After a flurry of outreach, meetings and events in 2019, Cultivate Cochrane is poised for our next stage of progress in 2020. With some new members on our board of directors, we’ve laid out a path for the months ahead that will bring us ever closer to the passive solar community greenhouse hub we’ve all been dreaming of. Though strategic plans aren’t always the most inspired reading material, we think ours is actually pretty exciting! Here are the four main objectives we’ve set out to accomplish this year:

1. CUSTOMERS: Conduct community engagement to determine the top needs of potential greenhouse customers and develop a program and education plan to meet these needs.

2. FINANCIALS: Develop capital and operations budgets along with fundraising strategies for both.

3. BUILDING: Secure a site for the greenhouse and customize a design for the building based on site partnerships and identified community needs.

4.  MEMBERSHIP: Grow and retain society membership and develop a mature board of directors.

So we have our work cut out for us! We’ve also had some really promising discussions with leaders in our community about mutually beneficial siting of the greenhouse. It seems the concept of an innovative sunny gathering space where sharing and learning can happen around feeding ourselves is something that resonates with a wide range of community members.

The cost of produce is expected to continue to rise this year, the climate continues to shift, and we continue to have a very short growing season. Plus, the loneliness and disconnect people feel in these modern times seems to persist. So a sustainably-designed community hub where we can increase our ability to grow food locally is an idea whose time has come.

There is much to be done and we invite you to join us. It takes a village to raise a community greenhouse hub!