Alpine Edibles’ schoolyard project continues to take urban farming in Canmore to new levels and this week sees the non-profit organization working to complete installation of a passive solar greenhouse.
The frame of the structure can be seen at the Lawrence Grassi Middle School garden, one of two Alpine Edibles manages in Canmore – the other is at the high school.
Starting on Thursday (Aug. 27), volunteers and a crew with Dirt Craft from Calgary, which specializes in construction with natural materials, will continue construction of the passive solar greenhouse through the weekend.
Urban farmer Christian Wright said the construction process will use straw bales as insulation as a way to demonstrate alternative and sustainable ways of building.
“We are using straw bales on the north side of the building as insulation and then halfway up the east and west sides, so we are using a natural material rather than a synthetic material,” Wright said. “Part of the point of the greenhouse is to show people this alternative building style, which is really energy efficient.
“So we are using a passive solar greenhouse design and it is oriented directly to the solar south and collects heat energy from the sun during the day and we are insulating it as best as possible, so it captures and harvests as much energy and holds it in the system.”
Of course another aspect of building a greenhouse is food production and Wright said the structure will allow a greater diversity of foods to be grown in the garden throughout the normal growing season.
“So we will not just be limited to the greens and the hardy stuff,” he said. “We will be able to grow tomatoes and basil and warm weather plants like cucumber, eggplant and peppers.
“It will allow us to grow more food in the shoulder season, which will allow the kids to have a greater exposure to plant growth, plant lifecycles and get more food when they are in school. This is going to extend our opportunity to get kids more involved in food growth.”
Located adjacent to the daycare and preschool as well as LGMS, a major focus of the garden is education.
“I am hoping we can grow some spinach in here at the end of the year and we will grow it for a month or two and in the really cold winter season it won’t die off. But it will be good for the kids to harvest and they will have greens,” Wright said.
Canmore Community Daycare executive director Cherri Hodgins knows first hand how having a garden accessible to children that attend the Roundhouse makes a difference and inspires them.
The daycare applied for a grant from the Town of Canmore worth $2,900 and provided $6,300 in funding and 240 hours of volunteer time towards the project.
“It is a bit unusual for a daycare to come to the table with funding, however, the project is so important to us and I feel like Christian and his team are doing all the labour, so what we could do is bring money to the table,” Hodgins said.
She said the children are in the garden regularly during growing season, learning about the lifecycle of the plants from Wright, they eat the produce daily and they go home and share their experiences with their parents.
“We couldn’t (manage a garden) on our own because we are busy caring for the children on a day-to-day basis,” Hodgins said. “It is wonderful to see the children in the garden planting and taking food from the earth to the table.”
It is the second season at the LGMS garden for Alpine Edibles and the growth this year has been significant with the building of a tool shed, irrigation system and the greenhouse. Wright has also managed a garden on the roof of Canmore Community High School for three seasons, involving students there in agriculture as part of the curriculum.
He hopes with the growth of the program, next season he will be able to recruit three or four high school students to manage the garden program while he focuses on creating efficiency within the systems created.
Like the establishment of the garden last year, the Alpine Edibles project to build a passive solar greenhouse has seen community support and involvement. Michel Rondeau with MR Construction has donated the time and manpower for free to build the frame structure, Alpine West Roofing is roofing the structure gratis as well. WoodPecker European Timber Framing has provided a discount on the lumber and ISL Engineering helped with the design at a lower cost.
“It is exciting to make positive change happen … but at the same time, it is a lot of work,” Wright said. “It always seems like someone in the community comes and picks me up when I am feeling shaky about it.”
