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Muttart Conservatory
Muttart Conservatory
This is Edmonton's botanical gardens. It is indoors and has been around for my entire life at least (39 years).
The have an Arid (Desert) Garden
The have an Arid (Desert) Garden
A Sub-Tropical Garden
A Sub-Tropical Garden
And a Tropical Garden
And a Tropical Garden
... that they maintain constantly.
They also have a fourth building where they have "exhibits" in which they change the garden regularly.
In the news...
In the news...
The Corpse Flower - Amorphophallus titanum: A stinky flower that apparently smells like a corpse... yuck!
According to wikipedia, under the 'Cultivation' section; "The titan arum grows in the wild only in the equatorial rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia".
So if this is possible right here in Edmonton, what else can we grow?
Sources: Global Edmonton and Wikipedia.
Oranges in the snow
Oranges in the snow
Please see this gentlemen's website for specifics Alliance Nebraska
Oranges, Lemons, Grapes... and in a place that also gets snow... interesting!!!
What if?
What if?
What if we utilized a similar design?
However, what if instead of our tubes running outside we instead put the tubes under the greenhouse floor within the foundation?
Wouldn't that keep more heat within the building footprint and therefore allow for more thermal energy to gather over time?
One would think so, right?
Can an in ground thermal battery keep enough heat to heat a structure right here in Alberta?
Drake Landing, Okotoks, AB
Drake Landing, Okotoks, AB
See Drake Solar Community of Sothern Alberta for more details.
It is fairly obvious to me that we can grow quite a bit more in Edmonton Alberta than we currently are.
Currently opur greenhouses grow plenty of Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Sweet peppers, some berries, and leafy greens. the problem is that these places are seasonal and our current design in greenhouses typically use incredible amounts of electricity to heat the buildings in spring (when they are propagating plants for the summer), and to cool the greenhouse in the summer (when the sun is hottest creating temperatures that are intolerable for local plant survival).
So how can we beat that requirement for stable food growth to make year round plant growth feasible here in alberta.
The answer is to create all your own energy... or at least most of it.
The minutia
The minutia
Soil Microbiology is what constitutes "Living soil". Living soil contains billions of individual life forms per tablespoon. We call this biologically active topsoil (dirt).
There are various types of life forms that we are concerned with when it comes to creation of beneficial soil life: Nematodes, Fungi, Bacteria, Arthropods, Protozoa, among others.
Some people have categorized the phenomenal diversity of life as Mycorrhizal or Rhizosphere Bacteria, Soil Inoculant, Living soil, Mycko's, to name a few.
All of these can loosely fall within the category of probiotics. Yes! Like in Yogurt...
Ironically it is not only our digestive tracks that work better with these wonderful bits of life.
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