DC Everest hydroponic farm pays big dividends in wake of COVID-19 – WSAW

WESTON, Wis. (WSAW)- Schools across the area are doing their part to make sure that families in their communities don't go hungry, but one in particular is going above and beyond on that front.

As part of a remodeling project at D.C. Everest, a grow room was added for their agriscience program. They started a hydroponic farm, meaning there's no soil used to grow crops, around Christmas. Just three months later, it's paying major dividends already.

"We like to call it Evergreen farm.'"

At the meeting where D.C. Everest decided to shut down a few weeks ago, agriscience teacher John Glynn had a bad feeling about the future of the school's hydroponic farm.

"The principal said to me, when our faculty meeting is over, we're having another meeting, you and I, said Glynn. I thought for sure he was going to tell me to shut the system down."

Instead?

"He said the superintendent was wondering if I'd be able to oversee the operation of this system to produce produce for our families here at Everest."

The school's hydroponic, vertical, zip farm put them in a unique position to help the community.

"The zip farm setup is actually fairly cutting edge, said Glynn. In fact there's only three of these setups in the state of Wisconsin, and we're the only school that has one."

From the LED lights, to the nutrients supplied, to the amount of water used, efficiency is the name of the game at Evergreen farm, and the amount of food they can produce reflects that.

"In our very small setup we can grow over 4,000 lettuce plants at a time."

Glynn is the only one in the grow room right now, but before the shutdown, the impressive setup caught the eye of students throughout the school.

"The attention from the student body was unbelievable, Glynn said. Instant and over the top. Students we're coming in here every hour of the day."

Whenever students are allowed back, Evergreen Farm will have made a massive difference for Everest families, because Glynn is just getting started.

"We're going to ramp it up until we're full, says Glynn. So we're going to ramp it up to four thousand-plus plants, and make sure that our community doesn't run short of the produce that we can produce them."

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DC Everest hydroponic farm pays big dividends in wake of COVID-19 - WSAW