The Blind Center and Pamlico Rose Institute (PRI) have teamed up to address food insecurity in Eastern North Carolina. On Wednesday, the groups celebrated the completion of a greenhouse which will produce fresh vegetables for families in need and give them information about healthy eating habits.
Construction of the greenhouse began in November, according to Sean Barker, a volunteer with PRI’s Health Corps. The 100 ft by 22 ft greenhouse is located on land owned by The Blind Center in Washington.
It is a hoop house style greenhouse. Its primary purpose is to supply fresh, natural food, but it will also have plants that will be used at PRI and a future garden at Beaufort County Community College.
To sustain the greenhouse, there are about 40 pickle barrels filled with 2,000 gallons of water that will act as a heat augmentation during cold months. Water will be captured off of a roof gutter system that, when the sun shines through the greenhouse during January through March, will heat the barrels with water and produce ambient heat during the night, which will keep the greenhouse about 15 degrees warmer than the temperature outside, Robert Sands, executive director of PRI explained.
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