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How long has the Greenhouse been in operation?
Where does your funding come from?
Where is the greenhouse located?
What time is the greenhouse open?
Is the greenhouse a four season operation?
I have friends and family from out of town, but they won’t be here during a work party. Can I still visit the greenhouse?
How do I become a member?
How do things work in the greenhouse? What kind of plants can I grow?
As a member, what sort of volunteer activities will be expected of me? How can I get involved?
Is there a composting program in the City of Iqaluit? Does the greenhouse compost?
Are you a part of the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI)?
I don’t live in Iqaluit. How can I support the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society?
I am a member of the media. How can I schedule an interview?
How long has the Greenhouse been in operation?
The Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society was formed in 2001 by a group of Iqaluit residents who wanted to improve food security by researching the potential for northern agriculture and providing local produce to community members. After successful fundraising efforts, the ICGS constructed a prefabricated greenhouse (of approximately 1,000 sq ft) in 2007. We’ve been growing ever since!
Where does your funding come from?
Much of our funding comes from membership fees, and donations. Some comes from fundraising efforts, and some comes from pursuing funding opportunities through grant writing.
Where is the greenhouse located?
The greenhouse is located between the RCMP Building and the Nunavut Research Institute, off of Federal Road. If you are taking a cab, you can reference Building 959, which is the Nunavut Research Institute.
What time is the greenhouse open?
The greenhouse is open to the public during all of our regularly scheduled work parties. Work parties are scheduled on an eight day rotation; this ensures that if people have a regular commitment on a certain day, they will still be able to attend most of the work parties. We have a Google Calendar that will keep you updated with our events, including harvest/work parties and trivia nights. You can see the next three upcoming events on the right sidebar of our web page.
Members can access the greenhouse at any time by using our 4-digit door code. If you are a member and don’t have this year’s code, contact us!
Is the greenhouse a four season operation?
Currently, we operate the greenhouse during warm months only, when we can take advantage of the passive solar heat from the sun. We rely strictly on the sun for heating the greenhouse, and have implemented some additional passive solar heating systems. Our typical growing season is the beginning of June through to the beginning of October.
I have friends and family from out of town, but they won’t be here during a work party. Can I still visit the greenhouse?
Absolutely! To schedule a tour, please contact our Outreach committee.
If you have paid your membership fees, you already have 24 hour access to the greenhouse, so feel free to bring your friends and family by for a visit.
All the information you need is right here! You can also attend any of our events to sign up.
How do things work in the greenhouse? What kind of plants can I grow?
When the ICGS first opened the greenhouse in 2007, four members shared a plot and decided upon which seeds to plant as a group. At the end of the 2012 growing season, our members expressed an interest in a more community-oriented focus. To answer this call, the Board and membership discussed the idea of using 2013 as a pilot year for communal growing. At the beginning of the growing season, the membership met to discuss how the greenhouse would function for the summer. Several important principles came out of these discussions:
- Fairness: All members share the workload of planting, weeding, watering, and any other tasks in the greenhouse that might arise. In exchange, members take an equal share of any harvest they are able to be a part of. The eight day rotational schedule is one of the ways we work to ensure members can attend work/harvest parties as often as possible.
- Education: One of our goals is to learn more about growing in the north, and to share that knowledge. To facilitate this, we have opened up the greenhouse to tours from school groups. We welcome guests to give talks on food security, northern agriculture, or other related topics. We attempt to assist interested parties by sharing our knowledge when we can.
- Charity: With food security an issue facing many Nunavummiut every day, our membership wanted to help in some small way. At every harvest party, we ensure that at least one share of the produce collected goes to a local organization, such as the local men’s and women’s shelters, or the Iqaluit Food Centre through the Qayuktuvik Society. We are also currently working on a sponsorship program to allow those without the financial means to join the greenhouse to have a sponsored membership.
- Community: We want the greenhouse to function more as a community meeting place than it has in the past. In order to do this, we have opened up our work/harvest parties to the public. We’ve also made attempts to get out into the community more often.
As a group, we have decided upon which seeds to plant for the year. Through experimentation, we have discovered the plants, schedules, and practices that are most successful in our particular environment. We are able to successfully grow greens (leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, Swiss chard), beans, peas, radish, bok choy, carrots, and various herbs. We also have had some success growing tomatoes and strawberries, though these items must be started by members in their own homes with adequate light (e.g. grow lights, LED, etc.). We have added new crops and varieties based upon suggestions from the membership.
As a member, what sort of volunteer activities will be expected of me? How can I get involved?
We have five subcommittees to narrow in on specific interests and projects:
Operations
Research
Fundraising/Funding
Composting
Media/Outreach
Depending on your interest, feel free to contact a group directly to get more involved.
Is there a composting program in the City of Iqaluit? Does the greenhouse compost?
Info coming soon.
For inquiries, contact the Composting subcommittee.
Are you a part of the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI)?
We are not formally part of NRI, though NRI graciously allowed us the space to construct the greenhouse, and continues to allow us to use the space, rent free!
I don’t live in Iqaluit. How can I support the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society?
Much of our core funding comes from generous donations. You can donate online here. Cheques can be made out Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society and be mailed to us at PO Box 2469, Iqaluit, Nunavut, X0A 0H0.
I am a member of the media. How can I schedule an interview?
You can email the Board of Directors or the Media/Outreach subcommittee.
Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society 
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