For this year’s BC Heritage Week theme, “Stir the Pot,” We’ve been thinking about the crops that quietly shaped Chilliwack’s everyday food culture—what grew well here, who grew it, and how those seasons still show up in our memories. Chilliwack’s crop history is, in many ways, a story of soil and water. As the Sumas Lake was drained and the resulting land cultivated, parts of the valley became famously productive—supporting vegetables and small fruits that still feel like

If Chilliwack agriculture has a “flagship” sector, it’s dairy. What began with early settlers keeping a cow or two quickly grew into an organized, community-shaping industry—one that built creameries, formed producer associations, relied on rail connections, and kept families working the land for generations. The archival photos in this feature trace that evolution: from the first butter shipments and the earliest creameries, to large-scale processing and distribution, and ev

Agriculture is one of the oldest threads in Chilliwack’s story, and it continues to shape who we are today.