Ziggurat Garden

A Ziggurat Garden [Marineri: Monz Jarwon] (sometimes shortened as Zig Garden), is an agricultural structure common in Native Martian villages and dwellings on Mars. Ziggurat Gardens are named for their similar shape and construction to their namesake from early Mesopotamian cultures.

Purpose / Function

Unlike the religious nature of the original ziggurats, the Ziggurat Gardens are purely utilitarian, designed to provide a heated crop that can be tended in cold temperatures.

Architecture

A typical Ziggurat Garden consists of a rectangular or circular based mud hut reinforced with wood, thatch, or reclaimed metal. The hut tapers into a point, ascending in a spiral terrace like the earliest ziggurats. The terraces are pitted and lined with enriched soil for housing a modest crop.
The base of the garden is hollowed like a kiln, with slits for air inflow. During colder months a fire is lit in this hollow to radiate heat through the garden, keeping plants alive despite the elements. The hollow can also double as an oven, kiln, and heater for the residents of a given village. The tip of the hut is open, wide enough for smoke to escape but narrow enough to not waste too much heat.
The troughed terrace also doubles as a primitive irrigation system using gravity and rainwater or snowmelt to irrigate the soil for crops. The most resilient crops are placed at the top of a Ziggurat Garden while the most water consuming crops are placed near the bottom. In times of heavy snowfall, a tarp can be laid over the garden in a way that creates air pockets for the crops in the space between terraces.
Ziggurat Gardens usually come in two sizes: village sized and household sized. Household Ziggurat Gardens servicing a family or two are only a single story tall, while Village Ziggurat Gardens typically range from two to three stories tall.

History

The first Ziggurat Garden was designed and constructed after the death of Dr. Hana Song, making it one of the first purely Native Martian designs. It is unknown if the Native Martians were aware of the Ziggurats of Mesopotamia through Hana's teachings or if they arrived at the design through necessity, given the simple architectural resilience of the pyramid shape that made it popular among primitive civilizations on Earth. The Marineri term translates to "Mound Garden" so there is no linguistic reference to the Mesopotamian structures.
Ziggurat Gardens were initially the only way to maintain arable land outside of enclosed habitats, as the harsh Martian winters would flash freeze most crops, even in milder climates. As terraforming caused temperatures to become more tolerable, other farming techniques became viable, but Ziggurat Gardens remained a staple of Martian Villages as a cultural symbol and backup food source for harsher winters.

Alternative Names

Monz Jarwon, Zig Garden