Purdy Elementary plants vertical hydroponic ‘garden’

By Chris Spangler

Purdy Elementary School pupils and staff in two weeks will be sitting down to lunch featuring lettuce grown in their own vertical hydroponic garden.

The School District of Fort Atkinson Nutrition Services Department has partnered with Purdy’s Green Team to pilot a Flex Tower manufactured by Fork Farms of Green Bay.

“The hydroponic growing tower uses very little energy and produces dozens of plants every month,” district Nutrition Services director Christina Oswald said, adding that it requires zero soil, herbicides or pesticides.

According to Fork Farms, vertical farming uses artificial lighting and vertical planting systems that yield significantly more produce in a much smaller space than traditional gardens. Hydroponics, meanwhile, is the practice of growing food in a water-based mineral solution as opposed to soil. The right amount of nutrients combined with pH-balanced water and the correct amount and type of light results in consistent produce yields.

Oswald explained that each seed is planted in the medium for one week, with the resulting tiny seedlings then placed on the tower to grow. Green Team members help maintain the plants by testing the water weekly to ensure it is at the right pH and that the plants have the optimal growing medium.

“The tower itself is made up of a lot of holes along the walls and each seed pod is tucked into one of those holes,” she said. “There is a pump in the water reservoir that pumps the water up and through tubing and then trickles the water down the back of the wall, thus watering the roots.”

In addition, a light tower in the center is set on a timer so the plants receive ample light to grow.

Lettuce is Purdy’s first crop

Purdy’s Flex Tower has 200 plants growing lettuce.

“We plant every other hole in order to give each plant enough space to grow,” Oswald said. “Right now, we are growing Romaine. We’re going to try to keep (the produce) healthy nutritious dark leafy greens. I’ll put an iceberg mix into a salad, but never do the kids get straight iceberg.

“We going to harvest every 28 days, so we’ll have a new crop once a month,” she added.

The Purdy Green Team will help pick the lettuce.

“The whole plant comes out,” the Nutrition Services director said. “We dispose of the roots and we keep the leaves. We’ll then plant a whole new seed.”

Oswald said she is excited to see the first harvest in two weeks.

“Fork Farms said that in an optimal growing environment, we should get at least 20 pounds every month, which is about enough to feed the school a salad at least one time, if not two times, when we harvest,” she said.

Since the tower has two sides that open and close, two crops could be grown at the same time.

“We can mix the lettuces because those grow in the same environment,” Oswald said. “Next month, we will probably plant a variety of greens. But if we choose to change a crop completely, we will do one side of herbs and the other side greens, for example. It gives us an opportunity to vary the crops so kids will see a variety of things growing all year long.”

She hinted that tomatoes and cucumbers might be on the menu a few months down the road.

Oswald reported that the first harvest of Romaine lettuce will be the week before Thanksgiving, with the second one the week before Christmas.

“If ever there is more of a crop that we can use or one of the harvests were to fall right before a school vacation or holiday, we would entertain the idea of donating the harvest to the food pantry or another organization that could use it, because we don’t want any of that food to go to waste,” she said.

And if there were summer school classes interested in adopting the Fort Farm in June and July, she would be supportive of that.

Oswald pointed out that the benefit of Fork Farm is not only the produce, but also the hands-on lesson of where food originates.

“They get to watch and share it with their classmates,” she said of the Green Team. “The tower is right in the multipurpose room. Every student in the building can get to see the process of those plants growing.”

Pandemic delayed project

Oswald came to the Fort Atkinson schools in November 2019 after serving as food service director and corporate chef at Taher, a Milwaukee-based food service management company.

“One of the first things I was handed when I started was an envelope from (District Administrator Rob) Abbott that contained a Fork Farm brochure,” she recalled.

Oswald had known about Fork Farm for a couple of years and was interested in pursuing it for the Fort Atkinson schools. However, the coronavirus pandemic struck just months after her arrival, diverting her attention to the immense effort of feeding young people staying at home while learning virtually.

“For me, it was just a matter of time before we brought one into the Fort schools,” Oswald said of the Fork Farm. “The pandemic put everything on hold and it made no sense to bring it in last year.”

As the district planned for in-person classes in 2021-22, she decided it was time to pilot the hydroponic tower.

“I wasn’t sure which building, and then I was notified that Purdy Elementary had what they call their Green Team, fourth- and fifth-graders who care about their world and their environment, and I just thought it was a perfect fit,” Oswald said.

Nutrition Services budgeted for tower

The Nutrition Services Department budgeted $4,800 for the tower and a year’s worth of seed, nutrients and growing medium. Next year, it will only need to purchase the seeds and nutrients.

“It’s always something I thought would be beneficial, not only for Nutrition Services for the produce we get to harvest, but really from a standpoint of students being able to get an understanding of where their food comes from,” Oswald said. “We teach this in FFA and science class, but in all of K-12, kids need to learn where their food comes from.

“Since we will be reaping benefits of its harvest, we felt it was only right that we pay for it,” she continued. “We’re just glad the money can go toward the education of the students, as well.”

Oswald said she hopes this is just the first of many Fork Farms in the Fort Atkinson schools, as the growing and eating of produce feed both the stomach and mind.

“That’s the incentive for the other schools to get on board once we get through the first few months of the pilot program,” she concluded.” If the other schools are interested, I would be open to having one in every building.”