Tips for Starting a School Garden
Starting an elementary school garden can be a wonderful and rewarding project for both students and teachers. Here are some tips to help you get started:
Get Buy-In: Before starting the garden, make sure to get buy-in from school administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Having the support of the school community will make the project more successful and sustainable. I’ve found that it’s important to have at least 2-3 other teachers interested in helping with the garden. This helps with the upkeep and workload. If you have the support of your school administrators, they can help you get funding for garden supplies and help promote the garden activities. This will help with gathering community support.
Plan Your Garden: Decide what type of garden you want to create – whether it’s a vegetable garden, flower garden, or a combination of both. Consider the space you have available, sunlight exposure, and access to water. If you have a small pace, you can use horse troughs and if you have a larger space, you can create raised beds. Raised beds can be created from wood lumber or cinderblocks. On a landscape project we did last year, we wrote a grant and purchased garden planters from Epic Gardening! We love their products. When we started our school garden, we built 6 garden beds with cinder blocks. They have worked really well.
Involve Students: Get students involved in every step of the process, from planning and planting to caring for the garden. Gardening can be a great hands-on learning experience for children, teaching them about science, nature, and responsibility.
Start Small: If you’re new to gardening, it’s best to start small and gradually expand your garden as you gain more experience. Choose easy-to-grow plants that are suitable for your climate and soil type.
Seek Community Support: Consider reaching out to local businesses, gardening clubs, local nurseries or community organizations for donations of seeds, tools, or expertise. Building a network of support can help make your school garden thrive.
By following these tips and staying patient and persistent, you can create a vibrant and educational garden that will benefit your school community for years to come.
Supplies needed:
Large Shovels – we use pointed tip shovels
Hand Held Gardening Tools – pruners, soil scoop, small trowel, hand rake
Gloves for all involved
Containers for harvesting – baskets, bowls, buckets work well
Scissors and gardening sheers
Wheel barrow or 2
Wagon to haul large items – bags of soil, plants, etc.
Garden Planter Materials – railroad timbers, cinder blocks, or metal planters
Soil, Seeds and transplants
How to FUND a Garden
Paying for a school garden can be a rewarding investment in the education and well-being of students. There are several ways to fund a school garden project. One common approach is to seek grants from government agencies, non-profit organizations, or foundations that support educational initiatives or environmental sustainability. Local businesses or community groups may also be willing to sponsor a school garden as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts. Additionally, reaching out to parents, teachers, and alumni for donations or in-kind contributions like tools, seeds, or soil can also help offset costs. By combining these different funding sources, schools can create a beautiful and educational garden space for students to enjoy.
Afterschool Garden Club
One of our most successful ways to fund our garden and maintain our garden is to create an afterschool garden club. We had a fall garden club group and a spring garden club group. We charged $25 to join the garden club for each session. Since our school had grades 2-5, we met with one grade level per week on Tuesdays. The 2nd week of the month we met with 2nd grade, 3rd week we met with 3rd grade, the 4th week, we met with 4th grade and the 1st week, we met with 5th graders. Each grade level group had 20 students. Each meeting, we usually had a garden activity or lesson, we watered the garden, picked weeds, cleared dead plants and planted/harvested any thing that was in need.
