A Sunday visit to the McMurdo Greenhouse

After Sunday brunch a friend and I hiked up to the back part of town and found the greenhouse. We had never been there and fortunately the town 'farmer' was watering his crops so we had an excellent tour. It is an amazing place!

The funny thing is that I thought about my neighbor's house down the street where I live in Cape Canaveral. The previous owner had turned it into a pot growing house and was doing quite an operation until he was caught. As I was touring the greenhouse I was checking out the large lamps, water and power required with all the associated plumbing and wiring. Yes, this would all work in a few bedrooms! The marihuana was grown in pots with dirt whereas this greenhouse uses the hydroponics method.

Tomatoes.

Lettuce.

Ready to harvest. From seed planting to dinner table is about 7 weeks.

No dirt is used. The plants sit in trays with the roots and water underneath brown screens.

The roots grow through a hole cut in the screen and into the water trough.

Radishes.

The 400 watt lights are on 16 hours a day. The Griswolds are in Antarctica!

About 20-25 pounds of lettuce are harvested each week producing 6 large bowls. This gives us 1-2 salads per week.

Very bright lights. The walls are wrapped in reflective material.

Experimenting with LED lights.

A nice temperature. The humidly is 40%. That sure felt good since we live in less than 1%.

The seeds are planted in a fiber type material.

My Hawaiian flower shirt blends in well.

There are seven varieties of lettuce that grow well here.

Roots below the brown screen. This is the watering trough.

Cucumbers.

More tomatoes.

Basil.

The nursery lettuce at one week.

Wow! Grown in Antarctica!

Bell peppers.

Brussels sprouts.

The last of the lettuce for the season. The Greenhouse farmer is leaving at Win-Fly, the last week in August. At that time the greenhouse will be closed until next winter.

Without exhaust fans the temperature would reach 140 degF.

This container is filled twice a week. It takes over 400 gallons per week for watering.

Nice camouflage. Too bright for my eyes!

Cherry reds are ready.

Root structure.

What a cool place to visit. We are welcome anytime to sit and read, exhale CO2, and enjoy the smells, green and light.

The greenhouse is very expensive to operate. In fact there has been times when the contractor has wanted to shut the operation down. But it certainly is a huge morale boost which is really needed here.

Sunday afternoon I went for a short walk to watch another layer of water being pumped onto the ice pier (see previous 'this and that' post).  Then I walked to Hut Point. I don't know how cold it was but I ended up running back to my dorm because of it. I had all my extreme cold weather gear on but I was almost totally frozen. In fact I could not open the rear door at my dorm. Fortunately someone came out and I got in. I just couldn't grasp and turn the door knob. Back in my room I went through the painful thawing process. I can't believe the pain a body part goes through when thawing. As the body is re-warmed, the nerves come back to life and this is very painful! About an hour later I was warm again. No wonder I hardly ever see anyone else walking around.

A small storm swept through McMurdo yesterday July 20th. A gale brought along temperatures in the -60's. As they say in town "it was blowing and snowing".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysdVGAbDTio

A link to a 1.5 minute video walking from my dorm to dinner Friday at 5.

This and that

I have been here five months now and with an 'off the ice' date of October 8, I have three more to go. At that time it will be spring in New Zealand with improving weather for my planned bicycle tour. This will give me 8 months on the ice which is an entire winter season as the summer is 4 months long.

Often times life is a real struggle here and I seem to be slowing down. Outside activities are dangerous as it is too cold, windy, and dark to do any kind of hiking outside of town. People here still can't believe that I hiked up Observation Hill two weeks ago. There are no more recreation trips posted and other town activities have been reduced to movies and occasional bar parties. Since I am not a bar person I continue to watch a few movies but also have been reading more. During a glacier hike two Sundays ago I sprained my right ankle after rolling my foot inward several times. I suppose it wasn't too smart to walk that route and distance in the dark. There was a little light but not much. As a result of this I passed on volleyball and the treadmill last week. This worked out well though as now I am 'biking' more and I do need to get into better biking shape. I visited the doctor who gave me an ankle brace to wear during physical activities.

I along with a few others volunteered to be town pisten bully drivers so last week we received advanced pisten bully training along with an ice navigation course. It was fun and interesting as it is always good to get out of town and explore. You never know when you will get stuck somewhere in a whiteout as the weather can become violent in minutes.


Air Drops: It used to be that there was a midwinter airdrop to bring in mail and freshies. This was discontinued many years ago due to cost and weather conditions. Last year a winter-over suffered an appendicitis in early July so an emergency air lift was performed. She was safely evacuated and treated in Christchurch. During the flight preparation there was time to load freshies so for the rest of the winter McMurdo had fresh fruit, vegetables, and new movies. The word around town is that someone needs to get sick and airlifted out. So far there have been no 'volunteers'.


Food: Another crate of granny smith apples were found! They are still good with only minimal brown spots. Fresh eggs ran out two weeks ago. I am surprised at how long the eggs did last as they are stored just like at home. The galley now uses mixed frozen bags of eggs. The eggs had already been cracked, mixed and then frozen. Fresh milk was gone months ago but the powered milk is okay on cereal. We continue to have fresh lettuce and cucumbers about once a week. But the 'salad police' are cracking down on those who take a full plate. I confess to that but a fresh salad really puts a smile on my face especially when it is served with a large variety of fresh homemade salad dressings made with fresh herbs from the greenhouse. The galley also makes fresh yogurts for breakfast. I have heard that this galley crew has been the best in recent years. Fresh breads are made daily. There is such a variety and include my favorite dark bread with lots of seeds and nuts. People have asked me why I went vegetarian. With all the choices available it is so easy and satisfying. The chefs serve many international vegan dishes.


Ice Pier: A new ice pier is now under construction in Winter Bay Quarters. The old one broke away. It is a very interesting process. A few weeks ago the ice was measured at three feet. Snow was then scooped up and used to make a berm on a large portion. Salt water was then pumped onto the ice at 3-4 inches deep then left to freeze. After a few days the resulting salt is skimmed off and another layer of water is applied. As more layers are applied the 'pier' sinks and the layering continues until the pier is about 15 feet thick. At that time the pier is usable to on and offload the supply ship that arrives once per year in February. Since we have had such a windy winter the ice didn't set up until a few weeks ago. This is the only place in the world where an ice pier can be constructed - fascinating.

McMurdo's new ice pier under construction. Time lapsed photography as it is really dark. Scott's Discovery Hut is to the far left.

I ventured out into the cold Sunday as another layer of water was being applied. The saltwater is pumped and moved around with bulldozers.

I was able to take 3 time-exposed pictures with my camera before my hand and camera froze.

The bulldozers are moving back up from the bay. After this I walked to Hut Point and could see pretty solid ice on McMurdo Sound. There is more and more light every day.

Thursday July 19th: This morning at 0550 as I walked to the galley for breakfast I did my usual look up to greet the Southern Cross. To my surprise the entire overhead skies of McMurdo were filled with a beautiful green aurora. The start of a nice day since it has been snowing and windy all week. It will be short lived however as we are forecast in the -60's.

Regional Summary	7/19/2012 4:53:45 AM
A very nice day today with generally light winds and few clouds. Temperatures fall dramatically tonight then clouds increase and snow develops by morning. Temperatures rebound tomorrow but wind and snow make for poor weather most of the day. Stay Warm McMurdo......

Local weather map.