I was surprised to read today that underground greenhouses have been around for thirty years.

The Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. It is also home to eight underground greenhouses. Each greenhouse is approximately 80 feet long and covered by a translucent roof that let’s light in. The plants are on pallets on the floor, reached by a short walk down the stairs. This structure “is bursting with life – pallets of vivid microgreens, potato plants growing from hay bales and planters full of thick heads of Swiss chard and pak choi.”

They use geothermal energy “to keep a stable year-round temperature of about 52F, and some use a series of tubes that capture and circulate heat from deeper underground. At the same time, the greenhouses absorb and bank heat from the sun.”

If you want to read more about this undertaking, I suggest you click on the following link:

An Indigenous reservation has a novel way to grow food – below the earth’s surface

In the meantime, I am going to grab the shovel and get started.