5 Blooms – Gold and Special Mention for Farm to Fork Program

The Communities in Bloom results are in! The Town is excited to announce that Kingsville received a rating of 5 Blooms – Gold and a special mention for the “Farm to Fork Program” during the 2022 National/International Symposium and Awards Ceremonies in Victoria, British Columbia.

Kingsville participated in the Class of Champions – Medium category along with Stettler AB; Stonewall MB, and Yarmouth NS.

Over the summer, trained volunteer judges travelled to participating communities to evaluate the overall contributions of municipal council and departments; industry; businesses and the private sector – including volunteer efforts – regarding the following criteria:

• Community Appearance
• Environmental Action
• Heritage Conservation
• Tree Management
• Landscape, Plant & Floral Displays

Following their evaluation, Kingsville’s volunteer judge Martin Quinn wrote:

“The Town of Kingsville is a unique community with a thriving downtown surrounded by traditional agricultural farming, a cottage industry, and an ever-expanding greenhouse industry. Downtown Kingsville has a quaint shopping and restaurant district that include charming and unique shops and a vibrant restaurant scene that includes an array of dining experiences from fine dining to farm-to-table style restaurants (outdoor dining in the fields, where the chef uses all local, in-season harvest vegetables alongside proteins from the host farm and other local farms). ”

“During our tour, we experienced the “Farm to Fork” concept by visiting Lee and Maria’s retail market on the outskirts of Kingsville and then we were given a very informative tour of the vegetable growing area. Loaded onto a wagon pulled by tractor into the field to learn firsthand where our foods and meals are being grown and picking corn, this was a very unique approach to look at the agriculture of your community. All in all, what a wonderful gourmet extravaganza in the backyard of a wonderful market garden. Congratulations – A fitting name, “Farm to Fork”- a celebration of food and where it comes from! An evening of good food and farm education!”

Kingsville is proud to be a part of the Communities in Bloom program, which benefits all of society by providing real and meaningful ways to mitigate climate change. We want to thank Mr. Quinn, our Communities in Bloom committee, Kingsville Horticultural Society, Town staff, and all the businesses and groups who helped us highlight our beautiful community!

For a complete list of the results, please visit www.communitiesinbloom.ca.

Watch our Judges’ Tour wrap up video.