Turn on the Waterworks: Hydroponics at StFX

If you’ve noticed a budding sea of green growing up the walls in Bloomfield Cafe or a cart of sprouting leaves on the third floor of the Schwartz Business Centre, then you’ve witnessed a glimpse of a student-led project at StFX that is continuing to grow in every aspect of the word. This week I had a chat with third-year AQUA student Simon Middleton, who has been piloting a hydroponics system at StFX over the past three years.

Hydroponics is an artificial plant-growing system in which plant roots are suspended in circulating, nutrient-enriched water instead of soil. The result is fast-growing plants that can be grown and harvested year-round regardless of outdoor growing seasons.

Middleton began his journey in hydroponics when he received an AeroGarden, a simple home version of a hydroponic system, for his fifteenth birthday, and has since continued to develop his interest in the technology. While attending Dr. John Hugh Gillis High School, he started a system through the school’s environment club, after which it seemed only natural to start one at StFX. He took on the project with support from StFX’s ALPACA (Antigonish League of People Advocating for Climate Action) society. The group proposed the project to Ancillary Services and the school was able to fund it, where it is now located in the back of the Bloomfield Cafe and can hold up to 180 plants.

“When I was taking Business 111, my lab instructor… she heard about the hydroponics system, and said ‘Simon, you should do Enactus’ …and they gave us $500,” says Middleton. The Enactus grant allowed him to establish a second 108 plant system that is now located in the third floor study room in Schwartz.

Since last year, volunteers from ALPACA have been involved in planting and maintaining both systems, and Middleton has overseen the harvesting of what he estimates has now been about 150 heads of lettuce. Volunteers begin by planting seeds in small tubes of growth media, which are used instead of soil. Eventually, the fully-grown produce will be donated to Kevin’s Corner, the campus foodbank in Bloomfield. The entire process takes only a number of weeks. A number of different plants are on the future menu, including tomatoes and hopefully strawberries!

Just last week, Middleton received an additional grant from Enactus. “With $1000,” he says, “I think we can triple or quadruple the [Schwartz] system.” Eventually he hopes to expand the program into the Antigonish community.

Innovations like hydroponics are commonly cited as alternatives to industrial-scale agriculture, which frequently results in the degradation of vast tracts of land and the application of damaging pesticides and fertilizers. Technologies like hydroponics could be powerful aids in tackling the challenges of climate change and feeding the global population. If that sounds inspiring, you’re not alone. Middleton urges anyone interested in helping out to reach out! You can contact ALPACA on Instagram at @alpaca.climateaction, and the next time you pass by Schwartz or Bloomfield, be sure to take a closer look.

Along with other projects on campus including the community produce garden and pollinator garden behind J. Bruce Brown, the hydroponics system is part of an exciting series of sustainable agriculture initiatives led by driven students who are collectively setting the stage for a greener future.