The Leamington greenhouse industry may soon expect a little help from their latest generation of greenhouse growers. Since you can't start too early with learning the tricks of the trade, they can now be trained at the recently inaugurated educational greenhouse at the courtyard of the St. Michel Elementary School.
On June 8, project initiator and motivated teacher Mrs. Serrah Gossmann and her “Pouces Verts” (Green Thumbs) team of students cut the ribbon to commemorate the grand opening of their brand new state of the art greenhouse structure.
The idea behind the project was born when Mrs. Gossmann noticed a yearning for knowledge about how to grow plants in a greenhouse among her students. Their love for growing makes sense, given the fact that Leamington is home to a very large concentration of greenhouse growers, with many 3rd and 4th generation farmer’s children attending St. Michel.
Mrs. Gossmann put the wheels in motion by approaching a local construction company with an idea for a greenhouse in the courtyard of the school. Soon after, an enthusiastic group of Leamington greenhouse builders, suppliers and other industry leaders joined forces to help Mrs. Gossmann accomplish her dream.
"This great accomplishment and gift could not have been possible without the following people and companies", she said.
- "First of all, I would like to thank Grossi Construction; for getting the project for the structure started by cutting holes for footings and contacting greenhouse builders."
- "South Essex Fabricating ,NatureFresh & Ruthven Greenhouse Construction – Peter Quirring, Johnathan Dyck, Jake Weins and a team of volunteers for donating the greenhouse structure and their time to build it during after hours and on weekends."
- "Orangeline Farms – Duffy & Kirstie Kniaziew, Steve Stasko and the entire Orangeline team - for providing resources, training, guidance, support and help. Through greenhouse tours and training in their facility and on site; to materials needed including fertilizer, string, clips, plants, truss supports, pots and more. We could not have done it without you."
- "Grodan – Tony Abbas has been instrumental in taking the project to the next level, with his hard work and determination he has gotten us some of the newest and best technology. I came to him with a greenhouse structure as he volunteered his help when he saw it completed; he took this on as his own project and passionately worked with many to get us here. Grodan has provided us with growing media including slabs, blocks, and plugs as well as grower training. Thank you for all the hours you have put towards making our greenhouse amazing."
- "Roelands Plant Farms, for donating many of the plants."
- "Meteor Systems – Freddy Sarkis and his team, for installing the gutters, irrigation lines and plant supports."
- "Zwart Systems, for donating our 5 growing tables."
- "Priva, for donating a Maximizer climate computer that will be installed over the summer."
- "Svensson, for donating screens that will be installed over the summer to improve the greenhouse climate."
- "VRE Systems – for donating a screen operation system, also to be installed over the summer."
- "DiCiocco Farms – for donating and delivering gutters as well as delivering our grow tables."
- "H&H Wood products – for providing us with the pallets."
- "Gillett Sheet Metal – Wayne Gillett and his team for sealing the bottom of our greenhouse."
- "Graphics Express – For our shirts and the signage for the greenhouse."
And last but not least; École St-Michel / CSCProvidence – M. Szwed, the staff & students of the school for being supportive from the beginning!"
"Next to this, Mrs. Gossmann gives a big shout out to her “Pouces Verts”. "For working every recess to water, prune, string, transplant and harvest the 30 different varieties of fruit, vegetables and herbs currently growing in our greenhouse. These kids work so hard and are dedicated to seeing this project succeed."
The group is currently working with local suppliers for their heating option as they are planning to run crops throughout the winter to maximize their grower program experience. If anyone would like to be of assistance here please contact Tony Abbas at tony.abbas@grodan.com
"There are many local growers that are excited to welcome the students into their facilities next year to broaden their agricultural knowledge of this important industry."
Thanks to all for their generous gift of time, material and support at no cost to our school!"
For more information about the project please contact Serrah Gossmann: mmegossmann@gmail.com
