TALOYOAK/SPENCE BAY
Students in Taloyoak are growing tomato plants that have been out of this world.

Students in Taloyoak are growing tomato plants that have been out of this world. Netsilik School principal Gina Pizzo was provided with two sets of seeds through the Tomatosphere research project. At left: Teacher Sarah Robinson and student Lisa Aqqaq enjoy the warmth and beauty in the school greenhouse.

Netsilik School principal Gina Pizzo was provided with two sets of seeds through the Tomatosphere research project.

Half of the seeds went into space and were stored on the International Space Station from 2011 to 2013, while the other batch stayed on Earth.

Pizzo planted the seeds about one month ago and students enrolled in the greenhouse course for a Career and Technology Studies credit have been tending to them.

The students think the project is "cool," stated Pizzo in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North.

"Chris Hadfield's public profile in the news, Twitter etc. has made space travel a lot more interesting and fun for people," said Pizzo. "He actually visited our community once on a tour organized by the (Canadian Space Agency) so he is a familiar face to young adults."

The school will track the plants' growth and submit a report to Tomatosphere, which is sponsored in part by the Canadian Space Agency. The data will be used to understand how extended periods of time in space affects plant germination and growth.

“Food availability and life support are major limiting factors in extended space travel (Mars) and exploration. Plants will be needed to provide a source of fresh, nutritious food and to generate a vital life support system,” the organization's website states.

So far, Pizzo stated, the two sets of seeds are growing equally well.

And they aren't the only plants in the school greenhouse that are thriving.

The students, under the leadership of teacher Sarah Robinson, are growing tropical house plants, trees, alfalfa, lettuce, kale, cabbage, peas and carrots.

Robinson received a grant from the World Wildlife Fund last year to revitalize the school greenhouse, which had fallen out of use over the years.

She hopes they will eventually produce enough food to be able to offer some produce to the breakfast program. But in the meantime the students are enjoying eating what they grow. For many it is the first time they've tried vegetables fresh from the soil.

“Eating the plants out of the soil was a great experience for them. They would pull a carrot out, see that's covered in dirt, wash it off and eat it … They didn't think it would taste very good. But then they thought it was delicious," said Robinson. "There aren't as many connections between growing food in soil and what they buy at the store."

Shaiane Kootook, a member of the school's greenhouse club, said she enjoys working with the plants so much that she's started growing kale at home.

"It's fun," she said. "I learned the greenhouse is hot and you have to water the plants everyday."

Robinson plans to bring earthworms into the greenhouse within the next month so they can start producing their own soil by composting. The students will feed the pile with scraps from the breakfast program.

"It's definitely a worthwhile adventure trying to set up a greenhouse in the Arctic,” Robinson said. "Hopefully(students) learn to love fresh food and see they can grow their own food and reduce the cost within their community."