Greenhouse expanding
Better use of space allows more plots for more people
Sarah Ladik
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 12, 2016
INUVIK
With a new season, the Inuvik Community Greenhouse is looking to grow its membership along with its vegetables.
Inuvik Community Greenhouse executive director Ray Solotki hopes the new, more accessible beds will help a wide variety of people get involved at the greenhouse this summer. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo
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"I really wanted to work on social programming," said executive director Ray Solotki. "We did some events with our members and gauged the interest, and the feedback we got was that people felt it was really hard for elders and differently-abled people to access space in the greenhouse."
So to fix that, with money from a grant from the United Way and donations from Home Hardware and carpenter Chris Gilliland, Solotki has built new raised beds to run down the middle aisle of the greenhouse.
They are also designed to be mobile so they can be moved from the centre space when trucks need to get in.
They are destined for eight community organizations, including the Inuvik Youth Centre and Children First Society, among others. Solotki said that in the past, community plots have gone untended because they were difficult to access amongst the others, but now groups will have more space to work, as well as a bit more support to make it happen. Along with the new beds will come workshops focused on helping new members get up to speed. They will be completely free and cover many aspects of food production.
"They're really meant for new members and people who feel they're struggling with some aspects of their gardening," Solotki said.
The last piece of the puzzle this year will be opening up the greenhouse to families who have found the cost of membership getting prohibitive.
Solotki said she is working with Ingamo Hall to reach out to people who would like to garden, but haven't because of economic barriers.
Solotki said the response has been overwhelmingly positive from the current members of the greenhouse and that while no one is having space taken away from them, some have agreed to give up some of the extra room on the end of their lots to allow more people to participate. She hopes other members will see the value in bringing in new faces and choose to do the same.
"We're very thankful to the United Way for their help," Solotki said. "$7,500 isn't a ton of money, but I think this will be a huge value added to the greenhouse and we can certainly make a little go a very long way."
