Greenhouse Project groundbreaking

After three years of planning, designing and fundraising, The Greenhouse Project will take root in Carson City with a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, December 3 at Carson High School.

To be located on a one-acre site on the Carson High School campus, a 2,160 square-foot greenhouse and outdoor gardens with winding trails, will be designed to provide educational and vocational opportunities for students, youth groups and special needs individuals in a garden setting. The Greenhouse Project will serve as a teaching facility for hands-on training programs that emphasize environmental stewardship, the importance of outdoor activity, civic engagement and academic achievement. Through these programs, students will cultivate and distribute vegetables for school culinary classes and local food banks and will produce flower baskets for the downtown Carson City corridor.

The Greenhouse Project has the potential to grow and distribute 4,500 pounds of produce annually. With local food banks and low-income individuals receiving 90 percent of the production, the project will provide nutritious, locally grown vegetables to people in need. Plans call for the remaining produce to be donated to the Carson High School culinary program to ensure the culinary students have a steady source of seasonal vegetables year-round.

At least 200 students are expected to participate in The Greenhouse Project’s programs, beginning with high school, grade school, middle school and then Western Nevada College students.

The project is the brainchild of Karen Abowd, Carson City Cultural Commission Member/Greenhouse Action Group Chairwoman. Though best known as co-owner of Adele’s Restaurant, it was her role as a Carson City Cultural Commission member that propelled her into the position of Greenhouse Action Group chairwoman.

Abowd, along with Jenny Scanland from the Division of State Parks, Recreational Trails Program, Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell and various other community and business leaders will shovel dirt, officially breaking ground on the project.

The Greenhouse Project concept started in November 2008 with the Carson City Cultural Commission, an advisory board to the Carson City Board of Supervisors, whose mission is to forward civic and economic benefit for Carson City and the State of Nevada. Led by Cultural Commission member Karen Abowd, a special Citizen Action Group of over 35 members was formed and, in February of 2009, the group presented the project to the Carson City Board of Supervisors. The project won the Board’s approval together with its commitment of staff resources to aid in establishing a community greenhouse.

The Greenhouse Project is a Nevada non-profit corporation whose mission is to establish and sustainably operate a community-based greenhouse and garden in Carson City, serving as a year-round source of locally-grown agricultural and horticultural products for the Carson City community. The greenhouse operations will rely on renewable energy sources for power and use ecologically sustainable growing methods to cultivate vegetables, flowers, and bedding plants.

For more information go to www.carsoncitygreenhouse.org.