In August of 2008 students from Sir Francis Drake High School built an insulated cold frame at the University of California’s White Mountain Research Station (elevation 12,470’)

A cold frame is a miniature greenhouse.

It is higher than any other test plot, greenhouse, cold frame, farm, or garden in California. In fact, it may be the highest cultivated place in all of North America. Why did we do it? To extend our Mars Colony Project! Colonists on Mars or the Moon will have to grow plants for food & oxygen, and compost waste. The White Mountain Research Station is the most Mars-like place we can easily get to. It is bitterly cold most of the year, is very dry, has strong winds, and the air is about 2/3rds as thick as it is at sea level.

Students will design plant growth and composting experiments using the cold frame for classroom assisgnments, science fair projects, etc.

Perhaps some day we’ll build one for the Haughton Mars Project on Devon Island, in the Canadian arctic…

If this sounds crazy, we have distinguished company:

• A NASA scientist, Dr. Christopher McKay at the NASA Ames Research Center, has proposed a plan to grow flowers on Mars, using Martian soil.
  
  
• A Columbia University professor named Dickson Despommier wants to build a 30-story skyscraper in Manhattan (some of the word's most valuable real estate) and use it to grow vegetables. He calls it a vertical farm.
  
  
• There is already the Arthur C. Clarke Mars Greenhouse on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada. They mostly grow lettuce.

Our team currently consists of Monica Dreitcer, Matt Gabel, Meredith Goebel, Christine Quach, Mika Weinstein (students), Ray Goebel (parent) and Michael Wing (teacher). We installed it August 14-17, 2008. (We slept and ate at the UC's Crooked Creek facility (elev. 10,000’):

We also saw the ancient bristlecone pines and climbed 14,246' White Mountain Peak. More photos

Our cold frame specifications:

• The total outside dimensions are 96" x 42" x 41" high.
• Three chambers each measure approximately 25" x 32" in area. One is sealed shut, one opens on warm days, and the third one has no window glazing.
• Walls are 3/4" marine grade plywood with 3.5" of fiberglass insulation between inside and outside walls, for a total thickness of 5"
• Double-glazed lexan window panes are Macrolux 8mm twin wall clear polycabronate, which is UV stabilized.
• Automatic vents (Univent) open the central chamber if it gets too hot.
• Temperature and humidity data loggers (MicroDAQ LogTag) record in all three chambers.
• Soil depth is approximately 12". We used E. B. Stone organic "Edna's Best" potting soil.
• Hardware cloth is used on the bottom and sides to deter rodents.
• In the future, we may add an electrical system using photovoltaic panels, a solar hot water heater, maybe even a web cam...

Here's what we planted:

• An especially cold-hardy and short variety of winter wheat called CDC Falcon,
• Two high Andes wild potato relative species: Solanum acaule and Solanum commersonii,
• One primitive hybrid cultivated potato: Solanum juzepsukii,
• An artificial fusion hybrid potato between US cultivar Superior and S. commersonii, developed by John Bamberg,
• Quinoa, Colorado 407D variety,
• A wild relative of quinoa from Peru called Chenopodium pallidicaule,
• Camelina, an oilseed.

In the future, we may try lettuce, radishes, and crocuses.

If you want to get involved or offer expertise, see Michael Wing in room 414, Drake High School, mwing@tamdistrict.org

WE ARE GRATFUL TO:
Ms. Denise Waterbury, Mr. Scott Cole and Dr. John Smiley of the University of California's White Mountain Research Station for giving us approval to place the cold frame at Barcroft, and Mr. Tim Forsell for cooking us excellent meals.

Dr. Joel Ransom and Mr. Chad Deplazes, extension agronomists at North Dakota State University, for sending us a particularly cold-hardy and short strain of winter wheat called CDC Falcon.

Dr. Dan Biggerstaff of WestBred, LLC and Dr. Fernando Guillen-Portal of Barkley AG Enterprises, LLP, for advice on choosing and obtaining cold-hardy crops to plant and for sending us camalina seed.

Dr. David Brenner, Curator in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, United States Department of Agriculture and Iowa State University, for sending us specially selected seeds of quinoa and chenopodium.

Dr. Dan Hane, agronomist at Oregon State University, for advice on selecting appropriate strains of potatoes.

Dr. John Bamberg, U.S. Potato Genebank, United States Department of Agriculture, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for sending us cold-hardy potato stocks.

Mr. Brad Katuna and Mr. David Reid, Engineering Academy, Sir Francis Drake High School, for help with construction of the cold frame.

Mr. Don Drake, our Principal, for his support and confidence in us.

This project is supported by a generous grant from the Drake Fund.

This project was inspired by a talk given at Drake High school in 2007 by Dr. Pascal Lee, Chariman of the Mars Institute, and Principal Investigator of the NASA Haughton Mars Project in the Canadian arctic.

Michael Wing is also indebted to the Toyota International Teacher Program for sending him on a study tour to the Galapagos Islands, which included a visit to a demonstration farm on Isla Santa Cruz. Many of the preliminary ideas about the project came to him during that trip.

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