Indoor Hydroponic Farm Stand Grows at Local Library

The Charleston County Public Library successfully applied to CORE SC for a mini-grant in May 2023. Their vision was to provide a Lettuce Grow hydroponic farm stand inside their kitchen at the newly opened Keith Summey North Charleston Public Library, located in a designated “food desert”. To date, the six-foot indoor vertical garden provided free vegetables to almost 100 people between June 2023 and March 2024. In addition, the library provides several STEM related activities for children, teens, and adults. What’s more, since the garden is inside the new kitchen, library staff can harvest fresh herbs and greens to use in their cooking classes. It’s all part of CCPL’s Free and Fresh Community Fridge Program.

We started to think, if this low-cost garden can provide so much benefit to the North Charleston community, why not provide indoor farm stands to other libraries located in food insecure neighborhoods? To that end, CORE SC will be inviting libraries located in designated food deserts throughout the state to apply for a Lettuce Grow Farm Stand of their own. Our vision is for these farm stands to augment existing nutrition programs and provide enriching STEM programming throughout the year.