The
Perpetual Harvest
Greenhouse System
A Copious Approach to Conscious Sustainable Living
Just imagine . . . a highly energy-efficient and cost-effective year-round source of the finest quality, healthy, organic produce grown in an innovative manner that protects the environment and the wellbeing of consumers while fostering sustainability and community economic development.
CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Pg 1
ENGINEERING REVIEW BY MARK HOFFMAN Pg 4
OVERVIEW Pg 4
DESCRIPTION Pg 6
PHASE I - REFINEMENT AND VALIDATION Pg 12
OVERVIEW Pg 12
BASELINE PARAMETERS TO INVESTIGATE AND OPTIMIZE Pg 12
PHASE I SUPPLIMENTS FOR STELLAR RESULTS Pg 14
POTENTIAL RESULTS Pg 14
INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH Pg 16 POTENTIALS IN COMMON TO MOST LOCATIONS Pg 17
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES CREATED Pg 18
PHASE II - OPTIMIZED DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM
FOR COMMERCIAL SALES Pg 19
APPENDIX A – Biodynamics Overview Pg 20
APPENDIX B – Sources of Supply and Sites to Investigate Pg 21
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Chris Marron is the innovator behind the Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System. He has considerable construction expertise having worked in the industry for much of his life. That background gives well grounded credence to cost and time building estimates. He has 15 years experience growing a variety of crops using many of the technologies and techniques this proposal is based upon. He also has five years experience working at a community supported agriculture (CSA) organic farm. At one point his wife asked him to build a greenhouse to grow food for their family. They lived at an elevation of 6,000 feet in Oregon so that was a challenge. They worked together for seven years operating their greenhouse and living off of what it produced. Their success became the foundation for the spectacular potential outlined here. Chris has spent an additional 13 years refining this concept. What is needed now is to take it from theory to commercial viability by validating it with a working prototype and then developing an optimized design for commercial sale based on the lessons learned.
The uniqueness of the Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System (PHGS) lies in the integration of many innovative aspects of greenhouse design and operation. All the features in PHGS have been successfully applied separately in existing greenhouse systems. However, no single publicized greenhouse system currently in operation offers what PHGS brings to the table. PHGS can simulate seasons and operate economically year-round. It is more profitable than the standard three-season greenhouse. This is due primarily to the ability to operate efficiently even in unfavorable weather thus raising high value produce which can be sold locally at substantial profit.
To accomplish these goals PHGS creates 365 ideal growing days per year by optimizing temperature, light, carbon dioxide enrichment, and soluble nutrient levels in conjunction with continuous planting and harvesting. It is a hybrid system using hydro-organics techniques to create the most favorable growing conditions. Thus crops that would otherwise be shipped from temperate regions during harvest times can be grown profitably year-round near their intended market. Off-season production significantly increases return on investment in comparison to conventional greenhouse systems. This is feasible because heating and cooling costs are as much as 75% less than a standard three-season greenhouse operation. This energy efficiency allows a greenhouse operator to create growing conditions unique to specific crops. Thus almost any greenhouse suited crop can be harvested any time of year even in very unfavorable climates.
PHGS accomplishes profitable year-round production by optimizing two primary features of greenhouse operation: Growing techniques and energy management. It achieves production levels not possible in an outdoor system or a three-season greenhouse. Biomass based energy production is used to increase the profitability of both food production and the associated energy production systems in comparison to either of these systems in a stand alone configuration. Integration of PHGS with renewable energy production systems such as a bio-diesel plant, ethanol still, methane bio-digester connected to a co-generation unit, all combine to improve energy efficiency and further drive down operating costs while producing marketable by-products.
Four-season operation results in energy usage exceeding that of a three-season greenhouse. It eliminates startup/shutdown time and costs. Food production increases, conservatively estimated at five to eight times that of conventional indoor or outdoor approaches, further offsetting costs. That estimate is derived from Chris’s first hand experience. The high production number is achieved during average conditions. That conservative estimate is given further credence by recently released figures on hydroponics based lettuce production at Cornell University. When compared with California outdoor commercial growers their output was increased by “23 times while decreasing water usage by well over 30 times”; www.verticalfarm.com/plans-2k6_eco.htm. PHGS is a similar system except it is organic based hence yielding a higher quality product.
Both operational and economic viability for greenhouse based food production has been proven by Chena Hot Springs Resort in Alaska. The University of Alaska/Fairbanks published analysis looks at their lettuce, the easiest to grow commercial crop. It does not address 450 tomato plants grown in the same time frame: http://chsr.squarespace.com/storage/documents/Greenhouse_Economics.pdf. It establishes a baseline price of $2.01 per head of lettuce with the roots attached; a price higher than most markets would accept yet quite reasonable in areas far from favorable growing conditions.
The Alaskan system is very elementary as lettuce is one of the easiest of the food plants to grow. They achieved a greatly increased yield simply by providing 16 hours of artificial light to their greenhouse and employed continuous planting and harvesting techniques. The report establishes documented proof of cost to construct and operate their greenhouse. The Perpetual Harvest system can easily double Chena's production per square foot and most likely triple their out-put in a good year. We decided to remove all of our economic projections in light of Chena's well documented current data for construction, equipment, labor, and operating costs. Their efforts prove economic viability given their modest return on investment. It is obvious that doubling or tripling their yield is even more economically viable.
A key point is that year-round operation gives workers full time employment and maximizes resource utilization. With PHGS food production can be located close to demand thus eliminating both the current quality compromising practice of harvesting crops prior to maturation and the expense of long distance shipping. PHGS dramatically raises produce quality while delivery costs plummet thus yielding a competitive sales price and substantial profit margins. As consumers the general public will be interested in what PHGS has to offer. As word spreads, the inexpensive generation of high quality food year-round will be of great interest to communities focused on sustainability. A resource that can annually yield a conservative estimate of 40 pounds per square foot of the highest quality produce will be of great interest to the farming industry as well.
Our prisons, school systems, and Native American Reservations are other potential customers. One of the biggest industries in the United States today is the prison industry. They have restrictive budgets, food is a major expense, and its quality is a source of dissent within the prison community. In a prison labor is not a problem. Cost effective greenhouse systems would reduce a significant expense, raise inmate moral, and provide an excellent education program. Numerous studies show that the best way to reduce repeat offender population is education. Similar cost reductions and quality improvements would be feasible for our educational institutions and reservations.
Cost information for building a PHGS prototype is based on an off-the-shelf greenhouse modified to meet PHGS requirements. Even at prototype level it can be showcased as an educational vehicle illustrating efficient, sustainable food and energy production. A baseline Phase I effort is characterized in this proposal.
A Phase II is included as a follow-up development. It incorporates the Phase I lessons in a custom made greenhouse optimized to meet PHGS requirements. This showcase system will be marketable in all geographic areas as it can adapt itself to climate extremes from deserts to the artic. It could potentially be built totally underground. The Phase II PHGS is especially applicable to urban and suburban settings thereby opening up a previously underutilized market collocated with product demand. It is certainly more cost effective than the proposed $200 million 30 story Los Vegas greenhouse: www.verticalfarm.com.
Midwest Permaculture is an educational enterprise founded by Bill and Rebecca Wilson, 28-year residents of the sustainably-oriented community of Stelle, Illinois. Their website has an engineering analysis of PHGS: http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/GreenhouseOverview.php. In their opinion this is the future direction for sustainable food production. The document was authored by Mark Hoffman, a fellow Stelle resident. The content of that paper is included in this project proposal as it is an excellent in-depth analysis of PHGS.
A number of knowledgeable and well intentioned individuals have taken the time to document PHGS in order to give it the exposure it needs to attract sufficient resources to complete this project. Their confidence in what Chris has pioneered is seen in the time they and others have invested developing the information contained in this document. Mel Thomas has joined them as the architect of this collated material. The result builds on the efforts of those mentioned so far as well as others whose contributions are embedded in this material and noted when appropriate.
Mel Thomas (October-09)
Chris Marron’s…..
Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System
Engineeering review by Mark Hoffman
OVERVIEW
Presented here, with Chris Marron's permission, is his Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System (PHGS); reviewed, generally researched, and edited by Mark Hoffman. Mark is a Stelle area engineer and permaculturist who is the President of the Center for Sustainable Community in Stelle, Illinois, His conclusion is that this is a very plausible system for year-round food production.
Offered to the Public
Chris is allowing us to publish this body of information to insure public access to his work. He professes that little of this design is his original work for all he has done is researched others work and as he says "put two & two together.” But no one we know of has taken all the different components he has laid out in his system and put them together into one design. Chris's motivation in sharing all this is to do his part to support the emerging desire of people to find and live in truly meaningful and sustainable communities.
On The Ground
This is a recent body of work that Chris has put together and as of this time, neither he nor anyone else we know of has actually built and operated this greenhouse system or tested its production possibilities. The door is open for anyone to experiment with building a PHG System. Chris is interested and available to assist others who are serious about building and operating a Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System. Chris can be reached by emailing mark@centerforsustainablecommunity.org.
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Financially Exciting
Also included are some financial projections for an operating greenhouse under this design. Although they are just estimates, they are very encouraging numbers because they answer the need for finding more sustainable ways of economically supporting our small scale farmers and growers. This system can also be used in suburban and city environments providing nutritious food, income, and greater food security for local residents.
Food Security
As this system is capable of producing year-round-healthy food, it brings the possibility of economic stability and true-food security to any region. The system is also sustainable in the long run since it uses only a fraction of the energy of conventional greenhouses. As fossil fuel prices continue to rise, traditional green housing operations will become unprofitable.
Be a Part of Building This Greenhouse
The Center for Sustainable Community, Midwest Permaculture and Stellar Projects LLC are all 100% behind seeing a test greenhouse built when the interested people and resources arrive. I would invite all who read these words and feel the inner pull to see this greenhouse built to contact one of these agencies. That way the people, resources, locations, and markets required will be networked to each other in order to facilitate the building of a fully operational greenhouse.
Chris and I also encourage other individuals and groups to pool their talent and resources and seriously consider building one of these fascinating greenhouses. Many different individuals and organizations should be testing the Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System in an attempt to find the processes and methods that work best. In all likelihood, those of us who pursue this method of food production will create something that will not only benefit ourselves, but will serve the greater community and future generations as well.
Chris Marron is available for consultation and even project support, as time and funds allow.
Bill Wilson (May-07)
To reach Chris:
cell
831 234-2073
DESCRIPTION OF THE PERPETUAL HARVEST GREENHOUSE SYSTEM
Diagram courtesy
of:
Ross
and Kat Elliott
RR#1
MacDonalds Corners
Ontario
Canada K0G 1M0
The Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System provides an indoor ecosystem capable of growing equal yields of organic produce 52 weeks in a year. This system creates 365 ideal growing days per year by optimizing light, carbon dioxide enrichment, and soluble nutrients in conjunction with continuous planting and harvesting. Because the hyrdo-organic based Perpetual Harvest system can economically simulate warm season growing conditions, crops that would otherwise be shipped from warmer climates can be grown profitably in colder climates during winter months.
Such off-season production significantly increases return on investment of the Perpetual Harvest system in comparison to conventional greenhouse systems because heating and cooling costs could be up to 75% less than for the standard three-season greenhouse operation. This system also allows a greenhouse operator to create growing conditions unique to specific crops such that almost any crop can be harvested at any time of year, even in colder climates.
The Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System accomplishes profitable year-round production by optimizing two primary features of greenhouse operation – Growing techniques and Energy management. This system integrates the latest innovations in greenhouse design and operation with emerging understanding of growing techniques to create production levels not possible in an outdoor system, or in a three-season greenhouse. Because this system can operate for four seasons, its yearly energy usage exceeds that of the three-season greenhouse, however its overall profitability is 6-10 times that of the conventional three-season greenhouse or outdoor plantings because the system can provide organic produce when other systems can not. The uniqueness of the Perpetual Harvest system lies not in any one feature, but instead in the integration of many innovative aspects of greenhouse design and operation. All the features utilized in the Perpetual Harvest system have been successfully applied in existing growing systems; however, research indicates that no single publicized greenhouse system currently in operation utilizes the combination of features integrated into the Perpetual Harvest system. Furthermore, the Perpetual Harvest system can be easily integrated with renewable energy systems such as a bio-diesel plant, ethanol still, methane bio-digester, and/or co-generation unit, thus improving energy efficiency, driving down operating costs, and producing marketable fuel by-products.
Optimizing Growing Conditions
he Perpetual Harvest system utilizes unique growing techniques to maximize plant growth. Enhanced growing techniques include: providing artificial light, carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment, and maximizing soluble nutrients absorbed through roots and leaves. The system enhances growth by proportionally increasing the five most important growing conditions at certain times of the day, thus producing a ‘supercharged’ growing environment causing plants to reach erectly for the light while rapidly absorbing nutrients. The result is a significant and rapid growth surge. Plants can process approximately twice as many nutrients if light, CO2, soluble nutrients and oxygen in the rootzone are increased in balance at the same time. Standard greenhouse growing temperature of diminishing returns is ~85°F, while experience indicates temperature can be successfully increased to 95°F with increased light, CO2, and soluble nutrient levels, along with additional water. Growing at increased temperature has the added advantage of allowing the greenhouse to remain sealed longer from the outdoor atmosphere each day, leaving the higher CO2 concentration available for a longer period. With normal light, CO2, and soluble nutrient levels, plants become stressed at temperatures above 85°F - not so, with the Perpetual Harvest system. Operating at higher greenhouse temperatures effectively utilizes periods where it is difficult to maintain greenhouse temperatures less than 85°F.
Light: In the Perpetual Harvest system, plants receive the same amount of light from the fall equinox until spring equinox by adjusting day length with artificial sunlight. Experience indicates that approximately 11-12 hours is optimal daylight length for most common food plants in temperate zones. Additionally, applying supplemental light for three hours each morning, every day of the year, at the same time that the CO2 concentration is enriched, has been seen to maximize plant growth. Increased light supports CO2 absorption by stimulating plants to open their stomata. Supplementing the red, blue, and green light frequencies during this enhanced growth period optimizes utilization of the added light. Red and blue frequencies enhance vegetative growth while green frequencies are necessary for seed development.
Carbon Dioxide Enrichment: Normal atmospheric CO2 concentration is approximately 370 ppm, however, experience indicates that some plants prefer up to 2000 ppm CO2 (approximately five times normal). In the Perpetual Harvest system this increased level is maintained for only 3 hours in the mid morning. During this 3 hour period, the plants store CO2 that will be used to boost plant growth later in the day after CO2 level has returned to about 1000 ppm. CO2 is primarily produced by a flame (propane or natural gas) CO2 generator. The flame can serve as a ‘peaking CO2 generator’ and baseline CO2 levels could be provided by decomposing compost or other continuous natural low producing sources. A digital CO2 monitor determines when CO2 generators will cycle, and also serves as an alarm for humans to take precaution when in the greenhouse during the high CO2 period.
Soluble Nutrients: The Perpetual Harvest system utilizes the ebb and flow style of hydro-organics, passing organic nutrients through a soil-less growing medium placed in plastic lined beds. Perlite, pumice, vermiculite, and decomposing organic matter (potting soil) comprise the soil-less growing medium. Using a soil-less growing medium greatly reduces the likelihood of soil borne diseases and pests that can proliferate in the enclosed greenhouse space. Soluble nutrients are provided by addition of organic compost tea created using the traditional Indore compost method developed by Sir Albert Howard. This method, based on years of compost experimentation, produces compost from decomposing cellulose products such as peat moss, straw, and last season’s crop residue mixed with already composted animal manure along with a small amount of real soil and recently finished compost as an inoculant.
In the Perpetual Harvest system, Indore method compost is made using only organic ingredients mixed in a 25:1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen. Earthworms are added to the pile after the initial heating period (~8 days) to convert the existing nutrients into worm castings, a nutrient form more easily accessible to plants. After 14 days, compost is old enough to use as a nutrient base for making compost tea and/or growing medium. Foliar feeding of this compost tea, applied to the underside of leaves as a fine mist, is also performed in conjunction with the three-hour mid-morning light/CO2 enrichment period. After worm digestion, the compost can be mixed with last season’s used growing medium at a mixture rate determined by muscle testing. During this enhanced mode of operation, daily muscle testing (kinesiology) is utilized to provide the data needed to fine-tune light, nutrient, and temperature levels.
Energy Management System: Energy costs are the most expensive aspect of greenhouse operation. The Perpetual Harvest system capitalizes on recent innovations in greenhouse design to significantly reduce energy inputs. This reduction is primarily achieved through two aspects – Insulation design and Energy storage and transfer. Other aspects, such as greenhouse layout and temperature control also enhance efficiency, but to a lesser extent.
Insulation Design: The south facing wall of the Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse is composed of double layers of polyethylene, between which are injected biodegradable soap bubbles. The soap bubbles are fed into a distribution plenumhttp://www.midwestpermaculture.com/GreenhouseDescription.php - _edn5 at the top of the greenhouse where they emerge at intervals along the length of the greenhouse, and flow down to fill the space between the polyethylene sheets.
Recent developments in bubble making equipment designed for commercial fire suppression systems have resulted in equipment that can fill the polyethylene gap within minutes. The Perpetual Harvest system employs a bubble indication system that senses bubble collapse and auto starts the bubble making machine when the bubble wall drops below a specified height.
The soap bubbles resist convective heat transfer, and with an ‘R’ value of approximately R-1 per inch of bubbles, significantly increases R-value over that of single sheet polyethylene walls, or even double sheet polyethylene walls with an air gap in between. Soap bubbles also block infrared light but not visible or ultraviolet light. This attribute creates an ideal greenhouse situation since the light frequencies required for photosynthesis (visible light) pass through the bubbles but the frequencies that would result in radiant heat loss (infrared) are moderated. This means that light needed for plant growth is available even though unwanted heat transfer is minimized. Bubbles can impede unwanted heat transfer in either direction using this system. For example, draining the bubbles during the day can increase internal heat gain, while injecting bubbles during the day can reduce internal heat gain. Bubbles can be produced at night to prevent heat loss and maintain inside temperature. This process was developed in the Stelle greenhouse nearly twenty years ago by residents who received their funding in 1989 through a State of Illinois grant. It has been successfully used in Canada. We have used the Solaroof.com diagram depicted here because it illustrates how the insulation system works. The design pioneered in the Stelle greenhouse will be used when the prototype PHGS is built as it incorporates the same principle.
Energy Storage and Transfer Systems: The Perpetual Harvest greenhouse design employs redundant energy storage and transfer systems. These systems listed by priority of use are:
-
Subterranean heating/cooling system (SHCS) http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/GreenhouseDescription.php - _edn8
-
Hydronic radiant heat system with the following heat sources:
-
Solar/thermal heater
-
Co-gen unit waste heat
-
Babington burner
-
Natural gas/propane forced air heat as the final back-up heat source
T
he
subterranean
heating system is
comprised of several hundred feet of thin walled 4"
perforated, polyethylene drainage tubing buried under gravel
inside the greenhouse base. A fan connected to the tubing via a
common plenum provides forced flow of greenhouse air through the
tubing. Because daytime greenhouse air is warm and humid and the
greenhouse base is cool, moisture will condense as the air passes
through the buried drainage tubing, thus removing heat from the air.
Upon returning into the greenhouse air space, the air is cooler and
less humid. In this condition, the returned air can absorb moisture,
thus cooling the greenhouse air. The uniqueness of this cooling
system lies in the phase change that has occurred
in the buried tubing. Besides cooling the greenhouse air, this process also heats the greenhouse base. At night, the fan can be run to heat air as it again passes through the buried tubing, thus convectively transferring heat stored in the greenhouse base to the greenhouse atmosphere as the air reenters the greenhouse. In this manner, the subterranean heat storage system can provide both heating and cooling. The SHCS is equipped with dual speed fans to allow for finer temperature control. Experience in Colorado indicates that this system can meet the greenhouse heating and cooling needs for all but approximately 50 days per year. Cogeneration-hybrid heat systems economically cover what is left.
The Perpetual Harvest heating and cooling system design integrates a multi-fuel fired hydronic radiant heating system with the SHCS (primarily for climates without the solar resources of Colorado). The hydronic radiant heating system consists of tubes placed beside the SHCS tubes. This system includes a large water storage tank and is needed only during colder months, storing heat during daytime that can be withdrawn at night or during cloudy days by airflow of the SHCS along the tubes of the radiant heating system. To some extent, the radiant floor heating system also transfers heat into the greenhouse base/floor. Heat is desirable at floor level to keep the root zone warm. As long as roots are warm, plants can withstand air temperatures up to 15°F less than the root zone temperature.
The hydronic radiant heating system is heated by three sources: a solar/thermal system, a co-generating unit, and a Babbington burner. The solar/thermal heating system is essentially a solar and/or wood boiler powered pool heater circulating hot water into the storage tank. The co-gen waste heat systems and Babbington burner are also connected to the radiant heating system as backup heat sources. The Babbington burner burns oil (waste vegetable or motor oil) or biodiesel and can quickly provide a significant amount of heat (the U.S. military heats all the meals served in the field using this system). The co-gen unit provides both heat and electricity and can be powered from a variety of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or methane.
Greenhouse Layout: The Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System can be retrofitted to just about any existing greenhouse design. However, due to low angle of sun in northern winters the optimal PHGS would have a tall northern wall and the planting beds vertically stacked in terraces stepping upward toward the northern wall. Looking externally at the greenhouse from one end it would appear similar to an A frame with the northern wall earth bermed. Ideally, the greenhouse would be built into a south facing hill and include a short southern wall at ground level. Besides terraced beds, it would be possible to apply the verti-grow method that utilizes pots stacked one above the other. It would also be possible to build the terraces out of enclosed concrete fish tanks, thus allowing fish to be raised (aquaponics), providing another income stream.
Temperature/Humidity Control: The Perpetual Harvest control systems are designed to regulate temperature using thermostats, timers, and/or programmable controllers, all with the option for manual override. The energy management systems are operated with the intent of maintaining the desired greenhouse temperature and humidity with the minimum energy input. The greenhouse should be maintained below 60% humidity at all times, if possible.
General temperature control in a northern climate is as follows. The SHCS (Subterranean Heating and Cooling System) is operated at all times, unless its outlet air temperature drops below 55°F . Should the SHCS air outlet temperature drop below ~60°F, the radiant heating system automatically initiates flow, thus transferring its heat to the air in the SHCS tubing, maintaining or increasing the SHCS outlet air temperature. During the mid-morning enhanced growth period of operation, heat addition from solar gain, the CO2 generators, and artificial lights could cause significant heat buildup, especially on sunny days. If such heat buildup causes interior air temperature to reach 96°F, CO2 generation and artificial lighting are automatically terminated and the greenhouse atmosphere is exhausted to the outdoors. After the cool incoming outside air causes interior temperature to drop to 75°F, exhaust fans are stopped and CO2 generation and artificial lighting are reinitiated, provided the three hour enhanced growing period has not reached completion. Subterranean heating operates to provide heat at night and in the morning until needed. Cooler temperatures may be needed to improve fruit set and possibly enhance fruit sweetness. Most berries need cooler night time temperatures to produce fruit, so the Perpetual Harvest system utilizes a solar air conditioning system to draw evening temps down to around 50°F for a short period during hot weather.
Postscript…
At
this time, I am satisfied with the completeness of this paper and
that it can be sent out for review. Although many of the features
and methods in this concept paper may sound untried, research Chris
and I have performed on the Internet indicated that nearly all the
features described here have been tested and proven. However, no
evidence can be found of anyone having applied all these concepts
into one system - not that they couldn't. We both suspect that
greenhouses in Holland operate similar to this system - Holland is a
world leader in greenhouse operation and its greenhouses feed much of
Europe. Unfortunately, we can't find Internet information on Dutch
greenhouses. Perhaps all their greenhouse articles are in Dutch.
I went to considerable effort to reference this document to existing information. Recognize that the description is generic and written for any climate. Certain aspects and features, particularly those related to energy production and management, may not be applicable to our local climate. Also, realize that this document describes all the possible options that can be included. It is unlikely that all the energy systems described would be included in a single design since that would drive up the cost significantly. I realize the document is a bit long, but that seemed to be necessary to adequately describe the system.
I think that at this time, this document needs to be reviewed by people with greenhouse experience. I'm not really sure what they might say - no doubt some will pick holes in it due to its cost of construction - but others might see features that they wished they had in their own greenhouse. In my opinion, simply utilizing the bubble wall insulation system and the subterranean heating and cooling system would be very cost effective, simple to install, and energy efficient. Based on what I have read on these two systems, they alone might meet over 75% of the energy needs of this greenhouse system in our climate - and they require virtually no energy input to operate.
Mark Hoffman 1-31-06
PHASE I
PERPETUAL HARVET GREENHOUSE SYSTEM REFINEMENT AND VALIDATION
OVERVIEW
This proposal is based on building a new greenhouse located where land is made available or retrofitting an existing greenhouse if funding restrictions and opportunity dictate that approach. Either way purchasing land is not included. The assumption is that an agreement can be made with a land owner based on their acquisition of a functional greenhouse and the physical plant to run it independent of the local power grid. If the Phase I greenhouse is to be used for continuing experimentation it would be highly desirable to have it located at a community focused on sustainability and research that supports that goal.
The proposed duration of Phase I is one year with the clock starting when construction begins. It will take three months to finish construction with building or retrofitting the greenhouse the highest priority. Initially the power grid will be the source of supply. PHGS will transition to self-generation when that system comes on line. Building a new or retrofitting an old greenhouse and equipping it can be done in less than a month. In that same time frame the grow beds can be built and populated thus compressing the time it takes to produce fruit. Samples of technologies being considered, such as grow lights and water treatment systems, will be evaluated right away and the best candidate(s) chosen and installed in the finished greenhouse.
The next five months are for experimentation while production ramps up and stabilizes. This time period ends with operations at full capacity. The remaining six months of phase I is for finishing any remaining experimentation required for Phase II while documenting productivity levels. During this time the operation should be self-sustained based on sales. Chris would continue mentoring the personnel involved via phone and email if Phase II design and initial construction require his presence elsewhere. In order to properly document operations cooperative agreements would be forged with Universities in the states involved. Due to the focus on agriculture that many higher education institutions have and the ground breaking nature of PHGS, canvassing Universities for their interest should generate an abundance of offers for participation.
BASELINE PARAMETERS TO INVESTIGATE AND OPTIMIZE
One simple technique that increases production over conventional approaches is vertical growing along the North wall thus eliminating the problem of shading while increasing yield. With vertical growing greenhouse production is increased significantly with three dimensional cubic footage rather than the more typical two dimensional square footage. Because some plants are shade loving vertical growing can also be practiced in some internal locations.
A common greenhouse problem that needs to be addressed during Phase I is keeping the Polyfilm cover properly tensioned as it expands and contracts with temperature changes. It is vulnerable to wind damage if it becomes slack in the summer heat or can be contracted beyond its capacity in the winter cold. Development of a spring loaded tensioner is the answer. Arcosanti in Arizona has already worked this issue and has demonstrated a satisfactory solution to the problem.
A critical aspect to the operation of PHGS is working cooperatively with Mother Nature. That statement means far more than most realize. Its wisdom was long ago demonstrated both culturally and more recently scientifically. An excellent overview of the early studies validating this can be found in the book, The Secret Life of Plants. It was published in 1972, roughly the same time frame that Findhorn in Scotland began operations, www.findhorn.org. Findhorn definitively demonstrated that working consciously with the flora and associated intelligences results in unheard of yields even when dealing with low quality soils. They also pioneered the use of Biodynamic techniques which have eight decades of documented application yielding incredibly successful results. This can be investigated at, www.biodynamics.com. Appendix A gives a good overview of Biodynamics.
That success established Findhorn as a focal point sustainable community which prospers to this day. It also inspired similar efforts in the United States. One that is well documented is the Perelandra Institute, www.perelandra-ltd.com. It is located in Virginia. Chris’s wife took a class at Perelandra. What she learned led to significant refinements in how she and Chris operated their greenhouse as they had a new partner, Mother Nature. This partner was eager to explore cooperative ventures with them. For example, a critical technique for quick turn around propagation is cuttings. Success rates rose dramatically from around 40% to over 95% by following the advice the plant kingdom provided. They also employed the Biodynamics based techniques used at Findhorn resulting in large increases in productivity.
A question sometimes raised is whether or not PHGS’s artificial environment is too removed from nature and hence unnatural. One of the principals behind Perelanda is Machaelle Small Wright. She is an acknowledged expert in this field. She has written: “Anything that has order, organization, and life vitality, is nature.” PHGS certainly fits that definition. It is really a form of garden. On that subject Machaelle writes: “A garden is any environment that is initiated by humans, given its purpose, definition, and direction by humans, and maintained with the help of humans.” Machaelle lists examples of soil-less gardens: A home, a business, classrooms, computers, computer programs, books, a car, and a human body. Given those examples it is difficult if not impossible to come up with anything that has form that would not be considered part of nature nor anything that man builds that would not be considered a garden. However, what mankind creates is seldom accomplished working cooperatively with Mother Nature; hence the lack of balance and thus both vitality and sustainability. Machaelle further states that: “When humans consider solutions for restoring balance to an out-of-balance world, they need only access the intelligence of nature involved for answers. That intelligence contains inherent balance and is fully capable of defining all that is required for reflecting that inherent balance through specific form.” The baseline for PHGS was developed by Chris and his wife working cocreatively with Nature’s Intelligence. That is why we have high confidence it its success.
The baseline approach for PHGS is composed of what is essential to high productivity and hence economic viability. It has been carefully crafted to address five critical parameters: Light, heat, water, nutrients, and atmosphere. For maximum production these five critical elements have to be maintained at optimal levels. PHGS cannot have a “Down day” as they reduce productivity to small percentages above industry standards. Sustained stimulation yields productivity dramatically above the norm, the five to eight times PHGS is capable of. Lights are required, even in the summer, as a few cloudy days in a row can dramatically stunt optimum growth. Sustained heat increases metabolic rate if every other parameter is being met. Water supplies are likewise controlled so that plants dry out two or three times per day. This vaporizes the nutrients in the root zone thus approximating aeroponics growing which is scientifically accepted as the most efficient system. However, it suffers from technical problems because organic solutions cause misters to clog; otherwise PHGS would take that approach. Controlling the atmosphere includes increased CO2 levels because the plants take in CO2 and expel oxygen. This is similar to Olympic class athletes who train at high altitudes to increase their cardiovascular capability thus enabling them to outperform others in lower altitudes with higher oxygen contents. When all five parameters are optimized nutrient uptake is dramatically increased along with growth. Thus stems grow significantly more fruit production nodes in less space.
These elements are optimized to exponentially increase growth rates in order to achieve large increases in yields. Without their counterparts in place each parameter is at levels which would burn, stunt, or outright kill the plants. It is only when all operate simultaneously in a balanced fashion that the plants produce at dramatically increased levels based on their needs being abundantly met. It is to their advantage to do so as fruit is their means of propagation. Optimize to meet their needs and they will meet ours. That is the philosophy of PHGS in an organic nutshell.
PHASE I SUPPLIMENTS FOR STELLAR RESULTS
Additional technologies which would further leverage plant growth use audible and electromagnetic stimulation and in one case biofeedback. A technology Penny Kelly was very successful with was Sonic Bloom© which combines audio stimulation while applying organic nutrients to dramatically increase plant growth. Their web site: www.relfe.com/sonic_bloom.html documents results of plants as much as five times their normal size with comparable gains in yield. Sonic Bloom© pioneered practices will work well with the organic nutrient solutions used in PHGS.
Lee Patterson is a retired farmer with expertise at energizing water. He lives in the Chicago area and is well known douser, vermaculture, and microbe expert. He is very interested in working on the PHGS project. He has this to say about the subject of vermaculture and microbes: “Microbial life is a very big team player. The digestive tract of the earthworm is a mobile laboratory. It acts as the research and development center for what the soil needs based on the raw materials that are available. Their blending supports life. Earthworms have quite a family history promoting vitality! The ancient Chinese recognized and honored their lowly worm friends. Today, with high tech, we lose awareness that vermaculture and microbes are synonymous with life. These dedicated employees only promote life, never complain, work long hours, give excrement containing the required microbes, and always act as true team players. They are one of nature’s marvelous systems.”
Japan’s Dr Emoto has also extensively researched water and processes that affect how it performs, http://www.life-enthusiast.com/twilight/research_emoto.htm. His research proves that consciously working with water results in the desired structural changes. All of life interacts with us in an analogous fashion. We are thus again back to the concept of working with the intelligences involved. Once we have the awareness of what we need to ask for, working cooperatively work with Mother Nature using Perelandra Techniques provides the ability to monitor and energize the water, soil, vermaculture, plants, in fact, the entire operation as there is no part that is not coexistent with Mother Nature.
POTENTIAL RESULTS
What is proposed here is far beyond industry standards. A normal three season greenhouse takes three months to begin production as plants are grown from seeds. It also ends production ramping down as plants pass maturity and are not replaced. Thus a three season greenhouse only produces fruit at top end production for half a year at best. Economics like this generally restrict greenhouses to high end crops and often just flowers. Three to four pounds per square foot are the industry norm for the low end of greenhouse operations. With full utilization of their products the petrochemical industry touts results of eight to twelve pounds per square foot. We contacted a certified organic hydroponics solution company and they reported customers with production levels double that at 25 pounds per square foot. With year-round production PHGS easily takes the best that hydro-organics achieves and doubles it while reducing energy costs. This is conservative based on the previously mentioned Cornell University results of productivity 23 times that reported by California outdoor commercial growers while decreasing water usage by well over 30 times: www.verticalfarm.com/plans-2k6_eco.htm.
During Phase I baseline development PHGS incorporates sustained year long operations, vertical growing techniques, Biodynamics, Perelandra based cooperative growing, higher temperatures and CO2 augmentation. Stellar augmentation during Phase I adds Sonic Bloom© and energization aimed at the total environment while monitoring and optimizing the operation from the macro to the micro levels. The consequence is organic production well beyond industry standards and the PHGS baseline. Thus PHGS production estimates five to eight times what the petrochemical based industry claims are more than reasonable and in fact, conservative. Such expectations are in keeping with the Findhorn experience where extraordinary results were documented. Findhorn only explored outdoor growing using Biodynamics and what we have characterized as Perelandra based techniques. PHGS at stellar levels brings far more to the table with commensurate gains.
A pregnant woman carries her child in a sack filled with ambionic fluid; essentially salt water. That fluid has a salt content that matches the ocean perfectly including all 96 elements in the same ratios. What is good for children is essential for all of us. Plants expected to grow and produce robustly require a vigorous supply of nutrition; a balanced mix of all of the 96 elements found in the ocean. Nutritional plant teas which provide this full oceanic spectrum are traditionally based on organic material provided by Indore composting, an approach which takes two weeks. We can also enhance our compost by using Biozome products, www.biozome.com; a microbial mix of natural life forms tailored to generate a vibrant organic tea in 8-10 hours.
What will the resultant produce be like? It has been established by a number of pioneers, for instance, Dr. Norman Walker, Dr. Ann Wigmore, Dr. Gary Null, and Colonel Bradford, that debilitating illness can be reversed. In every instance they were faced with a personal health crisis which they turned around by changing their diet to nutrient dense organic foods. Even hair loss was reversed and gray hair returned to its normal color. There were similar gains in energy levels, productivity, and longevity. Dr. Deepak Chopra has documented in his books and Dr. Richard Schultz has experienced first hand how the body regenerates when it is fed healthy foods. Dr. Chopra has studied cultures where people live well beyond 100 years because of healthy lifestyles and diets. Based on his studies, premature aging could be characterized as being less than fully vital before the age of 100.
Americans live in the best fed nation in the world. The majority of us are chronically overweight. There is considerable medical data indicating that aging is really a consequence of malnutrition. Aging is thus a sign of malnutrition. Being overweight could also be a sign of malnutrition. It doesn’t matter how much food you eat if it does not contain what your body needs. Americans are literally stuffing themselves while starving to death. Those listed in the preceding paragraph reversed the debilitating effects of aging by eating nutrient dense healthy foods. Healthy food that was readily available decades ago no longer exits in quantity on this planet because of the degradation of the soils from farming practices and widespread pollution. The phase I PHGS will produce Super Energized Nutrient Dense (SEND) foods that are organic. The taste and quality of healthy food is palatably different from the cardboard competition. That alone sells it. Once its healthy benefits are accepted the puplic will crave what PHGS produces. You want to help someone, just SEND food!
Another indicator of how healthy foods produced this way was Penny Kelly’s results. The brix levels in produce are indications of how well the plant was nourished. What Penny discovered was that high brix level organic produce tastes better and has a shelf life measured in months and even years rather than days or at most weeks. PHGS will be filled with the best quality food immersed in an energized environment never before experienced within any of our lifetimes. It will be a biome with soil, water, air, and plants all synergistically invigorated at levels that have not been previously achieved. The experience of being in PHGS biospace will likely be a feeling of energized peace similar to that experienced on mountain tops or in old growth forests. Just entering such a space will feel wonderful and be therapeutic, let alone eating the highly sought after product. The tour industry could easily become a significant source of revenue. There are also education grants available for tours of unique industries. That revenue could be used to turn the facility into a world class teaching environment.
One final possibility needs to be noted, mankind’s experience regarding plant growth has naturally been based on observation. The industrial revolution and the more recent proliferation of the chemical industry have resulted in a degrading of our global ecosphere. Our wheat does not have the vitality of the wheat grown in Ancient Egypt which sprouted after it lay dormant for thousands of years. Humans began increasing in size as our diet provided the nutrition for greater growth. In cultures where nutrition is lacking the population is smaller in stature. If nutrition is significantly deficient then many functions become stunted including brain capacity. Full expression of our genetic code is contingent upon properly sustained growth. It is very possible that what we see expressed today in the plant kingdom is not fully reflective of its potential. It is also possible that not just size may increase, but new energetic structures may emerge when vegetation is grown in a fully supportive high energy environment. The results give us benefits beyond calculations of yield capacity. Flora could exhibit new forms of expression and when consumed, we may gain commensurately.
INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH
All of the advanced techniques and technologies discussed here have been included for research purposes in the Phase I proposal. Normal approaches to research would dictate extensive protocols, controls, complex greenhouse design creating many separated zones, and many time consuming experiments given the number of parameters being evaluated. It would take years if not decades to do justice to such rigor. Our purpose is to advance the art of food production, not the production of scientific research. Although short duration comparison studies will be conducted if they are found necessary, the vast majority of the scientific method is not required because immediate feedback is obtained using Perelandra techniques. When two approaches yield comparable responses the one chosen will be based on economic factors. Thus an optimal mix is rapidly arrived at within the short duration of the Phase I effort. Consequently the Phase II effort will be in a timely position to incorporate the lessons learned during Phase I.
The Phase II greenhouse will also be capable of supporting continuing research as new questions are raised. That is because it will be built to accommodate the production of a variety of foods and thus have many independent zones. That flexibility accommodates future research requirements thus continually evolving understanding and resulting growing techniques. Greenhouses could be optimized to grow exclusively avocados, lemons, oranges, bananas and so on every day of the year.
There are many medicinal plants that currently are in short supply. Any biosphere from the Amazon to Tibet can be simulated. Both the Phase I and Phase II greenhouses can support research and development that optimizes growing techniques and expands the variety of greenhouse compatible crops that can be grown profitably. Thus PHGS makes it feasible to grow health industry champions such as Goji Berries or Noni fruit which yield high value drinks, or Wild Oregano which yields high value oil.
Investigating the plants used by many indigenous cultures will undoubtedly yield a substantial list of rare specimens worth pursuing because of their nutritional and health benefits. Patenting needs to be avoided and is not necessary. Native Americans have withheld much of their knowledge as the legal system has been used as a weapon to take it away from them. Intellectual properties such as these need to be documented in order to make them part of the public domain thus precluding patenting. Then the real value will be found in cost effective production of plants with desirable properties which the public has formerly been denied access to because of scarcity and mistrust. Native Americans and other cultures with rich medicinal heritages will then have a safe outlet for treasured knowledge. Chris and I, plus others we know, have numerous connections into Western and Eastern Indigenous cultures making it feasible to explore richly rewarding possibilities. This becomes another potential industry for Native Americans and the reservations they occupy as well as other cultures globally that struggle for a subsistence living.
POTENTIALS IN COMMON TO MOST LOCATIONS
Regional buyers big enough to absorb the entire PHGS output are ones like the Feed Milwaukee Project or Goodness Greeness, www.goodnessgreeness.com, the largest organic distributor in the Midwest. Whole Foods would be a national buyer with similar clout. All of these would be very interested in a steady year-round supply of the highest quality produce they have ever seen. The downside is that sales price would be wholesale thus reducing our profit while being dependent upon only one or two customers. This approach does not seem reasonable until PHGS produce has an optimized operation and established reputation thus commanding a premium price.
The University connection is a further means for generating documented results which validate PHGS’s productivity. A second way of generating interest and customers is to videotape everything from erecting the greenhouse to harvesting mature fruit. Getting the word out becomes a full circle effort involving all of the groups interested in its success such as Nancy Bentley’s Food Circles including her “Seeds of Health” mini PodCasts. More about Nancy’s work can be found at: www.TrulyCultured.com, www.theFoodCircles.com, and www.FullCirclesCommunity.com. She will produce ecourses which can also be made into flyers for educational advertising given out to many groups and at PHGS to customers. This information becomes the basis for a newsletter revolving around nutrition and sustainability. All of this information can be made available on a PHGS web site the development of which can be funded by the sales of produce during development. It is the job of the Market Manager to ensure the best use of produce sales for marketing purposes prior to going commercial.
The best source of employees to work the PHGS greenhouse and its market is local residents. They have the knowledge the public needs exposure to. Thus the entire operation becomes an economic spark plug for whatever community hosts it. It also becomes the focal point for other business opportunities such as sales of ethanol and diesel derived from plant based sources.
Produce that is not saleable, either because of damage or because it didn’t sell in a timely fashion, can be processed by microbial culturing into nutrient dense high value stable products that the community becomes culturally identified with. This is the same sort of regional differentiation found all over Europe where each town has artisinal specialty foods that it is known for such as sauerkrauts, drinks, cheeses, and breads. Highly marketable products like this empower communities to develop specialty shops, café’s, bed and breakfast’s and other food and ambiance based enterprises. This increases the local economic multiplier as the money circulates in the community thus stimulating its’ economy.
Thus PHGS becomes the basis upon which an entire community becomes both nutritionally and economically self sustaining. It is therefore highly desirable to accomplish PHGS in a manner consistent with local sustainability thus making it a model that other communities can emulate. On that basis selling the produce locally may be the only method philosophically consistent with building long term sustainability.
In 2007 a description of a Greenhouse village was developed that encapsulates part of the potential being discussed here, http://www.zonneterp.nl/english/index_uk.html. In the United States the average distance farm produce is trucked is 3,300 miles. By locating the greenhouse in the community the Netherlands’ Greenhouse village model cuts that distance to less than 2 miles, the maximum distance heat can be transferred. That is one thousandth the fuel intensive US standard. In the Netherlands 10% of the national consumption of natural gas is the greenhouse industry. Greenhouse village turns the horticultural sector from a natural gas consumer into sustainable energy provider. Greenhouse village integrates rural with urban, farming with community. With this approach 1 hectare of greenhouse can heat up to 100 houses using predominately a solar/geothermal approach. The greenhouse also supplies tap water, treats wastewater, and produces electricity. The whole complex is cost effective and self-sufficient in energy and water while recycling nutrients and carbon. As a decentralized supplier it provides robustness at a time when globally the dominate approach of centralized national distribution of commodities has proven vulnerable to disruption. Greenhouse village was nominated for the prestigious French Altran Award. France, Turkey, and China have joined the Netherlands in expressing interest in building communities based on the concept. The Greenhouse village concept would be even more productive if it incorporated PHGS concepts.
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNTIES CREATED
The Phase I PHGS will be documented on the Internet so others can build a similar greenhouse. However, there are many advanced techniques employed here in a complex system that requires operating in ways contrary to established standards. A school will be needed to mentor operators in the techniques Chris employs. This becomes a new industry along with Phase II greenhouse sales. The Phase II greenhouse has no competition and answers the need of sustainability for communities globally. Its sales potential is huge. Both the Phase I and Phase II greenhouses support research into sustainability issues for accelerated research and development with fast track implementation. As PHGS proliferates other communities will want to become involved in research of this nature. The resulting research and development consortium becomes another major industry with global impact. PHGS would be used to optimize conditions for growing avocados, lemons, oranges, bananas, etc., all of which are major markets. The greatest profit potential for any place PHGS is located is selling ideas and packaging them for other communities. PHGS based enterprises have an enormous potential as a keystone industry. They can become the heart of every community focused on sustainability that is located near a major market.
PHASE II
OPTIMIZED DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM FOR COMMERCIAL SALES
A key design criteria is a structure which gracefully accommodates the optimized PHGS requirements with ten times the life expectancy. It would be engineered to sustain operations even under extreme conditions. Included would be custom built computer control systems, packing equipment, and every other required function and system incorporated internally in order to create a self contained turnkey greenhouse. It would be earth bermed to maximize insulation and built with structural steel and concrete for long term durability.
Support systems would be subterranean including the potential for underground production should surface conditions preclude sunlight based growth. A proven tilt-up-wall construction technique can be seen at this web site: www.hollowtop.com/cls_html/tiltup.htm. The result is cost effective with an ascetically pleasing exterior. That improves its acceptability for location close to housing. Being earth bermed it could be incorporated into a park like setting as the North exposure would appear more like a small hill with a structure built into it. That side could be landscaped and even have trees as long as they were positioned to preclude shadowing the greenhouse. As operations are totally self contained only an access road would be required to move product to its customers.
The cost of constructing the greenhouse would be approximately ten times that of a conventional greenhouse structure. That expense would be recouped in a few short years based on the reduction in cost of operations. An optimized design like this could potentially yield a substantial drop in the cost of operations in comparison to the Phase I PHGS. Its major benefit is viable operation when all other approaches become untenable.
The initial layout indicates that the floor of the greenhouse would be terraced starting 18 feet from the South wall. Terracing for vertical growing could, for example, be in six foot runs with six foot rises up to a North wall 42 feet high as dictated by truss angle. The space underneath the rising floor would house exposed plumbing, pumps, aquaponics, mushroom growing, composing, water and nutrient storage, office space and an insulated nursery. The North wall could also be adjacent to additional subterranean structures built to accommodate underground production should that become necessary. Aluminum trusses would slope down from the North wall to the South stem wall at an angle determined by latitude. If that angle is 45 degrees the resulting truss would be 48-50 feet long. That is the longest that is commercially available and readily transportable. The floor on cross-section would be 40 to 50 feet from the South stem wall to the high North wall. The 45 degree slope is just an example as it would be varied to maximize solar capture based on location. The length of the greenhouse would be determined by the customer thus sizing it to desired production levels.
All of the walls would be earth bermed to minimize heat transfer. The entire structure would be sunk into the ground eight or ten feet with the only access on an end wall where a concrete ramp would bridge between external grade and internal floor levels. Additional small emergency exits would be provided as required by code.
The Phase II proposal cannot be fully developed until Phase I has yielded enough answers to know what will be required. Its design is complex enough that an architectural engineer is required to produce it. Damiaan Kletter has those credentials and has already begun work on the Phase II plans. He is experienced at building subterranean structures. As Phase I progresses and the Phase II design unfolds a proposal will be developed to cover that logical next step.
APPENDIX A
BIODYNAMICS OVERVIEW
Source of this information is Wikipedia:
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that treats farms as unified and individual organisms, emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a self-nourishing system without external inputs insofar as this is possible given the loss of nutrients due to the export of food.
Regarded by some as the first modern ecological farming system, biodynamic farming has much in common with other organic approaches, such as emphasizing the use of manures and composts and excluding of the use of artificial chemicals on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include the use of fermented herbal and mineral preparations as compost additives and field sprays and the use of an astronomical sowing and planting calendar. Biodynamics originated out of the work of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the spiritual philosophy anthroposophy.
History: The development of biodynamic agriculture began in 1924 with a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by Rudolf Steiner at Schloss Koberwitz in what was then Silesia, Germany, (now in Poland east of Wroclaw). The course was held in response to a request by farmers who noticed degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers. An agricultural research group was subsequently formed to test the effects of biodynamic methods on the life and health of soil, plants and animals. In the United States, the Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association was founded in 1938 as a New York state corporation.
In Australia the first biodynamic preparations were made by Ernesto Genoni in Melbourne in 1927 and by Bob Williams in Sydney in 1939. Since the 1950s research work has continued at the Biodynamic Research Institute (BDRI) in Powelltown, near Melbourne Australia under the direction of Alexei Podolinsky. In 1989 Biodynamic Agriculture Australia was established, as a not for profit association. It has well over 1100 members and has local and regional groups throughout Australia. It publishes the biodynamic journal News Leaf quarterly and is the largest organic growers association in Australia.
Today biodynamics is practiced in more than 50 countries worldwide. The University of Kassel has a dedicated Department of Biodynamic Agriculture
Biodynamic method of farming: Biodynamic agriculture conceives of the farm as an organism, a self-contained entity with its own individuality. "Emphasis is placed on the integration of crops and livestock, recycling of nutrients, maintenance of soil, and the health and well being of crops and animals; the farmer too is part of the whole." Cover crops, green manures and crop rotations are used extensively.
APPENDIX B
SOURCES OF SUPPLY & SITES TO INVESTIGATE
GREENHOUSE:
http://www.conleys.com/commercial.htm
http://www.conleys.com/contact.htm
ON
DEMAND POWER:
60 KW gen
set
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200312118_200312118
60
kw
generator
http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=508
transfer
switch
http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=535
GROW
LIGHTS:
http://www.led-grow-master.com Point
of Contact: Jonathan D. Cardinale
LED Grow-Master
Global LLC, 541.504.6360 Office,
541.610.1973
Fax
admin@led-grow-master.com
Just6watts@led-grow-master.com
Here's a site for
lighting layout, if you want to grow tomatoes in Canadian January
light conditions (thanks Marc)
http://www.hydrofarm.com/light_layout/Default.htm
BACKUP
HEATING:
Here's a site for
sizing the backup heating system
http://www.firstrays.com/heater_calculator.htm
. The bubble greenhouse will use about 15% of this when operating at
optimum growing temperatures, and usually zero energy when just
maintaining above freezing temperatures.
ENERGIZED
WATER:
Energized water is a keynote in the PHGS theme. Although there are many technologies available on the market to energize water, some even aimed at the greenhouse market, the evidence is that working with the natural intelligences involved is potentially even more effective and certainly less expensive. This phenomena has been well researched and documented by Dr. Emoto. It is essential for the water to be purified of contaminants. That can be accomplished with technologies that are readily available. Energizing it then becomes a matter of focus and cooperation.
VIBRATIONAL BASED GROWTH
Sonic Bloom: http://www.relfe.com/sonic_bloom.html
MISCELLANEOUS:
2 layers EVA greenhouse plastic, (Growers Requisite) $500/layer
Here's sites for some
of many poly-lock devices
http://www.usgr.com/greenhouse-coverings/polylock.html
or http://www.hydro-gardens.com/polylock.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solaroof/
http://www.earthtoys.com/emagazine.php?issue_number=03.08.01&article=finch
http://www.tdc.ca/bubblegreenhouse.htm
http://www.allengreenhouses.com/about.htm
http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac/research/SouthPoleChamber/index.htm
http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac/
http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac/photolib/index.htm
plant
deficiencies
http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/min-def/lettuce.htm
forced
aeration of
compost
http://www.magicsoil.com/MSREV2/Vision.htm
building underground (Phase II)
http://terrasante.org/terran/
http://www.earthsheltereddome.org/
http://www.earthshelter.com/
http://www.rmrc.org/pahs/dome/build1.htm
http://www.monolithic.com/plan-design/belowgrade/
http://www.gmtoday.com/features/home/homestory095.asp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/villages/nettleton_underground_house.shtml
http://www.ourproperty.co.uk/guides/the_wonders_of_living_underground_guide.html
http://www.sustainablebuild.co.uk/ConstructionUnderground.html
this
one is for fun:
http://www.crystalinks.com/hollowearth.html