We are really proud of all the gardens grown in the past 4 years as part of the Youth Garden Contest! The youth discovered how rewarding it is to nurture and grow their own garden and to have a better understanding of where food comes from and how to create food security!
Registration is officially closed for the 2026 Garden Contest. Registration deadline was May 15, 2026.
Gardens were planned, planted and grown until judging at the end of August. The Award Ceremony was hosted Sept.12 at the Downtown Salmon Arm Farmers Market.
The Seed Packages will be available until May 30th for registered youth. You can review the information below for more information on the crops being provided and to have an understanding of how the judging has been done in prior years.
The contest is open to Shuswap youth, ages 9-12, residing within the Shuswap boundaries. Youth create a garden within their own properties, whether a back or front yard or on their patio!
Judging takes place on a scheduled date at the garden itself at the end of August. Youth who fully complete their garden and have the judge come will be eligible for the prizes.
A special award ceremony will take place at the Downtown Salmon Arm Farmers Market on September 12th at 12:30. We will host a Full Youth Farmers Market that day as part of the regular market from 9-1pm. We encourage our Youth Gardeners to sign up as vendors!
This program is a partnership with Shuswap Food Action Society, Buckerfield’s and SASCU to support these youth in growing their gardens and award prizes. West Coast Seeds has generously donating seeds to our all our youth gardeners!
For questions about the project, registration, information about grant assistance to set up a garden email Melanie at projects@shuswapfood.ca
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter in order to learn about the contest in 2027!
For 2026 , we returned to a single category: Shuswap Youth ages 9-12
Our 2025 top 3 gardens in the Youth Division went to:
Our 2025 top 3 gardens in the Sprouts Division went to:
