Urban Agriculture Centre (UAC)
2024
This has been a year of growth for BADAS. What began as the food forest education and enhancement project has resulted in the development of our Urban Agriculture Centre(UAC). The UAC includes a passive solar greenhouse with tool library, food forest with over 80 trees and shrubs and flowers, windbreak, seating with activity and event space including a school garden plot. The land use design was the collaborative effort of 12 people on our food forest committee and volunteers to build, plant, weed and water throughout the summer. We built the passive solar greenhouse a 24’ x 24’ building with a south-facing greenhouse and solid building all other sides. This project was imagined by Mike with the Beaumont Men’s Shed who designed the building and helped us to obtain additional funding to adapt our project to include this facility. The build was the combined efforts of Dennis our operations manager, BADAS volunteers and skilled tradesman Harry, David, Trevor, Dallas, Mark, Tyler and others who contributed as part of their crews when they could. The UAC project was funded by the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund, Men’s Shed, Help Age Canada and United Way. Thank you! This new asset will enable us to create and host educational, cultural and other nature-based programs to increase the quality of life for our membership and region. It can also be a site for social gatherings and other group activities. It responds to the need to reconnect people to each other, to the land and our food and aligns with BADAS values. A wind break with approximately 200+ mix of native and horticulture plants generously donated by Sunflowers Urban Farm, Ruth and Jeannine and planted and cared for by the efforts of so many members and our summer student, Westly. Thank you so much, volunteers and members! Your efforts and contributions have been BADAS. Special thanks to John and Ruth who were at nearly every volunteer activity at the UAC this summer. It will be exciting to see how our new plants flourish next summer and the benefits it brings to our food production, including attracting pollinators, beneficial insects and wildlife.
We are excited to invite our members and the community to utilize the UAC. The passive solar greenhouse and tool library will support access to resources, mentorship, and indoor growing space and storage. The greenhouse will be utilized by our gardeners to start plants for themselves, and for sale at our spring kickoff and membership drive. Planting will begin in March 2025, grand opening is expected in May, 2025. At the grand opening, we will be planting a tree in honour of Rose, one of our long-time members and gardeners. See you there! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn or visit our website for details.
This project was identified through a community-based research project in partnership with University of Alberta graduate student Terra Pombert with Supervisor Dr. Mary Beckie, and senior BADAS mentor Jim Hiley. BADAS supported her in partnership with the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies and the City of Beaumont to conduct research on how BADAS could develop to meet community needs and support a sustainable local food system.
