I’ve often thought about the fact that most food into places like Barrow, Alaska is flown in, and wondered whether it would be practical to set up local infrastructure like this to grow food locally (with “practical” meaning “the CapEx of doing so would be repaid in logistical OpEx saved over a small number of years.”)
Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
11–20 of 103 posts
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#12I’ve often thought about the fact that most food into places like Barrow, Alaska is flown in, and wondered whether it would be practical to set up local infrastructure like this to grow food locally (with “practical” meaning “the CapEx of doing so would be repaid in logistical OpEx saved over a small number of years.”)
food security in times of disaster or emergency are other good reasons for investing in local food supply. Also, diversification of the economy. But ya, it needs to make some economic sense too.
We grow a lot of food in hothouses in Canada...
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#13I grow a few things in a (relatively small) suburban garden in London. My experience so far with fruit normally associated with warmer climates:
Grapes - grow very well outside, lots of tasty fruit, sensitive to mildew
Figs - grow well outside, fast, but not much fruit yet
Citrus (lemon, lime and kafir lime) - Any frost is damaging, can only grow in pots and bring in during winter. Grows slowly and doesn't produce much fruit
Olives - grow very well outside, don't produce much fruit
Stauntonia - grow very well outside, no fruit so far
Hardy kiwi - grows well outside, produces some fruit
Normal kiwi - grow very slowly, no fruit, sensitive to frost
I would like to try pomegranates, I've seen some people grow them in London
The best croppers in my garden by far are non-tropical fruit - cherry and apple trees.
I think polytunnels (maybe with some kind of light transmitting insulation) and geothermal heating would be the way to go these days in northern climates if trying to grow cold sensitive fruit in larger amounts.
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#14I’ve often thought about the fact that most food into places like Barrow, Alaska is flown in, and wondered whether it would be practical to set up local infrastructure like this to grow food locally (with “practical” meaning “the CapEx of doing so would be repaid in logistical OpEx saved over a small number of years.”)
food security in times of disaster or emergency are other good reasons for investing in local food supply. Also, diversification of the economy. But ya, it needs to make some economic sense too. We grow a lot of food in hothouses in Canada...
I would love to see the math of geothermal greenhouses powered by renewables versus the carbon footprint of air freight of food. As renewables drive down the cost of electricity, the economics continually shift towards local production versus import.
Outside of Alberta, most of Canada's electrical generation is very low carbon (nuclear and hydro) per electricitymap.org.
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#15This retire engineer in Nebraska has nice setup.
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#16I wonder if hackernews mods keep tabs on people carpet downvoting?
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
food security in times of disaster or emergency are other good reasons for investing in local food supply. Also, diversification of the economy. But ya, it needs to make some economic sense too. We grow a lot of food in hothouses in Canada...
I would love to see the math of geothermal greenhouses powered by renewables versus the carbon footprint of air freight of food. As renewables drive down the cost of electricity, the economics continually shift towards local production versus import. Outside of Alberta, most of Canada's electrical generation is very low carbon (nuclear and hydro) per electricitymap.org.
ya, but I think a lot of commercial greenhouses are heated by natural gas because of lower cost. A quick google found some really interesting stuff regarding alternative (geothermal, biomass) heating specifically designed for greenhouses: https://www.greenhousecanada.com/topic/structures-equipment/...
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#18Wow, this is amazing. The trenches are super cool, but there’s a wealth of info in the article, especially around how they arrived at creeping varieties, and how they cold-hardened lemons by painstakingly moving each successive generation’s seeds further and further north. Really interesting piece.
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would love to see the math of geothermal greenhouses powered by renewables versus the carbon footprint of air freight of food. As renewables drive down the cost of electricity, the economics continually shift towards local production versus import. Outside of Alberta, most of Canada's electrical generation is very low carbon (nuclear and hydro) per electricitymap.org.
ya, but I think a lot of commercial greenhouses are heated by natural gas because of lower cost. A quick google found some really interesting stuff regarding alternative (geothermal, biomass) heating specifically designed for greenhouses: https://www.greenhousecanada.com/topic/structures-equipment/...
Current state, yes! But something we need to get away from (unless methane from bioreactors or landfills is used, in which case burning it is the best form of disposal).
Re: Fruit Trenches: Cultivating Subtropical Plants in Freezing Temperatures
#20I grow a few things in a (relatively small) suburban garden in London. My experience so far with fruit normally associated with warmer climates: Grapes - grow very well outside, lots of tasty fruit, sensitive to mildew Figs - grow well outside, fast, but not much fruit yet Citrus (lemon, lime and kafir lime) - Any frost is damaging, can only grow in pots and bring in during winter. Grows slowly and doesn't produce mu…
I am jealous of your garden