M’CHIGEENG—Northern climates and expensive transportation costs can make getting enough good health greens into a diet a challenge, but new community greenhouses being established across Manitoulin Island are stepping up to meet that challenge with homegrown produce.
“Noojmowin Teg staff, NOPRI (Northern Ontario Permaculture Research Institute) members and community volunteers grew leafy greens and harvested lettuce, baby kale, baby spinach and arugula to make mixed greens bags for the Good Food Box program,” said Kristin Bickell, project manager with the Manitoulin Community Fresh Food Initiative at Noojmowin Teg Health Centre. “With this extended winter, Sun Sprouts Greenhouse has been a little oasis for staff, members and volunteers. We did the first plant March 1 and had the first substantial harvest on April 17. We also have radishes and lots of leafy greens left and ready for tasting when a class from Lakeview School comes to visit next week.”
Ms. Bickell noted that Kindergarten classes from Little Current Public School and St. Joseph’s School in Sheshegwaning have come to tour the greenhouse and to explore the snow-covered gardens during the winter. “We have been generating discussions with the students about the four elements and where their food comes from,” said Ms. Bickell. “The fire, the water, the earth, the air—we talk about how we rely on the elements for fresh water and forest foods and also to grow our own vegetables, fruit, herbs and medicines. This ties into the greenhouse tours when we explain how the greenhouse works and that we utilize the energy of the elements to grow indoors when it is still very cold outside.”
She noted that they are “in the initial stages of planning for the second community all season greenhouse in M’Chigeeng First Nation. This project is spearheaded by the Child Poverty Task Force and Noojmowin Teg projects: Manitoulin Community Fresh Food Initiative funded through the Ontario Trillium Foundation and Healthy Kids Community Challenge in collaboration with our partner organization M’Chigeeng Health Centre. The contractor for this build will be NOPRI, the group behind the prototype of this design and builders of the first community greenhouse in NEMI.”
“Noojmowin Teg and the Child Poverty Task Force are in the initial stages of launching a pilot project in Sheshegwaning with Greenhouses Canada,” continued Ms. Bickell. “We are looking at alternative options to greenhouses by finding indoor unused spaces (like an underutilized storage area, offices, classrooms) in heated community spaces (like community centres, health centres, schools) and converting these spaces into indoor farms.”
The group is envisioning greenhouse and indoor farms projects in communities Island-wide, said Ms. Bickell. “We are developing a plan to ensure this happens and will be looking to the Manitoulin community for support over the next couple years.”
An organizational meeting for the first NEMI community garden was held on the evening of April 18 and was, by all accounts, well attended and a success.
