Living with the Land

Future World, Epcot

Living with the Land is located inside "The Land" pavilion and takes you on a tour through a number of sets explaining how scientists are learning how to grow crops in inhospitable farm environments. The tour then goes through to Epcot's agricultural greenhouse where they experiment with new ways to grow crops. Some of their successful experiments include a huge tomato tree, that produced a world record harvest of over 32,000 tomatoes with a total weight over 1,150 pounds. Unfortunately the tomato tree finally died in 2010.

The greenhouse/growing areas are split into five "living laboratories" which are:

Tropics Greenhouse - Featuring crops from tropical areas of the world. Food includes Banana's, Jackfruit, Vanilla, Pineapples and Papaya.

Aquacell - The Aquacell uses fish farming with high-density tanks. Animals on display include Sturgeon, Catfish, Bass, American Alligator and Shrimp. A number of the fish harvested end up in the Coral Reef Restaurant located in The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Temperate Grenhouse - This was previously known as the Desert Greenhouse. It focuses on growing crops from temperate climates such as Atlantic Giant pumpkins and a nine-pound Lemon. Other crops include Beets, Sunflower, Cotton and Turnips.

String Greenhouse - The string greenhouse focuses on high-density growing techniques. Methods used include vertical growing, where plants are grown on a specialized trellis to cause them to gain the shape and structure of  trees.  This is the method used for the Tomato Tree, but it is also used for eggplant, peppers, lettuce and winged beans. Cucumbers and Pumpkins are grown in a special mould to shape them like Mickey Mouse heads. Much of the produce is then served in the Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons restaurants located in The Land pavilion.

Creative Greenhouse - The final greenhouse features some creative and unusual growing methods. Most of them grown via Aeroponics, which is where a fine water mist and nutrients are sprayed directly onto the roots of the plants. The roots basically dangle freely without being planted. Some of the plants are on an open conveyer belt which sprays them in a controlled way at set times.  Crops used here include Tomatoes, Squash, Lettuce, Rosemary, Basil, Cabbage and Snapdragon.

If this sounds like a boring tour around a greenhouse, you couldn't be more wrong. You'll be immensely surprised at what this tour offers. An extended tour 'Behind The Seeds' also runs for guests who want to know more or get closer to some of the fascinating crops being grown by scientists. Just ask a cast member for full details.