It’s going to be an exciting and fun-filled greenhouse weekend!

Saturday, June 14 – come out to the greenhouse between 11 AM and 1 PM.  Let’s get the season started.  We have soil. We have water. And now, we have seeds. We’re ready to get things moving and will be planting until we can’t plant anymore. Still not a member? Sign up online right now!

Sunday, June 15 – still need a gift for your father that will be useful and help a local organization? We are holding a car wash and barbecue fundraiser at the fire hall between 10 AM and 2 PM. Our first attempt at a car wash this year was postponed due to low temperatures, so get on your dancing shoes and start your anti-rain dance for the day.

We still need volunteers for the car wash and barbecue.  Can you help? Sign up here! Every minute you can help counts.

carwash poster

Thanks to everyone’s input last year, the ICGS was able to sort out a good starting plan for how to plant community-style.  This year, we’re looking for your input again.  The Board has come up with a list of seeds we’d like to purchase for this year’s growing season.  Let us know if we’re missing anything or if we need to change our percentages.  This list is based on the plants that grew successfully last year, as well as the types of produce that people were interested in.

First Plant

  • Radish – 10%
  • Carrots – 5%
  • Lettuce (includes spinach) – 45%
  • Beans – 15%
  • Peas – 15%
  • Kale – 10%

Second Plant

Many crops will require the full growing season, so only the radish and lettuce percentages will change.  Last year’s radish harvest was very successful on the first plant, moderately successful on the second plant, and unsuccessful on the third plant.  This season, we plan to decrease the second plant of radish to 5% (increasing the lettuce plot to 50%) and will not plant a third time.

Types of Seeds

The seeds we plan to purchase include:

  • Bok choy
  • Red radish
  • Daikon radish
  • Carrots
  • Leaf lettuce (red, green)
  • Swiss chard (rainbow)
  • Kale
  • Spinach (baby)
  • Bush beans
  • Snow peas

In addition to these seeds, we will be testing out a few other plants in small quantities:  beets, parsnip, and turnip.  We will also be planting potatoes in the cold frames again this year.

If you have any comments on this plan, please email us.  Don’t forget we’ll also have the pots on the shelves for planting your own seeds as well (herbs, small plants, etc.).

Keep an eye on the website for more information about upcoming events.  We’re tentatively scheduled for a greenhouse weekend on June 14 and 15 – Saturday is the plant day and Sunday is a car wash/BBQ fundraiser!  Stay tuned…

There will be a work party at the greenhouse this Saturday (June 15) at noon.  Construction work to convert the final row of bins to beds will be completed this evening with the help of a local carpenter.  Tomorrow we will be mixing the last of the compost and soil for this bed.  As of this point, our seed order is still on its way to Iqaluit, so carrots and new lettuce planting is still forthcoming.  Don’t forget – there are plenty of bins on the upper greenhouse shelves for your individual plants and herbs!

We will be collecting membership fees tomorrow at the greenhouse from 12 PM to 1 PM.  Updated information on payments for membership will be posted on the website soon for those of you who cannot make it tomorrow.

 

We’re almost ready to officially open the season!

There will be a work party at the greenhouse this Saturday (June 8) at noon. The snowfall and colder temperatures early this week didn’t affect the few plants that we managed to get into the ground and we’re almost ready to plant the full greenhouse. We will need to finish mixing the soil, washing the interior and exterior panels of the greenhouse, do a general tidy up and get a bit more planting done. If you have a wheelbarrow and/or rakes that you can bring along, please contact Stephen at sleyden@telesat.com to advise.

We will also have the barbecue ready to grill from 11:30 AM. We’ll supply the fuel – just bring your own grillables, utensils and something to eat on. If you’d like to bring a salad or another shareable item, feel free.

Information on payments for membership will be posted on the website soon. We will not be collecting membership fees this weekend.

Despite some setbacks last weekend, we have sorted out our issues with accessing the greenhouse. There are some concerns with the door frame shifting due to the greenhouse structure doing its typical settling with the spring thaw, but hope to address them on Saturday. There is still a lot of work to be done in the greenhouse before we open. If you’re able, we will be meeting for another work party on Saturday, June 1 at 12:00 noon to complete a number of tasks:

  • Planning the greenhouse layout for planting
  • Potentially painting the cold frames and shed
  • Converting a row of bins to a new bed
  • Mixing last year’s soil with our new compost
  • Wetting the soil and preparing for seeds
  • Planting some viable seeds to get some growth started!

Painting will be weather permitting and dependent upon acquiring the required paint before the weekend. If you have painting supplies (brushes, rollers, trays, etc.), we would be happy to have you bring them.

Please feel free to print out our greenhouse layout template in preparation for this weekend.

Finally we are hoping to start collecting this year’s fees. We will have new membership forms on the website and at the greenhouse this weekend if you are interested in growing with us this year. Hope to see you there!

Thanks to those of you who came out this past weekend to attempt to get some work done!

Thanks to those of you who came out this past weekend to attempt to get some work done!

Join us on Sunday, May 26 at noon for some more prep work in the greenhouse.  Weather permitting, we will be painting our cold frames and shed to encourage heat storage.  We also hope to be able to mix in our new compost.  Thanks to all the volunteers who came out this past Saturday to help lug the new (frozen!) bags of compost from the seacan into the greenhouse.  With any luck, the compost will be thawed and ready to go.

We’ll be there until the work is done.  See you there!

The Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society will be meeting at the greenhouse on Saturday, May 18 at noon to start digging in the dirt. We will be pulling our compost out of the shed in preparation for this year’s growing season. We will also be doing some other work in and around the greenhouse. If you are interested in coming out to help, we’d love to see you there. Let’s get ready to grow!

Digging!

Thanks to everyone who attended our AGM on Saturday. Those present voted in a new board and also decided on an important question that was posed in our survey – how would you like to grow this year?

It turns out the majority of those present decided that we all want a stronger community atmosphere. We will be trying out a new greenhouse model this year and are very excited about it. Instead of individual plots, all members will be responsible for helping to grow everything in the greenhouse this year. And with changes comes a strong need to plan.

We will be holding our first Greenhouse planning session this Thursday (May 16) at 5:30 PM at the Nunavut Research Institute board room. If you are interested in becoming a greenhouse member this year or just want to know more, please come out to the meeting. We will be laying out the guidelines for how we want to grow, what seeds we will be planting and so much more. Bring snacks…or we can order dinner.

Be a part of an exciting new change for the ICGS! We hope to see you there!

Looking to dig in the dirt a little this summer? There is still plot space available in the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society for active gardeners this year. Grow your own veggies and herbs and join this wonderful community. Plots are shared between four individuals and each portion is available for $90 (includes society membership) or you can become a Friend of the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society for only $25!  We have space in approximately four more plots, so hurry!

Planting starts Saturday, June 30 at 9 AM. You can download the membership forms here at  http://www.iqaluitgreenhouse.com and find out more about the greenhouse and society.

Come grow with us!

Welcome to the new blog for the Iqaluit Community Greenhouse Society!

The 2011 planting season is about to begin!  Today we will be opening up the greenhouse to our members for a Meet and Greet event.  Come out to see your plots, meet your plotmates, pick out your seeds and learn about what grows well in a northern greenhouse.

Thanks to our operations volunteers that have come out to help with preparations in the past couple of weeks.  The plots are looking wonderful.  You’ll notice a few changes have been made.  We’ve converted three of the four rows from bins to bed-style plots.  We anticipate that this will help with drainage and mold issues that may have been seen in the past.  We are also keeping one of the rows for bin style planting – we are aware that there are a number of members interested in planting deep root vegetables, beans and potatoes – all of which thrive in the bins.  Please let us know if you prefer one or the other and we will try to accomodate your request.

We expect to have water available in the next week, so keep checking the blog and watch for emails with updates.  Until then, feel free to begin planting in your plots – you’ll just need to bring your own water to do so.

Just about ready to go!