Victoria Seedy Saturday 2025 · Saturday, February 15th | 11 AM – 4 PM · Crystal Gardens, 713 Douglas St. · Entrance by donation

This community event relies on many hands to make it a success. Interested in volunteering? Sign up here. Volunteers enjoy free food, drinks, and get to skip the line!

Support Seedy Saturday by donating to our crowdfunding campaign. Learn more & donate here.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @vicseedysaturday

For questions, contact us at: [email protected]

Speakers Schedule – Saturday, February 15th at Crystal Garden (713 Douglas St.) on the Second Floor

11:30am Where to Start, From Seed! With Katie Underwood

Ready to dig into your home garden? Join us for an informative session where we’ll explore the journey of starting your own garden from seed! Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refresh your gardening skills, this session will cover all the essentials. Learn how to choose the best seeds, find quality suppliers, and discover the key differences between direct sowing and transplanting. Katie will share her expert tips on perfecting seed timing, and touch on saving your own seeds for future harvests. Bring your questions and curiosity, let’s grow together!

Katie Underwood started as a backyard grower. She now operates Peas n’ Carrots Farm on the traditional territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. As a certified Organic grower, Katie understands the importance of high-quality, locally adapted seed and maximizing crop yield in small spaces. Katie spends her time off farm working towards raising the capacity of her agricultural community by being a part of the South Island Farmers Institute and the Peninsula and Area Agriculture Commission.

1PM – “Growing Culture in Our Food Gardens” with Ariel Reyes Antuan, Lisa Willott & Solara Goldwynn

If we look closely at the crops we grow in our food gardens we see more than just food, but stories of culture, history and resilience that span the globe. For the past 4 years Iyé Creative, a social enterprise focused on food equity, has been working with local, small-scale growers to trial culturally relevant crops for marginalized community members. This discussion will give an overview of the project while providing practical growing and cooking advice for specific cultural crops (such as collard greens, amaranth, chickpeas, corn, melons and more!). Join Ariel Reyes Antuan from Iyé Creative, Lisa Willott from FarmFolk CityFolk, and Solara Goldwynn from Hatchet & Seed and the Royal Roads Farm, as they discuss lessons learned in growing and distributing the crops, seed selection and saving considerations, and the magic of how plants connect and expand our hearts and minds to our own and other cultures.

Ariel Reyes Antuan is a dynamic social entrepreneur and Afrofuturistic thinker, known for his systematic approach to advancing equity and fostering inclusive networks. Born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Ariel has dedicated over a decade to coordinating grassroots initiatives and international collaborations that empower underrepresented communities, particularly from the Global South. As a co-founder of Iyé Creative, Ariel focuses on culturally relevant foods, land access, and economic development for BIPOC communities. His work reflects a commitment to sustainable, reciprocal relationships and a belief in the transformative power of ancestral knowledge.

Lisa Willott has been involved in small-scale farming for nearly 20 years, and seed saving for 10 years. She works as the Vancouver Island Seed Security Coordinator for FarmFolk CityFolk.

Solara Goldwynn is the Food and Farm Systems Lead at Royal Roads University and the Co-Owner of Hatchet & Seed. She is a mother, food grower, and recent graduate of the Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communication at RRU.

2:30PM – “Healing City Soils – Heavy Metal Soil Testing For Home Gardeners” with Martyna Tomczynski

Healthy soil is a key factor in cultivating a healthy garden. Heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and cadmium can accumulate in soil through pollution from busy roads and nearby or historical industrial activities. Understanding how heavy metals can affect plant growth, soil fertility, and human health is critical to making informed decisions about best practices for safe urban gardening and food growing. This presentation will explore why soil testing for heavy metal contamination is a critical step for any home gardener to ensure the safety and quality of their food crops. You will learn about potential sources of heavy metal contamination, how to get your soil tested, how to understand your soil test results and what to do if you have heavy metals in your garden soil.

Martyna Tomczynski is the Manager of the Compost Education Centre’s Healing City Soils Program which offers free soil testing to gardeners and food growers in the CRD, and explores research in soil toxicology and low-tech bioremediation techniques. She holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from Royal Roads University and is currently completing her master’s degree in the same field with an emphasis on urban soil management. Her career to date has primarily focused on agricultural best management practices, ecological restoration and ecosystem information technology. Martyna is passionate about soil health, accessible science communication, and helping individuals take meaningful action in their own backyards to promote resilient, thriving ecosystems in urban environments.

For questions, volunteer & sponsorship inquiries contact: [email protected]