Students get taste of harvest
The excitement was palpable Wednesday afternoon in David McCool's fifth-grade social studies class in Butler Middle School following an announcement.
“Today's a big day. Let us eat lettuce,” McCool said.
It was the day his students got to taste the lettuce they have been growing since September using aquaponics in the BMS Fisheries Program Nursery.
Before taking the class to the nursery, McCool played a time-lapse video showing the lettuce and other plants sprouting from seeds and growing to maturity.He also displayed a livestream video from a camera submersed in a fish tank in the nursery containing catfish, which provide nutrients for the plants.McCool explained that the plants were grown using aquaponics, a process in which water from the fish tank is used to water plants.Fish waste settles to the bottom of the tank, but leaves nutrients in the water that makes the lettuce delicious, he said.
After leading the class into the nursery, McCool explained that lettuce in most gardens grows close to the ground in compact heads. The lettuce in the nursery grows tall because the plants compete to reach for the artificial lighting, he said.“So, we've got to put these plants out of their misery by eating them,” he said, before plucking leaves of lettuce.He placed the lettuce in a bucket of water, a bucket of vinegar and then into another bucket of water to clean it.Students wondered what impact the fish waste would have on the taste of the lettuce.McCool reminded them that only nutrients from the fish waste remains in the water used on the plants.“It's not poop anymore,” he said.
He explained that farmers use manure to fertilize soil to help vegetables grow before declaring the lettuce as “poop free.”The catfish, which the students have been raising since September, will be released into Glade Run Lake. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission provided the fish.Back in the classroom, McCool gave each student a leaf of lettuce and offered them a dash of ranch salad dressing.The students enjoyed their healthy mid-day snack.“It tastes good ... It's delicious,” students said.
McCool said the livestream from the fish tank can be viewed on YouTube at BASD_BMS FISHCAM.The fish and boat commission will provide the school with trout eggs in January through the “Trout in the Classroom” program. Students will raise the fish until the end of the school year, when they will be released into Connoquenessing Creek, he said.A camera will be placed in the trout tank to provide livestream access.Middle school teacher Rob Takacs's fifth-grade class also participates in fishery and aquaponic gardening programs.The aquaponics program is funded by grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation, and money raised by the Butler Middle School parent teacher organization.
