The Hinton Community Greenhouse

Brittany Taylor Bsc
Apr 18, 2018
2 min read

A pea plant from my outdoor garden in 2017.

Back in 2009, a project that would change a community began to evolve. Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. donated two 30-ft by 180-ft to the Hinton Community Garden Society. It was decided that the community greenhouses would be constructed at 889 Switzer Drive just behind Barrow Safety. Just one year after the greenhouses were donated, the buildings were standing. The Northside greenhouse rented out 40 garden plots (1650 square feet of garden space) to the public in the Spring of 2011. That following year, the Southside greenhouse was open and ready for planting in the spring.

Last year, I reserved an outdoor plot with the Hinton Community Garden and I began my journey as a gardener. I signed myself up for an outdoor plot on the west side which cost me $11 ($1 per square foot) for the plot, plus $10 for the membership for a total of $21. They also had a $40 deposit that was returned since I met the 4 hour minimum of volunteering.

I decided to grow peas, carrots, peppers, cucumbers, cilantro, rosemary, and parsley. Being as it was my first time, I made some notable mistakes. The first one was that I sunburnt almost all of my seedlings. I lost my cucumbers and pepper plants because of this. The second mistake I made is that I did not have supports build for my peas to grow up. This resulted in the peas taking over my garden and smothering my carrots. Thankfully though, a few of them did manage to survive. My final mistake is that I did not plan my garden effectively, thus I couldn't optimize the area of my garden plot.

This year, I am doing things differently.

The first thing I decided to do this year was to move into the greenhouse. Moving there cost me slightly more than the outdoor plot ($2 per square foot) but I thought it was a good investment since produce can be pricey in this town. In addition to moving into the greenhouse, I have double my gardening area by having 2 larger plots. I am hoping that both of the changes will, in turn, help with the space and sunburning issues I had last year.

So far, I have cleaned my new plots and I have started prepping the soil for this year. My soil has a hefty amount of compost, some of which has been removed, and now has been tilled. I will be adding new topsoil to the plot when I put my veggies in the ground. In addition to my garden plots, I have started my seedlings at home in hopes that they will have a head start to go into the ground in May.

Wish me luck!