A corner in Ray Collins' basement was walled off using visqueen (plastic sheeting). The object of this is to build an area where we could do crop experiments during the winter, and experiment with different lighting techniques and integration of different subsystems such as earthworms and soil, or fish and hydroponics. This was operated during the winter, when the heat load generated by the lights would help heat the house. We had considerable success with these systems, and ran it for several winters.

The floor area is about 4 meters by 7 meters (12 feet by 20 feet), with a ceiling height of about 2 meters (7 feet). This encloses about 55 cubic meters (1680 cubic feet), which in theory is enough to nearly support a person. We were not using it for that purpose (nor would our electrical supply handle the demand that would require). Our purpose was to experiment with various subsystems of CELSS {defined} technology. This was very successful; we gained valuable insight into running a more closed system than our very open garden.

An abbreviated list of experiments and trials run in the Basement Biosphere:

• Peanuts under florescent lights; they flourished. This also showed us the appropriate spacing for planting peanuts (about 0.5 meter or 18 inches).
• Earthworms added to the soil of a squash plant that was nutrient stressed: the earthworms broke down the organics in the soil at a higher rate, releasing nutrients, which changed the squash from a sickly little plant to a very healthy plant.
• Earthworms added to break down human waste. Odorless (as long as dirt was added to cover it up!)
• Fish raising experiments; this flopped--we were unable to keep the tank warm enough for Tilapia (an African cyclid).
• Potatoes under florescent lights. This also flopped. Two possible causes for the potatoes to get long and stringy with no initiation: first is it was too warm (potatoes do not thrive if the soil is warm); second the light wasn't intense enough/right wavelength.
• Humidity effects on pests: lower the better! This is good in an Alaskan climate, where winter humidity is very low.
• Pollination: we tried 2 different techniques; first by hand and then using flies. The flies worked far better.