On Bowen Island the community now has a $30,000 12 ft x 40 ft poly tunnel style greenhouse for its Grafton Commons community gardens thanks to the Rotary Club of Bowen Island with support of a $4,000 District Grant from The Rotary Foundation.The Grafton Commons, managed by the Bowen Island Food Resilience Society (BIFS) in the agricultural land reserve, now has the greenhouse to help the Society grow plants year round not only to promote greater local food resilience but to help with education in regenerative agriculture and gardening for adults, seniors and school age children.
The greenhouse will support a seedling germination centre to get crops started in the spring and to shelter plants during the colder winter season. The gardening opportunities for seniors contribute to physical and mental wellbeing and to help with the education in regenerative agriculture/gardening practices
This greenhouse is contributing to Bowen islanders' learning about food resilience in a highly visible and central location. It is also providing products for sale at the summer farmers' market and donations to those in need through the Bowen Island Food Bank. It encourages seniors to participate in gardening projects which provide the benefits of maintaining health and well-being through light manual exercise and mental tasks learning gardening skills and planning for crops over a growing season.
The greenhouse also supports Grafton Commons as a centre for school children from the community elementary school and teens from the local private middle school who participate in projects involving the greenhouse.
To build the greenhouse, Rotarians provided the hands on ground clearance, organized subtrades and installers for the greenhouse and set up the internal workings of the greenhouse once the structure was complete.
Funding for the greenhouse came from the Rotary Club of Bowen Island, The Rotary Foundation through a District 5040 Grant, a Federal New Horizon For Seniors Program grant, Bowen Island Community Foundation grant, Bowen Island Food Resiliency Society and several private donations.
Goodwin’s Greenhouse Supply and Services, Coastal Mini Excavating, Lee Valley Hardware, Ocean Air Electric, and Bowen Plumbing were among the companies benefiting from sales and services and by contribution for the construction of the greenhouse.