On October 31st, the Outdoor School class headed across Gordon to the Bovey Greenhouse. We’ve seen some pretty incredible things throughout the semester, but nothing quite like the Bovey Greenhouse.
We started out in a massive room filled with large tanks. It looked futuristic, with different bright lights and metallic walls, and Rodger explained to us that this was the area in which they did research for organizations like NASA! There were several different stations set up in which they were experimenting with different growing conditions, and their ultimate goal is to be able to grow in space.
When we walked into the next room, Rodger showed us an example of how they can use light to grow plants in different ways. He showed us lettuce grown under different wavelengths of light, and each sample looked totally different! One was a dark green, one was lighter and the last one was purple. They didn’t just look different, Rodger explained that they actually all have distinct tastes. This was so interesting, because it shows the level of control humans can have over food, and it was a large contrast from the farm and how Martha grows her plants.
Next, we moved into a room that was filled with tiny samples of plants. One entire wall was filled entirely with shelves of plants! In this area, the plants are grown from tiny cells or sections, and the wall displayed the plants in all of their different stages of life.
We also got to see a greenhouse where people can conduct research projects. There were plants being grown as medical treatments, and even for materials such as rubber. Scientists can conduct research in there, and they can take their results back to the companies they are working for and determine whether using that plant is viable.
Finally, we arrived in my favourite room. It was a large, high ceilinged greenhouse filled to the brim with tropical plants. We saw everything from pineapples to cactuses, there was even a little pond with fish swimming around! Many of the plants I’d never even seen before. I had no idea that this place even existed, let alone that it was open to students. People can come inside whenever they want and eat their lunch, study, or just be with nature. This is such an amazing resource to students and staff, because it is so beneficial to be in green spaces, especially in the cold Canadian winter.
