Indoor gardener
The North Sydney Food Bank is trying out an alternative to traditional gardening
Food banks are constantly faced with the challenge of providing clients with access to fresh produce and fruit, and the North Sydney Food Bank Society is hoping to change this with the acquisition of a garden tower.
“It’s pretty amazing,” said society co-chair Lawrence Shebib. “With this garden tower we can grow as many as 20 different varieties of vegetables.”
Paige Cox and her father Lloyd put the tower together this week, and Shebib has transplants growing at home.
“Once the transplants are ready, we’ll place them in the pockets of the tower, and hopefully watch them grow and prosper.”
The garden tower is a vertical, aeroponic growing system that uses both water and air to grow vegetables, herbs and fruits without the use of soil.
There’s a reservoir at the base of the tower that stores a mineral blend solution. A small, submersible pump in the reservoir pumps the solution through the central tower and evenly distributes it over the roots of the plants. The process provides a continuous supply of oxygen, water and nutrients to the roots.
“Apparently you can grow just about any vegetable. For us it will be invaluable, and it takes up very little space,” Shebib said. “It supposed to grow plants 10 times faster than a traditional garden. At a cost of about $1,000, it’s well worth it. An added bonus is it helps minimize our carbon footprint.”
Shebib said the goal of the society is to be more than a food bank.
“We want to do everything we can to help better the lives of our clients. It’s a collective effort,” he said. ”We wouldn’t be able to survive without the help of individuals, church groups, service clubs, schools, community groups — all the organizations that help fill our shelves. They come to us, and that in turn allows the food bank to focus on providing additional services and opportunities to the clients.”
In recent months the food bank has been able to access grants to insulate the building, install heat pumps and purchase a new washer and dryer, to name just a few.
“It was always like an oven here in the summer. Now, we’re warm in the winter, cool in the summer and our building is more energy-efficient.”
Shebib and co-chair Robert Dolomont are constantly seeking out grants that will help with improvements to the food bank.
“We were able to purchase new freezers through a grant from Efficiency Nova Scotia,” Shebib said.
“A lot of our grants come through Cairdeil Place Society and the Community Action on Homelessness.”