By Mary O’KEEFE and Charly SHELTON

Last week community supporter and activist Steve Pierce was treated to a walkthrough of the new hydroponics garden at Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS). The garden started with one hydroponic tower, located in the cafeteria, made possible through the generosity of Pierce and his wife Karen. There is a second one due to arrive shortly thanks to a donation by another community member.

The idea for the garden began with CVHS junior Kristyn Roh.

“My mom introduced me to hydroponic towers, which is just a more sustainable way of growing plants and vegetables – anything really – and the nice thing about it is that it grows anywhere. So with drought and our lack of land, these towers are really good because you can put them anywhere and they’ll flourish anywhere,” Roh said.

Hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil, according to National Agricultural Library.

Hydroponics growing has been around for centuries. According to an article, “Hydroponics: The power of water to grow food” by Harvard University, it is believed the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 600 BCE, survived through a pulley system of water from the river, an agricultural technique that today is known as hydroponics. Growing through the use of hydroponics has become more common in commercial and personal use.

School administrators and students would like to see their hydroponic garden expand in the future. Roh explained the plants can be cut and then continue to grow.

She noted the plants would have to be replaced annually.

“It actually recycles water, which is really cool, so you never have to change it out; you just have to add water to it [every so often],” Roh said.

“Why don’t more people do this?” Pierce asked. “Is it because they don’t know about it?”

“It’s definitely a newer thing, but it’s also a little bit expensive so it’s not super easy for everyone to access,” Roh said.

The initial start up is a little over $1,000; after that it there is an annual fee of $500. Principal Christine Benitez said she is hoping to reach out to community members to help fund the annual fee.

Roh toured the company where they bought the tower and found there was a large variety of sizes and containers.

“Kristyn is really the one [who] brought this [garden project] to us,” Benitez said. “We have a gardening club on campus.”

She added food would be grown for the cafeteria. Right now some herbs, butter lettuce and cauliflower are grown and they will expand to other vegetables as the garden is expanded.

Benitez said the school’s photography class set up time-lapse photography so the students can watch the progress of the garden.

For his part, Pierce continued to say how amazed he was with the hydroponics garden program and happy there was a garden in the cafeteria that one day will offer fresh food for students.

There will be a framed certificate thanking the Pierce Family for its donation.

Anyone who would like to donate to the hydroponics program can contact the school at (818) 249-5871 or email the principal at cbenitez@gusd.net.