The Crookston High School’s Greenhouse Construction classes continue to make noticeable progress on the construction of the greenhouse on the east side of the school. KROX stopped by on Wednesday afternoon to see the kids working hard on the greenhouse.
Even though the wind chill was below zero on Wednesday, the students were working hard on the greenhouse, which is noticeable both inside and outside. “The foundation was in when we started, and we got the structure up. We’re working on putting siding on it, and what I would call the glass wall facing the south just has some temporary plastic on it,” said teacher Travis Oliver. “The inside actually keeps pretty good heat right now, especially if we’re not doing much to heat it. So the kids are still working on it, and we’ll be wrapping up at the end of the fall semester.”
The foundation is solid with concrete and rock. “The foundation itself is a rock floor with a two-foot outside concrete wall. Underneath the rock floor is a four-inch perforated pipe that we will pump heat into, and then the heat will rise through the rock, warm the rock up, which will create its own heat inside the building,” said Oliver. “We’re hoping it is almost completely sustainable that you won’t have to pay a heat bill. No gas, no electricity, nothing else. We’ll probably have a backup heater in here, electric or something, that will run if it drops to 30 or 40 degrees or something below.”
Oliver said they would like to button up some things before the semester wraps up. “We want to get all the siding on the outside. We’re waiting on a window, so once that window comes in, we’ll finish as much siding as we can. We’re working on a couple of things on the interior,” said Oliver. “We’re getting the stuff ready to potentially spray foam the ceiling and the walls on the inside. I’m looking for grant money from that. After that, we’ll be working on projects on the inside.”
Oliver said the kids are learning early that the real world (construction world) doesn’t stop because it is cold outside. “I tell them to dress for it. You know, in the real world, it doesn’t stop because it gets cold out,” said Oliver. “You know, Crystal Sugar and different companies in town that require workers to get there and if those people don’t show up, other people have to stay and work longer. So I tell the kids, we’re going outside, dress up for it, get ready. This is what you might encounter when you get to the real world.”
The plastic installed on the south side of the greenhouse will be replaced in the spring with a more durable plastic designed for greenhouses, courtesy of Polk County Public Health. “We actually got a $2,600 grant from Polk County Public Health SHIP with Cody Lehman and Sarah Reese. They were gracious enough to help us with that grant, which will allow us to purchase triple-layer polycarbonate plastic,” said Oliver, who added he has been working with UMC, too. The plastic is similar to what they have on the UMC greenhouses. And I’ve relied on Teresa Helgeson to guide me on some things. She’s been the lab coordinator at the UMC greenhouses.”
Oliver said that with the FFA, research, growing a variety of things, the possibilities of what they could use the greenhouse for are endless, and learning how to build things will be helpful for all the students. “We’re looking at a multitude of grants to grow vegetables for the cafeteria. What kind of research type of things can we do,” said Oliver. “What is AI not going to take over is what I’m looking at. Kids are working with their hands and learning a skill set. There will always be maintenance to do. There’s always going to be different types of projects to do.”
