Rob is a one-man garden establishing machine. Yes, he does have his allies, his partners and friends, but he has been the driving force behind the establishment of four community gardens in the Metro Vancouver area over the past four years, and has developed and delivered a swath of workshops on the subject of permaculture and urban gardening, thus enriching our communities and creating tangible positive change.
His achievements are numerous and wide-ranging within the field of community gardening, with one of my favourites being the "Little Diggers Kid's Club" program he developed to expose children to gardening and urban food production. Other community workshops and programs that Rob has run include introductions to composting, compost teas and brews, seed exchanges, food forest gardening and allotment planning. A recent highlight of note was his leadership in arranging for Toby Hemmenway, a world-renowned permaculture expert, to deliver a very successful workshop in Vancouver. He achieved this on a shoestring budget and entirely though his own initiative, a testament to his organizational skill and ability to provide the community with valuable resources.
Rob currently sits on the Brewery Creek community garden board of directors, prior to which he sat on the the New Westminster community garden steering committee for three years. He has been heavily involved in shaping the regional community garden scene since at least 2009.
There are few people that I know in this city who have been so instrumental in advancing the community gardening cause and for that I believe that Rob is deserving of this award.