Passive solar greenhouses in Mongolia to defy cold winters (long version)

© GERES - 2017
Directed by Ariunsanaa Ganbaatar and Khasar Sandag
With the financial support of Fondation Louis Dreyfus
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Mongolia has the lowest population density in the world. Its extreme climatic conditions pose daunting challenges for human life and activity. In the early 90s, Mongolia underwent a transition to a privatized economy, which led to mass closure of factories, resulting in widespread unemployment and also a significant drop in farm production due to the collapse of subsidized collective agriculture. The present intense rural exodus is creating new socio-economic challenges and new forms of poverty (especially in Ulaanbaatar where almost half of the population lives). These changes have led the Mongolian people to modify their diet and the vegetable consumption is increasing quickly.
Despite the active promotion of vegetable growing by the government, domestic production supplies only half the country's needs, making Mongolia highly dependent on imports. However, the vegetable growing sector could create job opportunities and address the need for fresh and good-quality vegetables in the country.
GERES has been present in Mongolia since August 2010 to help develop the production of vegetables in urban and rural areas through the implementation of innovative technical solutions to extend the growing season (passive solare greenhouses) and improve the storing of vegetables (bioclimatic cellars) in order to help families make savings. These techniques are adapted to the local context and designed to be built directly by the producers.
More info on the project:
www.geres.eu/en...
More info on GERES :
www.geres.eu/en
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[@papablueshirt]

Nice way to extend the season. It takes a special skill to grow in a greenhouse. I was always too cold or too hot. Growing in winter is painfully slow because of less sunlight, but it does work. thanks for sharing

[@douglascunningham6319]

If you could sink your grow beds into the ground below frost line. You may be able to add weeks to growing cycle. But just a foam insulation strip to below the frost line. This would separate your frozen ground outside from your grow bed. Adding a earthen berm to the block walls would help. Compost piles are a source of winter heating too. Straw bales in or against the walls is one of the very best insulators. Maybe store your hay under a tarp against back wall. Consider straw bale construction if starting new, or adding insulation. Some people attach the greenhouse to there home as another room. Benifts to both. Good luck and happy gardening.

[@jimh4167]

Maybe you wouldn't have to sink them down below frost line.. But to dig down around the inside edge of the green house below frost line maybe 1 ft.. And install foam insulation..and back fill the foam Hopefully insulating the whole inside ground from freezing Maybe

[@katiegreene3960]

Yes this would be ideal for them to sink it a little. But they might have a few challenges doing that. 1. Permafrost exists in many places in Mongolia 2. Also many of the permafrost areas are somewhat swampy in the summer so they might have flooding issues. But ideally they would do this. They should also include some citrus in the snow principles and use earth tunnels to generate more thermal mass for both heating and cooling. Definitely should use compost heat either semi directly like you mentioned or thru pipes in center to blow heat in or pipes to heat water for raidient heat, look up compost hot tub it's awesome. Compost is very underused for heating.

[@Jadsoncb]

@@katiegreene3960 Wow!

[@katiegreene3960]

@@Jadsoncb i can give you more info on how to do this and links and other ideas i have if you need.

[@captainjayc9217]

Mongolia is in high altitude. Sun is coming down at a steep angle in the winter. Sinking the grow bed down would have created a long shadow over the plants. This may be counter-productive.

[@fredfrond6148]

If they do heat storage with barrels and supplement with a little heat you may be able to go all year round. Check out what people are doing in Canada.

[@fredfrond6148]

Shelly B. Cool, just one layer or do you have the cold frame under a hoop shelter? Because Newmarket is cold you are North of the 45th parallel.👍

[@dmitriykarpukhin650]

The concept is very similar to our solar passive greenhouse adopted to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenia 70s last century. The main difference - our one was for a meter-two underground. Spring it produced first crop and shelter for seedlings. Summer time it is very hot and dry there. The film was removed and inside the imberried hole the temperature was lower, moisture was higher and it allowed to have crop of cabbage and potato, which was impossible to have summer time that region.

[@yasashiokane]

Дорогой Товарищ Карпухин, очень интересно. Есть ли у вас какие нибудь ссылки, доп информации по таким теплицам? Судя по вашему комменту они были весьма эффективными.

[@dmitriykarpukhin650]

@@yasashiokaneОбзорную статью могу скинуть по электронке. Заглубленная - патент за Казахским Аграрным Университетом. У них же - кондиционируемая теплица - на крыше бассейн с проточной водой. Но по факту широко использовалась в Туркмении для выращивания картошки, поскольку в ней прохладнее и важнее.

[@sclint3156]

bless mongolia i prey for a bigger harvest every uear for you beautiful people🙏

[@johnwyman6331]

Have you ever heard of an earth battery? It's basically digging out the dirt underneath the greenhouse about 2 or 3 meters, lining the inside of it with insulation, adding a half a meter of dirt back in then some 100 mm plastic tubes with 300 or 400 mm manifolds on opposite ends that turn and rise up out of the corner of the dug out hole, one to the top of the greenhouse. The other one only a little above grade opposite the corner from the first large tube. Replace half the dirt and do the tube thing again using the other two opposite corners. Then fill in the rest of the hole. In winter during the day when it's warm, instead of venting the greenhouse, two fans blow hot air down the two tubes that go to the top of the greenhouse heating all that thermal mass. At night when it gets close to freezing the fans turn back on using the heat stored from the previous few days to keep the plants from freezing. If you place 19 mm plastic heat rated tubing in the hole along with the larger tubes, you can add more heat by using liquid solar thermal panels and a very small pump.

[@anesthesiadreamin]

These are amazingly adaptive people that live in a harsh climate, but if they would incorporate Mike Reynolds ideas with Earthship greenhouse construction, they literally could grow year round.

[@meredithr9824]

Good looking vegetables!

[@GeresAssociation]

Thank you Meredith !

[@user-vr6io5xb9e]

Great work.

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

Good luck... bless.

[@Tigr62]

Great! Just add another layer of foil to create a pocket of air between.

[@kchong0502]

Thermal blanket is a must in the design of a greenhouse.

[@MJReut]

Where do you buy a thermal blanket?

[@MaximumEfficiency]

great job!

[@hildebertocarreiro9232]

Build basement, cellar, stays about 60" degrees underground to stay warm.

[@zyxwvutsrqponmlkh]

3:58 now that is Mongolian not Chinese. I do love the Mongolian language.

[@jurekogorek3500]

Wow!

[@oby-1607]

Wow. So inspiring. We need more growers not more multipliers of kids that parents can't afford to feed. This world is in a death spiral with its population explosion that is out of control.

[@sparrowhawkread6008]

It's so nice

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Pretty Sweet!

[@thomashudsan2103]

Well done a good job, support Mongolian farmers, don't eat Chinese Veggies, Congrats.

[@tristaneagling9134]

hey i'min Mongolia in September would love to see one of these, who do i speak to?

[@GeresAssociation]

Hello Tristan! You can shoot us an e-mail: [e-mail]

[@janbolatyergali3099]

Hello Tristan, 99617775, 99331985

[@kchong0502]

They need to learn how to Mulch. Bare soil is a NO, NO!

[@jamesevans1973]

poop gas sun death ray bio carbon wood gasafirer geothermal mix it all up steam is my newest blend to it

[@aiganym_room7]

Жанболат қазақтың жігіті ме?

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Hungry China will buy those veggies very much.

[@marin4311]

China is not "hungry" anymore since at least twenty years; check your facts. China is now one of the wealthiest country on the planet.

[@willxin4517]

China is now a net exporter of food.

[@madsam0320]

China has passive heating greenhouses long time ago.

[@Namoari941]

Did you hear what they said? Mongolia imports 40% of its veggies from China, period.

[@liqiangyu3294]

you shude learn chinas sungreenhouse

[@liqiangyu3294]

用中文说是 你们可以去借鉴一下中国的寒地日光温室大棚

[@SergelenGANBAT]

How to contact to u?

[@rjaquaponics9266]

Loved the video until it mentioned Climate Change. Global Warming is a myth. We are entering a Super Grand Solar Minimum in which you had better learn how to build and use a Rocket Mass Heater to keep your crops from freezing. Growing food is the most important job in the world! Rj - Beyond Harvest Veganistas

[@justdefacts]

How can anyone with a decent education still think global warming is a myth in 2019?

[@rjaquaponics9266]

Easy answer is... you have had the wrong teachers! Watch this video, Search for it on YT, the name is "Food Shortages & Unrest - Italian Olive Growers Mobilize from "Frost Emergency"" Grand Solar Minimum". If you are truly "educated" you might be able to identify who is telling the truth! Rj - Beyond Harvest Veganistas

[@atomicwedgie8176]

@@rjaquaponics9266 Global Warming is indoctrination, so the populace is OK with the taxes imposed, that are imposed to solve the 'problem'. If it's hot it's called global warming, if it's cold it's called climate change...so convenient!

[@rjaquaponics9266]

The "Problem" is imaginary! I read this morning it's going to take 15 million years for the earth to recover! Can you imagine the taxes this "problem" is going cost? I am so tired of stupid people!

[@andreahodgkinson886]

Well said! I was going to say the same too.