It is a slight mischaracterization to describe a sealed room with no natural light in the middle of the station as a “Greenhouse”, but that is the name that has stuck. The station is typically closed for 8 months of the year, which means no planes in or out, which means that nothing perishable will be around at the end of winter (eggs usually run out some time in June). Nothing, that is, except what we can grow in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse is a hydroponic system, which mean that it flows nutrient rich water over the roots of the various plants. As it turns out, this is enough to get everything growing and produce an enormous amount and variety of food. We can grow everything from mizuna to cucumbers to pepper trees to even strawberries. The cucumbers and bok choi are especially productive. All of the plants take rook in some rock wool and are then transferred to the main system.

The greenhouse is maintained by volunteers from the crew – often from science, as they tend to have the most flexible schedules. Maintenance includes checking nutrient levels and the pH of the various systems, adding chemicals as needed, harvesting, and planting new plants. Depending on the productivity, this can add up to several hours a day, or more if something goes wrong (Typically a flood cause by a root clogging a drain.)

Some of the favorite harvests were the peppers and cucumbers – both took quite some time to become productive plants, but they lasted several months and made plenty of food. The hot peppers were extremely spicy though. The cucumbers were by far the most productive by weight, but the leafy greens like the mizuna and kale were probably the most popular to make salads and the like. Aside from the strawberries (which did not produce many actual strawberries), fruit typically cannot grow in the greenhouse – it takes too long to get a fruit plant to a productive life phase, and the systems are regularly emptied and cleaned.

One final benefit of this specific room was the humidity – the entire station besides the greenhouse and sauna is at approximately 0% humidity. But these two rooms can provide respite, and the greenhouse is the only one you can read in. If you find you have some free time at NPX, I highly recommend helping grow the plants.