USA - MINNESOTA: Winona High School Students Harvest Lettuce Grown Inside The School
April 22, 2025
WINONA, Minn. – Students at Winona Senior High School got their hands on some green Tuesday. Green as in lettuce, that is.
The students harvested nearly 50 pounds of fresh lettuce, grown inside the school using the Flex Farm hydroponic system from Fork Farms. Winona Area Public Schools says this is the first set-up of its kind in the state and allows Winona students to grow close to 200 pounds of fresh lettuce each month for the school's salad bar in the cafeteria.
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in nutrient-rich water instead of soil and Winona Area Public Schools says it provides numerous benefits for student engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills by combining hands-on experimentation in real-world farming scenarios. FFA Officer & Farm Manager, Miriam Jackson, and school's nutrition staff have been maintaining these Flex Farms learning valuable lifelong skills as they test pH levels, manage nutrient levels, and examine crop cycle management.
Fork Farms says it has more than 1,000 Flex Farms in K-12 schools in the other 49 states. The vertical growing system requires only 9 square feet of space and a standard electrical outlet to produce fresh food year-round. Fork Farms says a single Flex Farm unit can grow 25 pounds of lettuce every 28 days.
Photos courtesy of Winona Area Public Schools.