Vestal High School's Garden Club just reaped what they had sown... In October the group received a Grow Tower kit, courtesy of Vestal Food Services program. The tower is about seven feet tall, and has a rolling base, lighting system and hydroponic watering system. Club members and their advisors, VHS Science Teachers Andrea Smith and Kyle Rizzo, assembled the tower on October 15. They also started the seeds for their lettuce crop.
On October 29, they transferred the seedlings to the Grow Tower, and spent the next five weeks noting growth patterns and monitoring water pH levels. On December 6, Club members Tabitha Briggs (Garden Club President), Sophie Coker, Azalynn Delovich, Evangeline Delovich, Abbey Kane, Hannah Goldberg, Khushi Patel and Abby Slabicki harvested their first crop... three bins full of Arugula, Butter and Mixed lettuce. Vestal High School Cook Manager Christine Clapper said that the lettuce would provide three days worth of salads for the school's cafeteria.
The Grow Tower kit from the Rock On Cafe is part of its farm-to-market philosophy of the three C's - classroom, cafeteria and community.
For photos of the assembly of the Tower, and then the harvesting of the first crop, see the photo gallery below.