Growing green at South Boston Catholic Academy

SBNDC interns helped South Boston Catholic Academy construct four tower gardens last summer. Noah White, an SBNDC intern and South Boston Catholic Academy alum, has continued helping the school get the gardens growing. Noah shared the following update:

South Boston Catholic Academy (SBCA) located on East Broadway has four Tower Gardens which can grow vegetables year-round without the use of dirt. SBCA reached out to South Boson NDC to help jumpstart the towers and begin growing things like lettuce and basil.

You might be wondering, how can you grow vegetables without dirt? First, the seeds are placed into blocks of sponge-like material, and the blocks are arranged in a tray. The trays are filled with water and nutrients needed for the plants to grow, and as long as the blocks are kept watered the plants will begin to sprout.

When they are a few inches tall, the blocks are moved into spaces in the tower where they will continue receiving water and nutrients through the tower's vertical irrigation system. In the coming months I hope to create a schedule that is easy for SBCA staff and students to follow for things like monthly cleanings, and profiles of plants including how long they take to grow and the amounts of nutrients that need to be added.

Hopefully, all of the tower gardens will be functional by the time summer comes around and students can enjoy a harvest! 

SBNDC summer interns help South Boston Catholic Academy summer campers assemble the tower gardens that students are now using to grow vegetables inside the school.