F2CC X SucSeed: Indoor garden giveaway

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Food security, Growing, Hands-on food literacy, How-to resource, Local food, Student engagement

Attention educators!

We’ve teamed up with

a social enterprise that produces indoor growing systems, to give away an

Educator Grow Garden &
20 Micro Garden Kits

to one lucky winner!

Contest closes Friday, November 27 at 11:59pm EST.

The winner will be selected at random and notified via direct message the following day.

Open to Canadian residents only.

How to enter:

Each step gets you one entry!

1.

Share our
Facebook post

2.

Follow both @FarmtoCafeteria Canada and @SucSeed

3.

Retweet
on Twitter

What’s included:

SucSeed grow garden
20 micro kits
Full-spectrum led light with stand
Water pump system

4 pack of rock wool growing medium
6 packs of seed
Nutrients and pH strip

What is a Hydroponic System?

SucSeed’s indoor growing systems uses a technology known as hydroponics. A hydroponic system is a soilless, nutrient-filled plant incubator. This means it can be used to grow fresh produce without the need of sun or soil. Hydroponics are a great option for those who want to get growing in areas where there are temperature extremes (hot or cold!), the growing season is short, or space is limited.

Are hydroponics right for you?

There are many advantages to hydroponics for schools, but before jumping in it’s important to know what to expect, and how to make the most of them. Below is a list of benefits of hydroponic systems, what they’re best suited to grow, and what’s required for maintenance.

Benefits of a hydroponic system

Uses less space than traditional food growing systems

Things grow quickly!

Limited risk of pests or disease outbreak

Able to manage the pH and nutrient levels that plants need

Requires less water than traditional gardening or farming

Best suited to grow:

Almost anything you can think of that grows straight up, such as:

A wide array of lettuce and other leafy greens
Fresh herbs
Tomatoes and peppers
Strawberries

NOT suited to grow:

You cannot grow root vegetables as they still need soil:

Potatoes
Carrots
Turnips

Know before you grow!
How to maintain a hydroponics system

Because hydroponics systems do not use soil the system relies on a growing medium (rock wool) to support plants’ root systems, and liquid nutrients so they can grow. Over time, these two essential items need to be replenished, so when considering hydroponics for your classroom, be sure to budget for these on-going costs. It is estimated that a year of classroom growing can be done for less than $100 per year.

Of course, like with any gardening you also need to budget for new seeds (or plan for seed saving activities.)

About SucSeed

Located in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, SucSeed is a social enterprise dedicated to improving food security in some of Canada’s most rural and remote regions by creating small-scale hydroponic systems to grow fresh, healthy, local food almost anywhere. The units are built by at-risk youth and a portion of all profits are invested back into communities.

SucSeed first started as an Enactus Project at Memorial University. In 2016, Emily Bland and her dedicated team of four women pitched the idea at Enactusand, to their surprise, won the Enactus World Cup.

Farm to Cafeteria Canada is pleased to partner with this young group of innovators who are on a shared mission to educate, build capacity and grow partnerships to bring healthy, local and sustainable food to all communities.