At the start of the 2025-26 school year, Brooke ’27 and Nina ’27 established the first hydroponic garden at Marlborough in the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) as co-leaders of their Volunteers in Action Club.
Nina’s speech for 11th grade Community Partnerships Representative kicked off the implementation of the garden as she stated that one of her primary goals was to establish a fresh produce garden to give out to community fridges in Los Angeles. After hearing her speech, Brooke reached out to collaborate.
“By combining our strengths, Brooke’s gardening expertise and my background in community partnerships, we formed the perfect team to turn this vision into a reality,” Nina said.
Working alongside Engineering and Entrepreneurship Head Catie Mino in the spring of the 2024-25 school year, Brooke and Nina finalized the details to implement a farm stand, facilitate another environmental experience opportunity for students and donate to nearby organizations.
“It is a hydroponic garden, which means that it grows with LED lights and nutrient-rich water rather than planted in the ground with soil,” Brooke said. “The benefits of a hydroponic garden over traditional gardening include being able to grow produce indoors in small compact areas, faster plant yield rate and reduced water usage.”
Each week, Brooke and Nina, along with other club members, maintain the garden by adding nutrients and analyzing the pH levels of the water, as well as refilling the water tanks.
They ordered saplings, which are young plants that have moved past the seed stage, but still need to be cared for, to use in the farm stand initially. Currently, they are trying to grow their own saplings.
So far, the stand has successfully produced butter lettuce, red bok choy, astro arugula and thyme. Brooke and Nina have harvested four times this school year, which involves cutting and trimming the produce and then placing it into bags for distribution.
“My favorite part is when we get to see people try the produce that we grow,” Brooke said. “They are delighted to say that the food tastes fresh.”
After harvests, Community Partnerships Program Head Javier Esperanza drives the students to drop off the fresh produce to Alexandria House, which provides transitional housing for women and families that includes a community fridge for families who do not have access to nutritious food options regularly.
Nina and Brooke see great potential in continuing to grow the garden. Next school year, another farm stand will be implemented in the CEI to increase the amount of produce that they can distribute.
“Our garden is all about learning and giving back,” Nina said. “Since it’s right in the middle of the CEI, one of the busiest spots on campus, it’s perfect for sparking our peers’ curiosity about sustainability. We really hope this hydroponic setup shows everyone how easy it is to start their own gardening journey.”
