the gleaning schedule was pretty easy.

Our Goals for the Farm!

Our goals for the farm are two-fold. We want to grow as much food as possible in the space but also provide opportunities for people in the community to engage with is in growing that food. Through our network, we were able to connect with some enthusiastic gardeners looking for space to grow crops. People in the neighbourhood saw what was going on in the spring and some of them have joined us as growers and volunteers.

Everything we grow is organic. We draw from principles of permaculture and regenerative agriculture to create rich, productive soil that can produce nutrient-rich vegetables. We are open to creative ideas for getting the most out of the land we have available.

How Can You Get Involved?

There are several ways to get involved at the farm as a grower, volunteer, or recipient of our fresh, organic produce.

Participate in Organized Harvests

Staff & volunteers pick whatever is ready and load it into our gleaning van for distribution to various food programs and organizations. Anyone is welcome to join, and volunteers get a share of whatever we harvest.

Grow & Maintain Plots

We decide to keep a section at the back of the farm for individual looking for space to grow and maintain their own plots. Several people took us up on this offer and have made a great contribution to our success. It has been a reciprocal relationship - they get growing space, soil amendments, and water. We have less space to worry about, regular farm visitors, and help with weeding and maintaining the common areas. Most of our growers not only look after their own plats but have also been a tremendous help in the common areas.

Harvest Fresh Produce

No one who shows up at the farm looking for free produce is turned away empty-handed. The farm manager has posted hours when anyone can come and get fresh vegetables. 

There are no fences and nothing to prevent people from helping themselves, but there has been surprisingly little pilfering. We have to put up signs asking to people not to harvest vegetables that aren't ready, and no note down on the chalkboard what they have taken. 

The support from neighbours and random community members has been truly amazing. One neighbour is unable to do farm work, but she often stops by with bakes good or other treats so share that she has made from ingredients harvested at the farm. Another neighbour has been our irrigation advisor and helped st up some parts of the irrigation system. There are a few other volunteers who show up regularly and just lend a hand where needed.