Russ Finch, and his wife, discovered geothermal heating in 1979, and used it to heat, and cool their home. Then they decided to build a greenhouse to take advantage of the stable 52 degree underground temperature, and the available sunshine. He says, " I don't believe in wasting sunshine."
Citrus
Figs
Grapes
Mr. Finch says one citrus tree takes up about an 8 foot circle, and produces around 125 pounds of fruit a year. That adds up to $430 at the local farmers market. It really makes sense to grow fruit locally, rather than trucking it in from 1500 miles away.
Building this greenhouse requires a backhoe to dig the geothermal tunnel.
Two people put the frame together in six hours.
He says, "for the price of a new tractor, nine of these greenhouses could be built."
Mr. Finch states that, "I was a straight D student, and the only class I liked was physics. All of this is High School Physics."
He takes the heat from the peak of the greenhouse, and recirculates it under the ground in the greenhouse. He is effectively storing it there, to be released slowly, therefore no other source of heat is necessary.
A new one he has just started at the cost of about $25K
The price may seem a bit steep, but his greenhouses are 16x80. Small homesteads would not require one anywhere near this size. The town nearby has a population of 140, and he says his greenhouse could supply all of them with fresh produce.
Mr. Finch says, "Organic is the only way to go. The price is the same as growing outside with toxic chemicals."
This gentleman is 85 years old, and when asked about retiring he responded, "not as long as I have this going on. It's getting really interesting now!"
I think this is inspiring. It shows that we don't need huge equipment, and lots of capital to grow food, even on a relatively large scale. As a bonus of his philosophy, he stays as "perpetually young" as the plants he grows.
For more check out Kirsten Dirksen's youtube video above from which this footage was taken.
