Jackson Elementary School students cracked open their first Hydroponic Flex Farm Tuesday to educate kids and feed those in need. It is a machine that uses nutrient-rich water to grow plants without soil in a man-made environment.
After cutting the ribbon on this new $5,000 Hydroponic Flex Farm, Mariely, a student at Jackson Elementary, said she loved watching it grow. "You just see like the plants just growing. You see it growing every day and you see them getting bigger," Mariely said.
The science behind this process starts with a seed being planted and watered. Then after one week, it turns into a sprout and it is ready for the machine. And after just 28 days, that sprout will look like a head of lettuce ready to eat. Produce grows so fast because in the ground, the roots are competing with the soil to get nutrients. But in the Flex Farm, those nutrients are fed directly to the roots.
"Because you can grow stuff inside and you don't need any sun to go outside. You just need the light in the middle to let it grow. And water," Mariely said. Once grown, it goes to the school's Hunger Heroes Jaguar Den, a food pantry for Jackson Elementary school families.
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