Four years ago Sidney Morris was gazing out a window on the south end of the Farm Institute office building when inspiration wafted into sight.
“All I could think was, why isn’t there a solar greenhouse here? There are no trees here. This would be the best, most ideal site to build a greenhouse because it has the best solar exposure you could want or need,” he said.
At the time, Mr. Morris was the education director at the Farm Institute. “It’s rough teaching in the wintertime,” he said. “I thought building a solar greenhouse at the Farm Institute would be great for teaching kids and for growing food. And it would be economical because it could heat the whole building.”
The farm board backed Mr. Morris’s idea. As did the town of Edgartown, who own the Katama Farm land.
So with their support and permission, Mr. Morris pursued the project. Now the 19-by-27-square-foot greenhouse, which is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving, will become a growing space for food production and seed germination for herbs and perennial plants.