Volunteer Feature - Jenna Jaski
What's your role with Victory Gardens?
Greenhouse volunteer – seeding and caring for starts in the greenhouse at VG headquarters 





What are you growing in your garden right now?
Peas, kale, lettuces, spinach, beets, onions, carrots
What gardening or food accomplishment are you most proud of?
Last summer I worked on a friend’s farm in the Niagara region of Ontario. Working hard all day in larger scale garden beds and getting to reap the benefits every night at the dinner table was incredibly rewarding.Â
What has been your biggest gardening fail/mistake?
I think gardening is an ongoing learning experience. You can always learn from people who have more experience than you, but a lot of mistakes you have to make yourself. There was the time I set up a balcony compost worm bin, accidentally drowned my worms and developed a whitefly situation. Or every houseplant that I’ve killed due to a learning curve with their specific light and water needs. Planting seven pumpkin seedlings in one garden plot (Hah!). You need to make those mistakes because not only do they teach you, but they also make your successes much more worthwhile.Â
What's your favourite place or neighbourhood in Vancouver? Why?
That would be the neighbourhood I live in, East Vancouver (specifically Commercial Drive – Hastings Sunrise). I love the feeling of community here, despite the incredible diversity of its inhabitants. I also appreciate that there is a lot of history in this neighbourhood; there are still brick cobblestones on the side street that I live on. And of course, you can’t deny that this neighbourhood has some gooood coffee.Â
What's your hometown and what brought you to Vancouver?
I grew up in the Niagara region of Ontario, a dense agricultural area that mostly grows grapes for wine. I moved to Vancouver eight years ago after visiting the city several times in my teens. I instantly felt more at home here than any place I’d ever been. Â
If you could be any plant, what would you be?
If you were going to a potluck tomorrow, what would you bring?
What do you call cheese that doesn’t belong to you? Nacho cheese.Â
Favourite vegetable and favourite way to cook it?
Sweet bell peppers and cucumbers. Straight up or with some hummus. 




Name two things you never go outside without.
Water bottle and sunglasses. 


What inspires you to grow food?
Connecting people to their food source. Seeing someone eat from the garden for the first time, and the smile and wonder that comes over their face as they realize how easy it is to grow delicious food.Â
List the first three words that come to mind when you think about growing food.
Fresh, sustainable, rewarding 




What's your next adventure?
I’m going camping in Squamish in a couple weeks! 





Anything else about food & growing food the world should know about you?
I love getting my hands in the dirt, growing food and eating from the garden!
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