The pyramid reproduced on the front of this book is my prototype for larger ones. This one was purely for research and would need to be much greater in size for production on a large scale. In building the prototype I encountered and overcame virtually all the problems one can expect to meet in this type of construction. It is nothing like building a house, and whereas a slight difference in measurements can be overcome in a house, it is not possible to make a mistake in a pyramid and carry on building. The particular piece containing the error must be pulled out and replaced correctly, as any mistake is transferred all the way around the pyramid.

This test model is 30 feet high along a perpendicular line from ground to peak. The sides from base corner to peak are 44 feet 4-1/2 inches, with a baseline of 46 feet 10-1/2 inches. It contains two additional floors above ground, and the sum of the areas of these two floors equals or is greater than that of the ground floor. Thus, the two additional floors virtually double the growing area. My first floor is 12 feet from the ground, and there is a reason for this. I calculated that when the sun was at its highest point the first floor would have to be positioned at a 12-foot height to allow the sun to shine onto the back north edge of the ground floor. The 12-foot height was perfect, its achievement resulting from a mixture of good judgment and a bit of luck. However, I would not need to build a growing level at this height again because there are as many plants that grow well in shade as there are those that favor the sun. In the future my floors will all be eight feet apart, and I will put my sun-loving plants in the southern half and my shade-loving ones in the back northern half.

By placing the floors at eight-foot intervals there is much more growing area available than there is in placing the first floor at a 12-foot height. In addition, utilizing this lower height allows upper floors to decrease more slowly in size than they would if placed farther apart, for as the peak of the pyramid is approached, the floors decrease in area at each progression. One of the benefits obtained with these extra floors is that since heat rises, there are higher temperatures on each floor toward the top of the pyramid. This allows a wide range of crops to be grown.

To illustrate the temperature differential, if the ground floor were 75 degrees Fahrenheit, the second floor would be 90 degrees, and the third floor would be around 105 to 115 degrees, each floor carrying more humidity. This means that anything from cool to tropical crops can be grown within one pyramid. The ground floor is perfect for such crops as radishes, lettuce, carrots, beets, tomatoes, etc., while the second floor is ideal for cucumbers, squash, peppers, and plants that like it hotter and more humid than the first floor. Of course, the top floor can be used for lemons, oranges, figs and especially, orchids.

The pyramid draws in its own water on the ground floor; I have never had to water that level [because his is built directly on the ground--ED]. It never draws too much or too little water, just the right amount for growth. Naturally, I have to pump water to the upper floors, but because the first floor provides its own water supply, at least half of my pyramid is watered for nothing automatically. I grow right in the ground the pyramid stands on, but upstairs I have placed wooden planting troughs all around the floors, leaving room to walk, and I grow plants in these. It is a major job getting the soil to the upper floors initially, but it is only a one-time task. The troughs are 16 inches high and 14 inches wide, and contain a bottom. There is a run all around the edge of each of the upper floors and another inside, leaving enough room to work, with a gap on each side allowing passage from one run to the other.

Space in the pyramid is utilized to the utmost. In the low areas at the perimeter I plant the kind of plants that need little headroom, and then plant bigger crops toward the middle. It is a matter of common sense. But using vine type tomatoes and stringing them up, one can work between the rows better, and if the lower leaves are removed, there is sufficient space to grow lettuce, cabbage or any low-lying crop in between the tomato plants. The trusses may be left on the tomatoes; they will not shade the low-lying plants. To ensure a steady supply of food, it is wise to plant only a few plants of each variety at intervals, which means that in the beginning it will take several weeks to reap a full harvest, but subsequently there will be a continuous yield.

By planting in such a manner, the grower will realize the equivalent of approximately six full crops a year. This method applies only to an enclosed pyramid, which would also require heating in the winter. The means of heating is up to the individual. I personally use a wood stove because I have my own wood supply. A wood and oil combination is best because it allows one to take off for a couple of days if necessary. If the wood fire gets low, then the oil burner takes over.

As for growing potentials of the floors of the pyramid, I have found that the second floor is the best place for germinating new seeds. I find that I can get germination in three days on that floor, whereas it usually takes five days otherwise.

Thus far I have described the pyramid from the growing aspect only to the point of showing you how and where to grow crops, but let's take a look at a few statistics on production. Your garden, for instance, will only give one crop a year, but the pyramid through the means I suggest will give you six crops per year. Now let's compare two pieces of ground, both the same size, one with a pyramid on it. Say the garden is 50 feet square and the pyramid is 50 feet square. The upper floors inside the pyramid give you approximately 2,500 square feet of growing area upstairs to go along with your ground floor area of 2,500 square feet, and you are getting six crops per floor as opposed to one, or twice times six, the equivalent of 12 times your garden yield.

Nor is that all of the advantage. Recall from the previous chapter my discussion of the increase in size of the plant cells; this itself gives an average of three times the size of a normal crop. Multiplying the 12 times by the size of the crop, you are 36 times better off than with a single garden. [Keeping the soil mulched, enriched and well- drained naturally is more of an issue in a pyramid, than a once-a-year garden presents. --ED]

Now you see why I use a pyramid. If we can produce crops at this rate, it means that the ballooning population of the world could double a few times and still be fed better than it is today. This would improve the situation at present and give upcoming generations some breathing space during which mankind possibly could devise something even more efficient to deal with the food supply problem.

Proper utilization of pyramids, however, depends upon massive implementation of this paradigm. One man, or even a few hundred, will not even begin to scratch the surface of the problem. I am just trying to point out what I sincerely feel will be a successful way in the hope that many of my fellow men will follow suit and give a lead to the rest of this lethargic world.

There will be a side benefit to the production of larger crops that should do all of us some good. Increased yield by the use of the same area of land afforded by my pyramid will enable the cost of crops to be reduced drastically, perhaps by as much as 50 percent.

I have publicly committed myself in the media to trying to promote my ideas, for I feel it is time and beyond, that someone try to cut the cost of food and give ordinary people a break, especially our senior citizens. I believe, and so do many individuals who think as I do, that it is possible to both increase crops and simultaneously decrease costs. If by any chance I am proven wrong, at least I shall have the consolation of knowing I tried.