2018 Fall Home

2018 Fall Home & Garden Lincoln Daily News Sept. 26, 2018 Page 17 “There have been hardly any successful twelve-month greenhouses on the high plains,” says Finch. The energy costs for running such an operation all-year round is simply too high. “By tapping into the earth heat, we’ve been able to drastically reduce the cost,” says Finch. Finch says that all they have to do is keep the internal temperature above twenty-eight degrees in the winter. They have no backup systems in place. Instead, the earth’s heat is drawn on; roughly fifty-two degrees at eight feet below the surface. This heat is gathered and dispersed through a system of underground tubes. This translates to roughly “a dollar a day” for energy costs. Finch says that to prove the system would work, they had to grow something impressive; something other than “geraniums and roses and things like that.” Instead, they grow figs and citrus, including Valencia oranges. These oranges have been fighting diseases in Florida in recent years, and Finch says they can grow them cheaper in Nebraska using this structure. “We can grow practically any tropical plant,” says Finch. “I think you can even grow bananas in the new design.” It seems, then, that greenhouses are not solely a spring and summer building. These examples, and the many more that are out there to view, demonstrate that ornamental and food source plants can be grown in greenhouses all year long, even in the coldest months.