Construction Begins

Late in 2008, after land was assembled in the village of Chauvin, construction of our greenhouses started.  During this period all members of the family helped building up the project.

Green design and operational principles were utilized from the start.

Phase two is comprised of an additional 30’ X 144’ freestanding greenhouse structure. Cladding was completed late in 2009. This structure will be our growing and service building. It will allow us to hold sold items including containers put together by customers in our potting classes, and  space for propagation of seedling transplants, etc. It is planned to use this structure for the production of several select vegetable crops for the market garden operation. This structure is again very unique in terms of conventional greenhouse structures. It is clad with reinforced poly cladding and features a roll up roof for cooling.

Eco friendly .... green design/construction methods - you bet !  Our greenhouses are completely off the power grid. Greenhouse one will feature a highly thermally efficient triple poly roofing system. Rainwater from the roof is directed to side  wall hip water storage tanks which are capable of holding 4500 gallons of water. The tanks absorb heat during the day and release it at night. Solar collectors and a battery power system are used for power needed to run the building.  For cooling there is a fully passive cooling system comprised of roll up side walls and high level vents. The only time we have to relay on external power ( i.e. our small generator system ) is when we have to run our irrigation pumps for extended periods of time. This is planned to be phased out when a 800 watt wind generator and expansion in our battery storage occurs in the future. For those interested in our “off the grid” system please feel free to contact Agroponics.

In the fall of 2009,  phase two was started. Phase two is the proposed future seasonal/vegetable house. The cladding systems were installed which completes the greenhouse exoskeleton. This structure is quite unique in Alberta. It features a retractable reinforced roof system which will provide excellent passive cooling and ventilation. Again all rain water will be directed to sidewall hip storage tanks and is completely off the power gird.

Construction Continues

In 2010 we have many additions and completions in the planning.

1. •House one - Bedding Plant Gardening Retail House. Completion of the stucco siding and upper level vents.
   

2. •Exterior Court Yard - Completion of the wind fences (the winds of 2008/2009 sure informed us quickly how much these were needed). The court yard will be the display area for our trees and shrubs, perennials, trellis, arbor, and pergola displays and garden areas. Check in an see this interesting area for yourself.  Centrally located between both greenhouses, gardeners sanctuary at its best.
   

3. •Retail area improvements to be completed. Shelving, interior finishing to be completed.
   

4. •House Two - Vegetable Market Garden House. Now that this house is enclosed, interior grading, levelling and benching will be installed. The back receiving area, floor slab, divider wall and a few amenities will be added.
   

5. •Roadway/Parking Lot Signage will be completed.
   

6. •Site signage, highway fence,  and site landscaping are also planned.
   

7. •Lots of improvements and future changes for sure!
   

Agroponics

We always get asked about our parent company Agroponics ... what the heck do they do? Well a few pictures are worth a 1000 words. We build and construct commercial greenhouse projects. Some of our clients are 1, 5, 10 to 15 acres in size.

In addition to just the greenhouse structures they install boiler systems, heating systems, cooling systems, fog systems, fertilizer injection systems, photo lights, watering booms, and computerize environmental controls. The whole nine yards. Agroponic Industries specialize in complete turn key projects.