What is this project about?
The South Lanark Community Garden would benefit greatly from building an off-the-grid greenhouse, with a solar electrical supply and storage system, and a water reservoir all set up to provide power for running water, fans, and grow lights on site at our community garden. The South Lanark Community Garden (formerly known as The Lanark Highlands Plan B Community Garden) is a community based garden initiative that has been evolving and growing since spring of 2017. It is based on about 5 acres of good fertile land in Lanark County, Ontario. This project will enable the raising of a much larger scale of plants for transplant to the community garden, an increased involvement of our community with us in the garden and greenhouse, furnish spring transplants to our members and community at large for their gardens and save on costs of plant production. It also will provide educational opportunities for community members and the youth of our community while learning how to operate a greenhouse.
Over the years the community garden has picked up momentum and community support. For example we now have a small apiary with two beehives and we have operated a youth garden orientation training program for the past two years both setting new directions for us. We have also initiated a seed saving program with the intent of producing a majority of our own seeds and being able to trade with other savers of seeds. We have established a small herb garden with the full intentions of expanding it. In addition we have welcomed the involvement of local indigenous community members and have started some traditional indigenous plants for them in respect of their heritage.
The addition of the greenhouse will also enable the extension of our involvement with the community and an increased production of food for the community. Based on a growing interest and support from the community we have recently incorporated as a non-profit. We knew that doing so would open many more opportunities to serve and support the community. Among other commitments, The South Lanark Community Garden is committed to assuring the security and sovereignty of our community food system, by growing, producing, storing and distributing fresh produce, dried and stored produce and prepared foods to our members and the larger community. We work directly with our community partners, The Table Community Food Centre, Plan B Lanark, and the Lanark Highlands Food Pantry to provide fresh produce to be distributed throughout our community.
In 2020 we were able to produce almost 10,000lbs of fresh food to share with our volunteers and the larger community. In 2021 we grew a whopping 16,000lbs of fresh food. For the summer of 2021 our volunteers were able to start approximately 2000 seedlings saving us thousands of dollars in seedling costs. Once the seedlings are lovingly started by our volunteers they get transferred to our makeshift DIY grow-light set up and then to a DIY small greenhouse. Our current greenhouse is a tarp garage that we converted to be used as a greenhouse and while it has served its purpose we are severely limited by how many seedlings we are able to start on the premises.
Currently our only access to water is via a nearby river. We are currently pumping water about three-quarter of a mile from the river to water our gardens. By setting up a water reservoir with drip irrigation we will save time, labour, wear and tear on equipment, and fossil fuels.
Why is this project important to the community?
From speaking with our community partners we know that unfortunately many folks, including children, in the community face food insecurities and lack access to affordable fresh foods. We also know that there is a growing need in our community for access to fresh, locally grown, nutrient dense foods. A proper greenhouse, lighting and watering setup would empower us to accommodate this growing need.
The addition of the greenhouse to the community garden has three very immediate benefits to the communities that we are serving. The first is a realization of an increased quantity of garden ready plants for transplanting which are of better quality and which are available at a lower cost per plant. The second and most important is the opportunity for us to invite the community and our youth of the community into the greenhouse to participate in the starting and growing out of plants to the stage where they are ready for transplant out to the gardens. We have the opportunity here to enable our community at large to come, and learn how to grow garden transplants. Transplants that can be taken home by the individuals to plant in their own gardens. Through direct contact and education and through interpersonal connection this project will enable the further fostering of communities that grow together and stay together. It will enable the community garden to invite the community members into the garden space throughout the early spring season to the late fall end of growing seasons activities when typically no gardening is being performed. In this approach a fall-growing season extension will be enabled.
The fact that the greenhouse will be operated off-grid using a solar electrical collection and storage system will also provide a great educational opportunity to showcase an alternative energy system being put to good use within our community. This off-the-grid solar electrical system will through demonstration forge new directions for The South Lanark Community Garden and the community at large. It will enable us to germinate seeds, start seedlings under grow lights, to grow-out seedlings to a garden transplantable stage.
The introduction of a water storage system as well as the drip irrigation system, will mark a change from the older sprinkler style irrigation system currently in use to the newer more efficient water usage of a drip irrigation system. More importantly it will supply the watering needs of the greenhouse.
