b' indoor gardeningIndoor gardening comes to Cole ManorBy Healthy Comet staffWe planted lettuce and sold it, said Cole Manor Elementary School Scarlett Navarro Ruelas. I bought When youlettuce and my mom made me salad. It walk throughwas super good! We put some seeds Hallway B atin the Fork Farm and let it grow.Cole ManorAdaora Spruel also gave the lettuce a Elementarygood review. It took about three to School,four weeks to grow, she said. It was youll noticeten times better than a [store-bought] Ryne Anthonysomethingsalad. I sold some of the lettuce and a Co-founder Fluxspace new. Its alot of people bought it.tall, white structure that is lit up likeHealthy Comet reporters recently a spaceship. You can see green plantsinterviewed Ryne Anthony, co-growing up the sides of the structure.founder of Fluxspace and director of Welcome to the schools Fork Farmsinnovation, about the work that his setup. company does with schools and the community and the health benefits ofallows students to use and learn many Cole Manor students are learningthings. They listened to videos and about sustainable indoor gardeningindoor gardening.researched the steps it takes to be using the Fork Farms model throughMr. Anthony said that because thesuccessful, she said. They are using a partnership with Fluxspace infood is grown locally, it keeps itsmeasuring tools, estimation, and Norristown. The garden is sustainablenutritional value. He explained thatsimple calculations to keep the water because it allows many plants towhen food has to be shipped, it has tolevels stable.grow in a smaller space, needs lessbe picked before its fully ripe so that water, and uses LED lights. LED lightsit doesnt go bad while its traveling.In addition, they learned to manage require less energy than traditionalthe entire project. It brought their lights. The indoor garden also allows peopleresearch to life, she said. After they to grow fresh vegetables and fruitharvested the crops, the students The schools fourth graders have beenyear-round. In the Philadelphiawere in charge of sales. They had working on growing lettuce, and theyarea, people cant grow these plantsto maintain their inventory and the say its delicious. outdoors during the winter. An indoormoney they were collecting. garden can produce crops like lettuce,Fourth grader Christopher Hernandez herbs, tomatoes, and strawberries.said that selling the lettuce gave There are different kinds of indoorhim that extra experience. I think gardens. The Fork Farms system usessomething interesting was selling the a hydroponic method. The plantslettuce because I finally got to work dont grow in dirt. They get theiras a cashier. I could buy lettuce for my nutrients through a special wateringguinea pigs so they will be healthy and system.happy, he said.Mrs. Shannon Madara, a fourth-grade teacher, said the hydroponic garden Page 12 photo (top): Healthy Comet reporters check out Fork Farm plants. | Illustration by Maria Rodriquez, 8th grade, Catholic Partnership Schools Healthy Courier (eating salad)12B Y K I D S , F O R K I D S | F a l l 2 0 2 4'