A new greenhouse part of a project aimed to improve food security in northern communities was delivered to Dettah on April 20.
Blair Weatherby, owner of Weatherby Trucking confirmed that the solar-powered greenhouse, designed in a unique skilled trades program with the Mine Training Society was shipped by road from Kasteel Construction to the Yellowknives Dene community.
photo courtesy of Weatherby Trucking
Lea Lamoureux, principal of Kaw Tay Whee School in Dettah stated in a message to NNSL Media that her small school was looking forward to receiving the structure to complement its gardening education.
“We’ve had a pretty strong gardening culture for over a decade,” she said. “This new solar-powered option should give us a longer season. Lots of links to health, science and hopefully service learning.”
In March, NNSL Media visited the Kasteel Construction shop in Kam Lake where seven novice, Indigenous, female students were getting practical, hands-on training with the building of a greenhouse.
The program had provided prepatory skills development for 11 weeks in a federally funded partnership between the Mine Training Society and Kasteel Construction.
photo courtesy of Weatherby Trucking
Guy Architects had designed the prototype of the structure which included solar panels, batteries, an inverter and a gravity-fed water tank.
The hope had been to deliver by ice road last month, but arrangements had not been made by the time the Dettah Ice Road was closed last Friday.
The structure is in a temporary location in the community and the school is planning an event to mark the special edition, Lamoureux said.
The date of the event is yet to be announced.
