Sowing seeds in Sault Ste. Marie: Colin Templeton looks to the stars to grow crops in a Northern Ontario winter

Food is one of the great connectors for all life. We eat to survive, to grow, to last. Everything needs an input, whether it's the bacteria munching at a microscopic level or a feast for a family at Sunday dinner. Even the process of making food is all about connections: from seed to soil to stem and beyond, all of these small links lead to an essential final product. Colin Templeton has known about these important connections his entire life, and he's using this knowledge to build an even stronger bond with the members of his community.

A volunteer state of mind

Gardening isn't just a hobby to Colin. It's a way of life.

From his roots in Southern Ontario to a short stint in British Columbia to finally settling in the historic town of Sault Ste. Marie, this treasured skill has stuck with him no matter where he went. "I grew up on a culture of home-grown and home-made food," Colin explains of his dedication to cultivating his own crops. "My parents were keen gardeners, and I've always had a garden."

In his day job as a forestry advisor with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Colin uses his love of the outdoors on a wider scale. And while he gets to work on the complex policy around the sustainable management of Ontario's forest, it's the community-oriented projects that give him the most satisfaction. He loves giving back, using both his resources and connections to support others in need.

But the biggest challenge came when a friend on social assistance asked him for help in getting her life back on track. Wanting a long-term solution that offered financial stability, he turned to his fruits and vegetables.

A market garden (selling home-grown produce directly to consumers) as a means for his friend to earn a steady income made a lot of sense: it was simple to implement, and Colin had the land and gardening equipment needed, not to mention years of wisdom on growing high-quality crops. By the end of summer, they'd sold enough product for Colin's friend to have the additional financial security she needed until she transitioned into her new career.

Colin was ecstatic. His friend now had a clear path forward and no longer needed to rely on the resources offered by the garden. But when the celebration settled and seasons changed, he couldn't help but wonder: "What do I do next?"

An unlikely source of inspiration

The answer came quickly. Colin wanted to continue growing food, and his charitable nature had him searching for the best way to distribute it to those in need. Establishing his own non-profit enterprise had too many hurdles, so he decided to join an existing organization, one that was already well-known in the community and had the credibility to support any future projects.

The Soup Kitchen, one of Sault Ste. Marie's most recognized charities, was the perfect choice. Not only did it provide prepared meals to low income families, but it also operated as a food bank, giving Colin a consistent destination for his crops. Beginning in 2017, his donation project operated under the title FoodBankFarm, regularly providing fresh fruits and vegetables to The Soup Kitchen's clients.

All was going well with Colin's passion project. Baskets of fresh produce made their way from Colin's farm to The Soup Kitchen's pantry and into the kitchens across Sault Ste. Marie.

That is, until winter came along.

It was frustrating. For half the year, the ground froze and slept under a thick blanket of snow. It was the farthest one could get from a growing season. Greenhouses wouldn't support his needs, either—the cost of keeping one up and running would be far too high for the amount of produce he'd need to grow. Not to mention the reinforcements greenhouses need to withstand the heavy snowfalls of Sault Ste. Marie.

But Colin wouldn't quit. A news nerd who's always up-to-date on environmental innovation, he found a fix for seasonal growing in the least likely place: space.

Part of an experiment for astronauts on planned interplanetary expeditions, the EDEN ISS project simulates growing food in harsh conditions inside self-contained units. Antarctica, the current site of the project was "marginally more harsh than where I live," Colin says with a laugh. "But I liked the idea that food could be grown in cold, snowy environments using only LED lights."

Despite the EDEN ISS's extraterrestrial goals, there was a beautiful simplicity at the heart of its design. With $23,500 in support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Local Food Infrastructure Fund (LFIF), donations from The Soup Kitchen, and his own money, Colin had enough capital in 2020 to make this dream project a reality.

Heat for days

Unlike the EDEN ISS, Colin didn't need a high-tech, vacuum-sealed production facility. His version would be simplified, one that anyone could implement with the right tools and instructions. It would also be cost effective, using supplies found at hardware stores, a modified temperature control exhaust fan, and carefully calculated circuitry and electronics. In lieu of a multi-million dollar unit, he bought a shipping container from a local construction company and had the whole system up and running in about a week.

"It costs about five dollars a day to operate the container," says Colin. "Growing the right plants is key—ones that bloom quickly and have short rotations, like bok choy, arugula, lettuce and radishes. My rule is simple: if it costs less to buy at the grocery store, then why am I growing it?"

And it's been a good rule. Through the combination of the farm and the container, Colin consistently donates fresh produce with an estimated value in excess of $25,000 per year to The Soup Kitchen and has created an in-depth user manual for others to follow in his footsteps. He envisions facilities like this in other environments, such as remote northern communities, where the climate may not be suitable for growing plants and the cost of fresh food is high. As for his own container, he has plans for using it well after the snow melts and the ground thaws. When the steel walls are too hot for plants in the summer, the dark, damp shelves would be perfect for growing mushrooms.

Regardless of what he does, Colin knows that creating connections will always strengthen a community. Just like an ecosystem, when all the pieces work together, success comes naturally. New challenges will always arise, but that's okay. All Colin has to do is keep thinking outside the box.

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