(Atlantic) Atlantic High School students have been able to expand their knowledge on growing fresh, healthy food all year long now that they have three indoor tower gardens.
The tower gardens are a self-sustainable aeroponic growing system. The towers run water every 20-minutes and the lights are set to turn on after school and turn off before school starts. The students are currently growing tomatoes, bell peppers, kale, cilantro, parsley, and lettuce to name a few.
The idea for the tower gardens was presented by Frank and Kimberlee Spillers, with Rural Community Solutions, who approached Rolling Hills Bank and Trust to see if they would help fund the project.
Keith Honke, Vice President of Rolling Hills Bank and Trust, said, “I thought it would be a good educational tool for the kids, and even adults, to see how things work and grow because a lot of kids aren’t from the farm anymore, they’re in the city, so it’s nice to see how things sprout from a seed to a plant and then to be able to harvest it and use it within the school system I thought was very important.”
This semester the Horticulture Class is in charge of the tower gardens and today they spent time planting new items on the vertical towers. Agriculture Teacher Eric Miller said these tower gardens help add to the nutrition of the school lunch.
“I just want to thank Rolling Hills Bank for sponsoring this project for us; it’s been a very interesting experience, it’s generated a lot of talk around the school and the community in general, so it’s a pretty good project,” stated Miller.
Superintendent Steve Barber said this is just part of a bigger picture as they move forward.
“We’ve been involved in the Farm to School program too with Iowa State Extension and the other schools here. I think Mr. Miller’s class built some raised beds that we dabble into from the educational standpoint. So, this is just another layer for us as we explore Farm to School concepts, as we explore nutritional ways to improve that, exercise and social and emotional being too,” said Barber.
Eric Miller said there are raised beds at the Schuler and Washington Elementary schools that the students will be taking care of; they are also working on starting a school garden with a few students; and they are hoping to start another type of hydroponic system in the greenhouse pretty soon.
