12.2.15 Hoop House Adventures: It’s All About Partnerships
By Erin Brighton, Director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council
This year has seen a lot of growth in the local food scene here in Charlotte. And, to extend that “growth” even more, and build up some community around local food in our schools, our friends at Friendship Gardens are putting up hoop houses at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools served by FoodCorps service members.
A hoop house is like a modified greenhouse – except that it’s not a fixed structure – it’s moveable and potentially temporary if the space needed to be used for something else. To build an actual greenhouse on a school campus would require tens of thousands of dollars and lots and lots of facility approvals. A hoop house is very low budget and requires **just** some very handy volunteers.
A hoop house allows schools to extend their growing season beyond what they are currently able to do. This is important because our students miss a lot of harvesting time while they are home on summer vacation. The ability to take a class outside at any point during the year and have an outdoor lesson in a sheltered area is hugely valuable. Thanks to the leadership of Thom Duncan at Friendship Gardens, he has put together two separate community work days to get hoop houses built at Barringer Academic Center and Shamrock Gardens Elementary.
Both hoop house projects have been led by our first-year FoodCorps service member, Jacob Huffman. While he will be quick to tell you that the process still needs to be smoothed out quite a bit, it’s been an incredible experience to watch the community come together to support our schools who are passionate about healthy eating and getting their kids outside and in the dirt! For the Barringer Hoop House day of service, GE Healthcare sponsored the cost of materials and put a group of REALLY hardworking people together to weed garden beds, build raised bed gardens AND bend metal for the hoop house. Yes. Really. There was a team of metal benders. The arch of the hoop house started out as straight metal poles!
If you are handy with power tools, we could still use your help! Both hoop houses erected so far still need some work getting the doors framed out and the plastic put up with a roller system so that the sides can be easily raised and lowered. Jacob is a pretty talented service member but he can’t do these finishing pieces all alone!
The date for the hoop house build at Garinger High School has not been set yet but, when it is, we will be sure to share it if you are interested in being a part of that day! These hoop house projects are a perfect example of what can be accomplished in Charlotte with community groups working together.
If you want to learn more about our partners at Friendship Trays and Friendship Gardens, click here – www.friendshiptrays.org
By Erin Brighton, Director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council
This year has seen a lot of growth in the local food scene here in Charlotte. And, to extend that “growth” even more, and build up some community around local food in our schools, our friends at Friendship Gardens are putting up hoop houses at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools served by FoodCorps service members.
A hoop house is like a modified greenhouse – except that it’s not a fixed structure – it’s moveable and potentially temporary if the space needed to be used for something else. To build an actual greenhouse on a school campus would require tens of thousands of dollars and lots and lots of facility approvals. A hoop house is very low budget and requires **just** some very handy volunteers.
A hoop house allows schools to extend their growing season beyond what they are currently able to do. This is important because our students miss a lot of harvesting time while they are home on summer vacation. The ability to take a class outside at any point during the year and have an outdoor lesson in a sheltered area is hugely valuable. Thanks to the leadership of Thom Duncan at Friendship Gardens, he has put together two separate community work days to get hoop houses built at Barringer Academic Center and Shamrock Gardens Elementary.
Both hoop house projects have been led by our first-year FoodCorps service member, Jacob Huffman. While he will be quick to tell you that the process still needs to be smoothed out quite a bit, it’s been an incredible experience to watch the community come together to support our schools who are passionate about healthy eating and getting their kids outside and in the dirt! For the Barringer Hoop House day of service, GE Healthcare sponsored the cost of materials and put a group of REALLY hardworking people together to weed garden beds, build raised bed gardens AND bend metal for the hoop house. Yes. Really. There was a team of metal benders. The arch of the hoop house started out as straight metal poles!
If you are handy with power tools, we could still use your help! Both hoop houses erected so far still need some work getting the doors framed out and the plastic put up with a roller system so that the sides can be easily raised and lowered. Jacob is a pretty talented service member but he can’t do these finishing pieces all alone!
The date for the hoop house build at Garinger High School has not been set yet but, when it is, we will be sure to share it if you are interested in being a part of that day! These hoop house projects are a perfect example of what can be accomplished in Charlotte with community groups working together.
If you want to learn more about our partners at Friendship Trays and Friendship Gardens, click here – www.friendshiptrays.org
