The Boys and Girls Club of Diamond Valley is planting the seed to get children growing their own food using an indoor garden.
United States company Juice Plus+ donated a five-foot tall vertical aeroponic growing system called a Tower Garden to the club last week. The club’s youngsters can plant as many as 20 seedlings in small compartments in the tower.
The Tower Garden, worth more than $1,400, has a 20-gallon reservoir that pumps water to continuously hydrate the roots of the plants.
“I think it’s a smart idea because then you don’t have to go to the store,” said eight-year-old club member Etzi Sandoval. “I like watching things grow and the differences from the beginning to the finish.”
High River resident Ryan Bossy learned about the Tower Garden when a friend who sells the product posted photos of it on Facebook last year.
He came up with the idea of bringing it to children in the Foothills.
“I said, ‘I want one of those towers in my kids’ school,” he said, adding his children attend École Joe Clark Elementary School. “I wanted them to learn an alternative way of growing fruits and vegetables.”
Bossy contacted his friend and became a regional representative for the product. He then played a role in Juice Plus+ selecting the Canadian Boys and Girls Club to receive the donated towers.
“I’m proud to be part of this program being able to donate tower gardens to the boys and girls clubs to help children learn alternative ways of growing their food,” he said. “It’s just my way of giving back to the community and making a difference.”
The Boys and Girls Club of Diamond Valley, located in the upper level of the Oilfields Regional Arena in Black Diamond, provides programs and activities for children before and after school. It was the first in the region to receive a tower garden.
Tower gardens will also be donated to boys and girls clubs in High River and Nanton later this year, Bossy said.
“I saw the potential of teaching more kids about it,” he said. “It’s about our children’s health.”
Bossy said he’s unimpressed with the quality of the fruits and vegetables shipped hundreds of miles to grocery stores and the quality of our soil to grow them ourselves.
“Our soil is so depleted nowadays,” he said. “It’s not nutrient dense.”
Mady Thiel-Kopstein, the club operations manager, said the benefits of the Tower Garden are extensive, including supplementing food costs, close to $50,000 a year, providing education about how to grow food locally and promoting healthy lifestyles.
“We like to help educate and teach the children healthy options,” she said. “With the funding we get our obligation is to provide healthy exercise, healthy eating and healthy living. This is a great fit.”
Thiel-Kopstein already began growing some seedlings for the children to place into the tower garden and said they will likely grow tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and basil.
“It’s stuff that would be a challenge to grow in this climate and the beauty is we will have it all winter, too,” she said. “They will keep an eye on it and will learn how to work with the food they get.”
Thiel-Kopstein expects all children in the club will be eager to grow and eat their own food.
“I think they will all love it,” she said. “They all like to grow things. I think everybody is satisfied when you plant a seed and something sprouts up.”
Eleven-year-old Umar Zia said he is excited to be a part of the process.
“It’s a really cool idea because sometimes in Canada it gets really cold outside and plants don’t grow that well,” he said. “You can plant them they will grow all year long. It’s a cool design and I want to see how good it works.”
