(Project update by: Aditya Narula and Arjun Thakur) We’re excited to share an update on our latest project: creating a time-lapse video of mushroom growth! This journey began with meticulous planning and a clear vision of how we would capture the magic of nature in action. Getting Started After receiving approval for our project, weContinue reading “Capturing Growth: Our Time-Lapse Mushroom Project”
Category Archives: Science and Technology
Enhancing Greenhouse Efficiency with Load Flexibility
In the evolving landscape of sustainable agriculture, controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is playing a pivotal role in ensuring food resiliency. One of the key strategies for optimizing CEA operations is enhancing load flexibility, which allows greenhouses to better manage their energy consumption and integrate more renewable energy sources. Load flexibility in greenhouses refers to theContinue reading “Enhancing Greenhouse Efficiency with Load Flexibility”
PS #18: Extended Break
Today’s Build Day was supposed to be our grand return after our break for the winter. Mind that I said “supposed to.” Unfortunately, it was reported that the winds of the winter had done quite a number on the LEAF garden. The roofs of the several greenhouses were blown off, including ours, and there wasContinue reading “PS #18: Extended Break”
PS #17: Wrapping the Greenhouse Pt. 2
Recovering from our failure from last Build Day, we were ready to tackle the shrink wrap cover again. Because the heat contracts the wrap at just the location it is applied, it pulls the surrounding parts of the shrink wrap in. The process of properly shrinking around the whole dome is quite delicate as itContinue reading “PS #17: Wrapping the Greenhouse Pt. 2”
PS #16: Wrapping the Greenhosue
Today is an exciting day! We finally get to cover the greenhouse with the shrink wrap. For any greenhouse to work, you need insulation to help stabilize the temperature. We chose to use shrink wrap because it allows us a greater degree of freedom when covering our uniquely shaped greenhouse. The way shrink wrap worksContinue reading “PS #16: Wrapping the Greenhosue”
PS #14: ACWD Interviews
Build Day this week had a performative twist. Aman, our project manager, alerted us to the ACWD WaterClips Student Video Contest. This is a contest where middle and high schoolers send in videos about chosen topics under water conservation to the Alameda County Water District. While some of us carried out tasks like dismantling planterContinue reading “PS #14: ACWD Interviews”
PS #15: How Much Food can the Hydroponics System Grow?
When you create a system, such as our hydroponics greenhouse, you want to plan it out with a model first. For our model, we will just be looking at how much food the hydroponics system should theoretically be able to produce in a year. First, we need to find the value of all our variablesContinue reading “PS #15: How Much Food can the Hydroponics System Grow?”
PS #13: Mini Hydroponics
Today, we deepened our understanding of hydroponics by creating a scaled-down version of our hydroponics system. Using smaller PVC pipes with pre-drilled holes, we set out to model the entire system. This allowed us to visualize and analyze the flow of water throughout the entire completed system and how efficiently water would reach each plantContinue reading “PS #13: Mini Hydroponics”
PS #12: Hydroponics Explained
When it came to designing our greenhouse, we had some ambitious goals: to be space-efficient, water-efficient, and energy-efficient. We realized that the best way to achieve these goals was by incorporating hydroponics into our system. Hydroponics isn’t just a trend in modern agriculture; it’s a revolutionary method that aligns with our goals of sustainability andContinue reading “PS #12: Hydroponics Explained”
PS #10: Upgrading The Greenhouse
Today, we focused on furthering the greenhouse, making a proper entrance for it, and starting to put together the hydroponics system. To start, we had to make a doorframe to eventually put to the door in. To achieve this, we used the left over planter box wood and cut it to the measurements of theContinue reading “PS #10: Upgrading The Greenhouse”
Climate Roots 