PARIS – A coalition promoting “Eat Smart Eat Local” is presenting a workshop on greenhouse construction at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension office in South Paris on Tuesday, June 26.

John Pino, a local grower, will focus on “Unheated Greenhouses: Their Construction and Year Round Uses” and Barbara Murphy, Extension educator, will lead a tour of the on-site greenhouse. The public is invited.

The greenhouse tour will begin at 6 p.m. The workshop will begin at 6:20 and will last about an hour and a half with time for questions and answers. A roundtable discussion of possible next steps will take place after the workshop. Refreshments will be served. Call the Extension office at 743-6329 or 1-800-287-8957 to RSVP or for more information.

Pino has been growing vegetables, flowers and seedlings organically in greenhouses at Moorhill Farm since 1991. He has successfully managed unheated greenhouse production as part of the “Eat Smart Eat Local” Initiative to demonstrate the economic viability of growing winter greens in Maine.

The workshop will cover growing greens 9 to 10 months of the year in unheated greenhouses and other uses for the months they are out of production, e.g. chicken coops, etc.

The Ag Group held three meetings this winter to bring consumers and producers together to discuss needs and opportunities for local growers. The meetings made clear the need for improved distribution channels, marketing assistance and education for consumers and producers. The workshop on June 26 has been organized in response to the need for more education on the local foods issue.