{"id":510446,"date":"2026-02-28T21:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510446\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T21:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:15:30","slug":"australian-antarctic-team-yields-big-haul-of-fresh-produce-with-hydroponics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/510446\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Antarctic team yields big haul of fresh produce with hydroponics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Casey Station, Australia’s largest Antarctic research base, is about 3,500 kilometres from the nearest supermarket.<\/p>\n

So, when supplies run short, picking up some extra vegetables and herbs from the local shop isn’t an option for chefs like Brooke Hartney.<\/p>\n

“As we know, due to geography, we are limited with fresh produce,” Ms Hartney said.<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/p>\n

Casey Station receives only one shipment of food from Australia each year. (ABC News: Owain Stia-James)<\/p>\n

The remote outpost receives only one resupply voyage from Australia each year.<\/p>\n

It means the station’s chefs must largely rely on canned vegetables and dried herbs when they prepare daily meals for up to 125 expeditioners.<\/p>\n

But there is another option.<\/p>\n

\"Chefs<\/p>\n

Brooke Hartney (right) is one of the chefs who prepare daily meals for up to 125 expeditioners at Australia’s main Antarctic base. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Across the road from the kitchen are two large shipping containers that have been converted into a thriving edible garden.<\/p>\n

“Getting some fresh produce a few times a week from our ‘hydro’ team is just fabulous,” Ms Hartney said.<\/p>\n

“A little bit of crunch on the palate is delightful.”\"Expeditioners<\/p>\n

The crew at the outpost ranges from meteorologists to tradies \u2014 and they all need to be fed. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Summer all year inside hydroponics facility<\/p>\n

The hydroponics facility provides perfect growing conditions \u2014 even when freezing blizzards hit the station.<\/p>\n

“It’s actually sometimes easier [growing in] Antarctica than back on the mainland,” said electrician Scott Newman, who helped manage the facility over the past year.<\/p>\n

“We keep it at a constant temperature [of 24 degrees Celsius], there’s no big winds, there’s no frost inside this room.<\/p>\n

“It’s a pretty stable environment \u2014 summer all year.”<\/p>\n

\"Plants<\/p>\n

A temperature-controlled hydroponics facility is used to grow fresh food for the expeditioners. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

\"Plants<\/p>\n

All pollination needs to be done manually as there are no bees. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

The facility contains garden beds filled with all manner of plants.<\/p>\n

“We mainly grow tomatoes, cucumbers, heaps of lettuce, silverbeet, kale, bok choy, mint, basil, sage,” Mr Newman said.<\/p>\n

“This is so much better than produce from the mainland.<\/p>\n

“It’s fresh, it’s from here, straight to the kitchen two minutes away.”\"Plants<\/p>\n

Freshly picked tomatoes will be sent to the station kitchens. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Some of the food grown in the facility includes tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, silver beet, basil, and chillies. (Australian Antarctic Program: Scott Newman)<\/p>\n

Biosecurity rules protect Antarctic environment<\/p>\n

All of Australia’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations have hydroponics facilities to ensure expeditioners get access to fresh and healthy food throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Under the Antarctic Treaty System, the facilities are subject to biosecurity rules to reduce the risk of non-native species and diseases being introduced.<\/p>\n

For example, soil is prohibited, so sterilised seeds are instead planted in alternative growing mediums, including expanded clay, rockwool and perlite.<\/p>\n

\"Plants<\/p>\n

Strict biosecurity rules apply to food growing in Antarctica. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Non-fruit bearing plants, such as herbs, are not allowed to go to seed, with their flowers incinerated to reduce any risks.<\/p>\n

And all pollination must be done manually.<\/p>\n

“We don’t have any bugs and bees,” Mr Newman said.<\/p>\n

“So, especially with cucumbers, we have to pollinate the cucumbers ourselves.<\/p>\n

“We have a little paintbrush and paint from one flower to the other to move the pollen across.”\"A<\/p>\n

Without the hydroponics facility, the station would only have fresh produce for about month every year. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n

Over the past year, the team harvested an impressive 130 kilograms of fresh produce.<\/p>\n

“We only have fresh produce for about a month after the ship leaves,” Mr Newman said.<\/p>\n

“So to be able to have fresh produce all year round is a big win for station.<\/p>\n

“It makes a big difference to the station community when they get fresh lettuce and fresh tomatoes on the table.”<\/p>\n

\"Brooke<\/p>\n

Brooke Hartney says having fresh produce is “fabulous”. (ABC News: Jano Gibson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Casey Station, Australia’s largest Antarctic research base, is about 3,500 kilometres from the nearest supermarket. So, when supplies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6391,64,63,97341,134,255840,77101,14544,255839,29510],"class_list":["post-510446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-antarctica","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-casey-station","tag-entertainment","tag-expeditioners","tag-fresh-food","tag-herbs","tag-hydroponics","tag-vegetables"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}