Farm

The TSS Geisel, like all other HOPE ships, is equipped with a large amount of space and tools in order to start a hydroponic based farm. The farm takes up the entirety of the dome on top of the ship, taking up enough area to produce enough food for all the crew. The farm works in monthly harvests, with more plants being planted on the first of every earth month as a previous batch is harvested. The farm is able to grow many types of crops including wheat, potatoes, various fruits and vegetables, and some trees which have been enhanced to grow much faster. A significant portion of the farm is used for lentils and various nuts which can be used for protein. There is also a small section of the farm used for livestock, though not enough to use for protein slaughter. This contains cows, chickens, and goats primarily, all of which produce products that contain some form of nutrition such as milk and eggs. The animals are bred and only killed on rare occasions. The farm requires many workers to keep it going. There is a team who works with the animals, a team specialized in growing plants to use as food for the animals, a team who coordinates harvests and replantings, a team who monitors the health of the plants and ensures that they are getting enough nutrients and various other teams who carry out other tasks. The farm currently produces enough food to feed all people on the ship around 2.5 full meals a day. It is estimated that it will be able to get up to around 2.7 meals a day in a few months, however, that is its current capacity. The ship is also beginning to run into issues with providing enough nutrients to the whole farm at once, running low on the chemicals and supplies they use for that. Some water is also beginning to be siphoned off for other uses.