By Kate Klimesh,
Turkey Valley Community School District and its students are excited to utilize the school’s greenhouse for a second year and all the projects, ideas and experience it brings. With one full greenhouse year under their belts, valuable lessons were learned and second-year plans are underway.
The race to learn
“We had a very successful last year,” noted TV Agriculture Education Teacher Steve Pfaffle. “We grew a wide assortment of vegetables, over 250 baskets and 500 pots of flowers. That thing was full when we had our Open House this spring, but we were very successful and sold out of almost everything.” He noted that at Turkey Valley, the Career Technical Education program is very strong. “Anything we can do to get everyone involved at any age, help the students to witness opportunities and different learning experiences, that’s what we’ll do, and we have such great support for that from our principal.”
The greenhouse was planned to be self-sufficient, and more than $6,000 from the plant sales will help support the greenhouse for propane to heat it (if necessary) as well as new equipment or projects that are student-led. “This community is so supportive. We wouldn’t be doing some of these things without community support.”
Last year, Pfaffle noted they “went whole-hog and tried everything we could think of and continued to ‘grow’ and learn. We planted a bit too early last year and ended up with four-foot-tall tomato plants at the open house April 26. They had started to flower too. So, we’ll wait another month before starting seeds for the Open House this year. Maybe we’ll start in March instead of February.”
The Industrial Arts program built a 10’ x 14’ garden shed for the staff and students using the greenhouse. The younger students took field trips to the greenhouse to watch the growing process from seeds and learn about it firsthand – and from fellow students. They have several different growing systems for students to learn from.
Pfaffle also reported the teachers and students would experiment to find the best practices, and to involve as many aspects as possible of the school and its students in the greenhouse and garden project. They worked with several different fertilizers from organic to foliar spray fertilizers. “We found the organic fertilizer wouldn’t stay in solution without the formation of mold in the fertilizer solution. The foliar fertilizer kept growing moss in areas of overspray, so we won’t do that again.”
This past summer, Turkey Valley FFA Alumni and Supporters offered a scholarship to students accepting the Student Greenhouse Manager position tending the greenhouse and outside garden they planted as well. “It’s been such a positive. The Student Greenhouse Manager comes in for an hour a day throughout the year to tend the garden, weed, and check in on the plants, and gets a $500 scholarship for the 3 months of service.”
A new season’s projects
For this new season, preparations are underway for some pretty incredible ideas to be brought to fruition. “This year, we’re looking at building and installing tower hydroponics, and there’s a robotic planting bench in the works to plant, weed, and water. They’ll all be planted in a four-foot by eight-foot raised bed and the students will program the system to complete all the functions.
“The tower hydroponics system will see the students build the towers, and implement a continuous flow of water solution pumped up to the reservoir of the tower near the top, with a timer to release water down to the plants.”
Pfaffle reported the lettuce and tomatoes planned for the tower were earmarked for the Farm to School program, with harvests being utilized by the school’s Nutrition Services crew, and offered to any student or staff wanting a fresh salad with meals. “Whatever someone wants to try, we’ll attempt it, within reason,” he added, “Someone wanted to try to grow a miniature peach tree, so we’ll be working on that too.”
“The students here are incredible. You give them an idea and they run with it. Heck, they do things I don’t even think will work. They are leading the way on the robotic planting bench mechanism. It’s exciting, I truly enjoy working with the students and seeing them become excited about it too. And we continuously evaluate and decide what we will do. We will be much more selective this year to do things really well. We are so fortunate to have this facility.”
The students select the types of flowers to grow for the Open House to give them ownership and encourage them to see it through. “There’s a lot of good things going on at this school. We have a principal, Michelle Hoy, who cares about the students and is very supportive and positive; it’s not ‘if we can’, it’s ‘how can we’. We have a superintendent, Jay Jurrens, who has been wonderful – on board with the idea, and giving us ideas the whole time.”
Pfaffle noted that future project plans would look for funding for Greenhouse screens to keep out pests, and for a fence around the outdoor garden to prevent the rabbits from chewing through the water lines, which are all student-assembled and maintained. “We’ll be growing all year for Farm to School and the Open House. We will also be prioritizing expenses to determine if it’s worth the cost of having the gardens this summer.”
During our interview, High School freshman Nicholas Bernhard stopped in the greenhouse to pick tomatoes in between classes. “It’s cool to say we do all this for people to enjoy. It’s just a really cool thing.”
After Nicholas left to deliver carrots to the staff, Pfaffle added, “What can’t you do with kids like that.”
Steve Pfaffle enjoys seeing the fruits of the students’ dedication, ingenuity and problem-solving as they build out parts and systems for next year’s greenhouse season. Included in the plans are automated, robotic planting and watering systems for select greenhouse beds. Working with student involved in the Robotics club, they encourage ideas and experimentation while learning throughout the building and growing season. The Spring plant sale benefits the program and the school.
Plan(t)s for the 2024 Open House
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Tomatoes
• Carrots
• Radish
• Lettuce
• Beans
• Peas
• Celery
• Assorted potted flowers
• Assorted hanging baskets
Watch for more details on the Turkey Valley Open House on their Facebook Page.
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