The winter doesn’t slow down GSA Farms! Scholars work throughout the winter in the Aquaponics lab, located in a greenhouse in the south courtyard, as well as, the fish and hydroponics labs. Seniors have been working on their pop-up restaurant plan in preparation for its opening on April 5 at R House in Baltimore. Produce for this event is being grown in our hydroponics vertical farm-shipping container as well as our food computer systems. Recently we were awarded two grants, one from the USDA to support our Aquaculture and Aquaponics programs, and the other from the DNR for our native plant nursery. Preparations for obtaining more tilapia feed and maintenance materials is underway to prepare for our annual fish fry with the harvest in the early summer or early fall. Spring is right around the corner and March is the time for us to start seeds in classrooms and prep the hoop house for early spring planting. Most of our winter crops are still alive regardless of the bitter cold. Once the weather warms up enough to perk up our crops, we will have our first harvest of 2019! April 9 is our annual volunteer day with our partners at Constellation Energy where we will plant over 50 trees, some of which are fruit trees for expansion of our orchard. We will also spread mulch in our 5,000 sq ft pollinator garden and rain garden. We are excited for the spring!