"What. is. that." You're probably asking. Lemme tell you. Out behind the parking lot of Somers Middle School (SMS), a shed has been under construction for the last year. Inside of that shed are rows of PVC pipe, volcanic pumice rock, grow lights, 28 baby lettuce plants, and a continuous cycling solution of water and nutrients.
This shed is the brainchild of Robin Vogler, the director of SMS food service and our supervisor. The hydroponic set up will allow Vogler to grow lettuce throughout the fall and winter that can be used in the student's school lunches. Growing up in a family that used hydroponics to grow lettuce and tomatoes and being reminded at a conference of its potential, she launched its construction with the overall goal of improving the quality of the food she serves and thus the health of the SMS student body. We have to give a huge thank you to Kurt, the carpenter behind the walls, lights, piping, and pegboard that would not exist without his generosity.
This shed is the brainchild of Robin Vogler, the director of SMS food service and our supervisor. The hydroponic set up will allow Vogler to grow lettuce throughout the fall and winter that can be used in the student's school lunches. Growing up in a family that used hydroponics to grow lettuce and tomatoes and being reminded at a conference of its potential, she launched its construction with the overall goal of improving the quality of the food she serves and thus the health of the SMS student body. We have to give a huge thank you to Kurt, the carpenter behind the walls, lights, piping, and pegboard that would not exist without his generosity.
We concluded Tuesday with the transplantation of the lettuce planted by Robin's nutrition students into pots filled with pumice that were cleaned of plant material and silt on Monday.
Now, we are focusing on stabilizing the pH of the solution. Hooray!
This is a wonderful blog, Katie and Jordan- we feel like we're right there working alongside (well, almost, no dirt under our fingernails though!)
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