It’s June so that means it’s strawberry season in BC! The BC Strawberry Growers Association has over 40 growers throughout the province, growing fresh and processed strawberries on around 600 acres in the fertile Lower Mainland for over 30 years.
Strawberry Season in BC Where to Pick Strawberries
Here are a few local spots to order online, pick-up, and u-pick strawberries this season:
Surrey Farms 5180 152st, Surrey Now open for u-pick. Fields are open everyday from 9:00am to 6:00pm. U-pick is subject to field availability and supply. Please call ahead for availability: (604) 574-1390. Due to COVID-19 customers are no longer able to bring their own containers. One will be provided for you for a small fee.
Driediger Farms 23823 72nd Ave, Langley The u-pick berry fields hours are 8:00 am to 5:00pm daily, starting mid-June. To avoid disappointment, call ahead (604) 888-1665 to ensure the u-pick berry fields are open. Cost is $2.75 per pound to pick. The use of personal containers or bags from home this season this not allowed. Driediger farms buckets are mandatory at the u-pick booth for $1.50 each.
Emma Lea Farms 2727 Westham Island Rd, Delta Opening soon for u-pick. The use of personal containers is prohibited, containers will be available for purchase.
Willems Berry Farm 33736 Vye Rd, Abbotsford They are starting to take limited amounts of orders for strawberries, call (604) 864-1149 to order. U-pick will be available later in the summer.
Remember to keep 6 feet apart, wash your hands frequently and use available hand sanitizing stations, and keep your family group small when visiting. Enjoy fresh, local produce from Delta to Langley, Surrey to Abbotsford! For more information follow BC Strawberries online.
My usual June events in Metro Vancouver banner features the crows at Hats Off Day in Burnaby, which is traditionally on the first Saturday in June. As a media sponsor of that event for the last few years, I will really miss that community event, which kicked off the summer season for many. While we can’t have 100,000 people eating ice cream and enjoying music along Hastings in Burnaby, the province is opening up gradually as we continue through Phase 2. With that in mind, this month’s event list combines online/virtual events and in-person activities.
Tonight, City Hall will glow orange in recognition of the Vancouver Punjabi Market‘s 50th anniversary. This was the first and largest South Asian Market in North America and although it had humble beginnings on Main Street (between 48th and 51st Avenues), the area transformed into a major cultural hub.
Vancouver Heritage Foundation Photo. The Vancouver Punjabi Market was home of the first Punjabi-language street signs outside of Asia.
May 31, 1970: Sucha Singh Claire opens Shaan Saari’s with a dream of building an ethnic enclave like the one he saw in Southhall, London.
1973: Kewal Pabla opens Himalaya Restaurant, a place where Vancouverites can sample “Pabla’s Exotic East Indian Food & Sweets.”
1979: The Vaisakhi festival was celebrated for the first time on the streets of Vancouver to celebrate the birth of Khalsa.
1980’s: The rest of Vancouver is awakened to the “Little Punjab” growing on a small stretch of South Main.
1993: Vancouver’s Punjabi Market becomes home to the world’s first Punjabi street signs outside of Asia.
2019: City Council voted to pass Motion B.4: “Punjabi Market at Fifty: Celebrating the Past and Planning for the Future.”
The Vancouver Punjabi Market is also recognized as one of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s “Places That Matter to Vancouver“:
With the growth of the South Asian community in south Vancouver, Punjabi Market quickly became the heartbeat of the neighbourhood. More than just a market, the community of shops, restaurants and grocery stores provides a connection to homelands across South Asia and a place to learn more about these diasporas in Vancouver.Every year tens of thousands of people congregate in the Punjabi Market to celebrate the Vaisakhi Parade, one of Vancouver’s landmark events.
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On Friday, July 10th Covenant House Vancouver will host its first virtual Sleep Out: Home Edition. As a virtual event, Covenant House is encouraging people to Sleep Out “together” in solidarity with homeless youth while remaining physically apart to raise funds and awareness for youth experiencing homelessness.
Covenant House Sleep Out: Home Edition
Registration:$20 per person and will remain open until July 10, 2020. Sleep Out: Home Edition is open to all ages.
Covenant House is challenging individuals, families, and businesses to spend one night on their living room floor, on their balcony or in their backyard, and raise crucial funds to support the Street Outreach Program.
This is a special opportunity to be a part of a positive movement that will bring the community together to help the most vulnerable youth. This event aims to raise $100,000 for the program.
Sleepers choose where and how they Sleep Out (somewhere safe and legal). This flexible event allows you to have an impact on youth experiencing homelessness while choosing what your event day/evening looks like. Many participants will Sleep Out in their own backyards, while others Sleep Out in their living rooms and on their kitchen floors.
Covenant House Vancouver will provide online programming the evening of the event and the morning after.
I participated in the Covenant House Sleep Out for four years. It was uncomfortable, unnerving, and a long and sleepless night — but that’s the point. It’s all for an amazing cause and very worthy of your participation. Read about my first experience in 2013 here, which kept me coming back to support the cause. Register as a team or individual today »
One of my Covenant House Sleep Out experiences
Since 1997, Covenant House Vancouver has been providing love and hope to youth experiencing homelessness. They are the premiere service provider of residential and outreach services for homeless and at-risk youth ages 16 to 24 in Vancouver.
You can change the life of a young person today. You can give love and hope to someone in need. Every gift, no matter how small, goes towards providing food and shelter, counselling, and mental health support for homeless and at-risk youth in our community. Donation matching on NOW until June 30, 2020 « Make a donation to Covenant House Vancouver Today »
We’ve had about a week of Phase 2 re-openings and British Columbians have been taking advantage of wide open spaces (and camping reservations). While we can’t meet in person for events like we used to, there is still a great lineup of virtual and online entertainment, along with options for fresh-air fun. Find these and more things to do in Vancouver this weekend listed below:
