The 2016 Cumberland Home and Garden Tour, offering an exclusive glimpse into homes, gardens, urban farms and built spaces of Legendary Cumberland, takes place Saturday, June 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The tour is a reflection of changing times. Many urban communities, including Cumberland, are now welcoming small market gardens and the keeping of bees, hens and ducks. Front yards are transforming into food gardens and many residents are exploring water conservation in response to hot, dry summers. Urban density is also being valued as old sheds transform into tiny dwellings, studios and guest houses.
These trends inspired the addition of urban farms and built spaces to the Cumberland Tour. Where once green lawns and perfectly manicured landscaping were all the rage, now sustainability features, water collection, perma-culture mounds and bee hives are the new normal.
The 2016 Cumberland Home and Garden Tour features 17 unique properties, the smallest legal lot in B.C., churches and mances, herb gardens, labyrinths and much more. Some of the homes have even inspired well-known works of art.
There will also be art, music and stories on the tour. Artists on display will include Barbara Callow, Jeff Hartbower, Martha Jablonski-Jones, Penny Kelly, June Heaton, Ian Fry, Clive Powsey and Bill Freisen.
All the properties are within biking distance or you can visit them in clusters, driving between zones of three to four walkable destinations.
Tickets for the 2016 Cumberland Home and Garden Tour are on sale now for $25. Visit www.cumberlandforest.com for links to the online ticket store. Hard copy tickets can be purchased at Rattan Plus Home and Patio in Downtown Courtenay, Art Knapps on the Old Island Highway or the Collective Store and Studio in Cumberland. Tickets are brought to Village Square on June 25 starting at 9 a.m. and exchanged for a souvenir passport and map that ‘unlocks’ the tour.
The 2016 Cumberland Home and Garden Tour is presented by the Cumberland Community Forest Society and 100 per cent of proceeds from the tour support the purchase and protection of threatened forests, wetlands and riparian areas surrounding the Village of Cumberland. The tour is made possible by a league of generous sponsors including First Credit Union and Insurance, Meta Wood – Remax Ocean Pacific, Cumberland Museum and Archives, The Comox Valley Record and Material Creative.