Hydroponic Farm at Little Miami High School
Three Little Miami staff members and a handful of students use a hydroponic farm to grow produce inside a classroom. Alexis Faulkner, Lydia McWilliams, and Krista Parker built the hydroponic growth tower. This week, they got to harvest the first round of produce.
“We were able to produce approximately 90 plants. This includes green star leaf lettuce, romaine, and basil,” said McWilliams.
The tower runs on about 30 gallons of water. It’s pumped from the storage tanks up the top and then trickles down. The cycle is 24/7 and uses energy-efficient LED lights in the center of the Flex Farm Tower that run about 15 hours a day.
Seeds were placed in rockwool in November and after 42 days, the plants were ready to eat.
Helping McWilliams, Faulkner, and Parker are students in this project-based learning environment are from the Individual Science class.
“The students are experiencing this and understand the process,” said McWilliams.
After a salad taste test with students, LMHS staff got to take bags of lettuce home.
McWilliams says the next crops could be strawberries, mini peppers, grape tomatoes and even pumpkins! Whatever they grow, the students will lead the process.
“My students will really be the experts on hydroponics and growing and this type of agricultural farming. So they can grow some confidence and teach other kids about it,” said McWilliams.
The Hydroponic Tower was purchased with Special Education funds. The district is waiting for a grant it has applied for that could bring two more towers to LMHS.
