Cultivate Cochrane empowers the community to get involved with their food
Cultivate Cochrane program facilitators Ryan Leach and Frankie-Lou Nelligan pose inside the Passive Solar Roller in Cochrane on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. The Solar Roller is a mobile greenhouse and educational tool. Photo by Steven Wilhelm
Helping to plant the seeds of sustainable agriculture and increase food sovereignty in Cochrane’s challenging climate, Cultivate Cochrane hopes to inspire people to grow their own food.
Many may be familiar with Cultivate Cochrane’s “Passive Solar Roller”, which rolls into many events around the community, providing a mobile means of demonstrating their vision.
“It’s such a wonderful way to reach out to the community and get people excited about our vision,” said Frankie-Lou Nelligan, a program facilitator at Cultivate Cochrane.
“It’s the best place on the planet to work, it’s the best educational tool I have ever had the pleasure to work with,” Nelligan said.
Unlike conventional “glasshouse” greenhouses that overheat easily in daylight and lose heat rapidly at night, passive solar designs allow for more stability during temperature swings, while being more energy efficient.
Cultivate Cochrane program facilitators Ryan Leach and Frankie-Lou Nelligan pose inside the Passive Solar Roller in Cochrane on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. The green metal helps to absorb the highest intensity sunlight. Photo by Steven Wilhelm
Some of the more obvious things that make The Solar Roller tick are a solar panel, insulation, and a rain barrel. Nelligan also says they plan on incorporating a wind turbine soon.
Nelligan mentioned the phase change material they use, which provides a lightweight alternative to water or concrete. The green metal absorbs the highest intensity sunlight, which in turn activates the phase change material for heat storage. That heat is later released during nighttime.
When temperatures in the greenhouse are around 27 degrees C, the climate battery draws hot and humid air into the soil beds with PVC pipes and tubing.
PVC pipes inside the Passive Solar Roller circulate warm, humid air into the soil. Photo by Steven Wilhelm
“If you were to take where we are on the latitude, across the globe, it’s actually the most challenging place to grow in the world,” she continued, “But it is doable, if you have a few tips and tricks, and a little bit of encouragement and help from people who have learned how to deal with these conditions.”
Nelligan says that Cultivate Cochrane wants to help people become more involved with their food, knowing where it’s coming from, and even growing their own.
“The big goal, the big dream, is to one day, eventually, have a greenhouse where we can service people who don’t have a yard, or don’t have as much access to space,” she said.
“We are using the Solar Roller as almost an experiment to learn from, so that when it does come time to build The Big Vision, we’ll have some learnings we can take with us,” Nelligan said.
Cultivate Cochrane’s ‘The Big Vision’ or passive solar community greenhouse is purely at the concept stage, although similar greenhouses exist elsewhere. A man near Saskatoon built a passive solar greenhouse that produces food year-round (CTV News Saskatoon).
Cultivate Cochrane recommends a course for passive solar greenhouse design which can be found at www.smallfarmacademy.com.
According to Nelligan The Big Vision would function as both a community centre and a greenhouse, while also providing educational programming for all ages.
A digital representation of what The Big Vision could look like seen inside the Passive Solar Roller in Cochrane on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. Photo by Steven Wilhelm
“We’d like to see a place where people can get together, grow their own food, learn from each other,” she said.
There are many things would need to be addressed before The Big Vision becomes a reality and aside from money, Nelligan mentioned that they almost need to build a community first, before they can build a greenhouse.
“There has to be people that are willing to be involved in the maintenance, there has to be people who can see the vision, be a part of it, and are as excited about it as we are,” she said.
“There’s so much work that has to go into it before we can even start discussing the bricks and mortar,” said Nelligan.
Things like materials and obtaining urban land are also challenges, and Nelligan mentioned that’s why they’re trying to find partners who want to be involved and see the benefits of such a space to the community.
“It does sound a little utopian, but it is important that we get people together, and we stop isolating different generations from each other,” she said, “We want to grow some deeper roots in our community with this greenhouse.”
To learn more about Cultivate Cochrane and their programs, visit www.cultivatecochrane.com.
As Seen in The Cochrane Times