LA Garden Resource Binder

Congratulations on your school’s new Learning Garden and welcome to The Kitchen Community (TKC)! Your school garden is now part of a much larger network of 200 (and growing) Learning Gardens in schools across the country! With that network of Learning Gardens comes a community of support and understanding at all levels.

The TKC Team

TKC was started in Boulder, Colorado. We have a home office there full of fun-loving folks working hard toward our mission of Community through Food. TKC also has regional offices in Colorado, Memphis, and of course, Los Angeles! Up until this point, you have been working with the Los Angeles Project Management Team consisting of Jenny Thomas and Jeffery Ross. Once your Learning Garden is installed, TKC will transition you relationship to work with the Education team: Celeste Kelley and Julia Carr. The Education team will work with your garden team to support a successful Learning Garden program at your school. Learn more about TKC’s Education support in the Education Support Overview in this section of your binder.

• Learning Garden Important Contacts (PDF)

The Garden Binder

This Garden Binder is both an introduction to your Learning Garden and a helpful tool containing a wealth of information that you will need to establish and grow your Learning Garden Program. Feel free to add to it as you come across other useful resources and always keep it in a central place for reference and use by all who use the garden.

Binder Table of Contents:

1. Your Garden Team (PDF)
   1. Example Garden Team Meeting Agenda (PDF)
2. TKC Education Support Overview (PDF)
3. Planting Day Overview (PDF)
   1. Planting Day Schedule Template (Word)
4. Community Outreach (Engaging Your Community PDF)
   1. Outreach Letters: Principal Letter to Teachers (Word)
   2. Outreach Letters: Letter to Staff Daily Watering and Little Rainclouds (Word)
   3. Outreach Letters: Parent Garden Team Invitation (Word)
   4. Outreach Letters: Queridos Padres (Word)
5. Garden Resources
   1. How to Water (PDF)
   2. The Irrigation System (PDF)
   3. Planting Guides: Growing a Sensory Garden (PDF)
   4. Planting Guides: Growing Green (PDF)
   5. Planting Guides: Three Sister (PDF)
   6. Planting Guide: Salsa Garden (PDF)
   7. CA Planting Guide (Burpee) (PDF)
   8. Watering Calendar School Year 2015-16 (PDF)
6. Harvest and Eat 
   1. Harvest Guide (PDF)
   2. Tasting Activities (PDF)
   3. What to do with Harvest (PDF)
7. The Garden Classroom: Lessons and Curriculum (PDF)
   1. Rule-making activity (PDF)
   2. Learning Garden Pre-Installation Lesson K-2 (PDF)
   3. Learning Garden Pre-Installation Lesson 3-5 (PDF)
   4. Learning Garden 5 senses walk K-2 (PDF)
   5. Learning Garden Tour 3-5 (PDF)
   6. Learning Garden Tour 6-8 (PDF)
   7. Learning Garden Scavenger Hunt K-2 (PDF) 
   8. Learning Garden Scavenger Hunt Handout K-2 (PDF)
   9. Learning Garden Scavenger Hunt 3-5 (PDF)
   10. Learning Garden Scavenger Hunt 6-8 (PDF)
   11. Life Lab Curricular Connections: Seedy Character Addendum (PDF)
   12. Life Lab Unit Lesson 1:The Unnature Trail (PDF)
   13. Life Lab Unit Lesson 2: Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other (PDF)
   14. Life Lab Unit Lesson 3: Earth Planet of the Insects (PDF)
   15. Life Lab Unit Lesson 4: The Nitty Gritty (PDF) Clay, Silt, Sand Handout (PDF)
   16. Life Lab Unit Lesson 5: Seedy Character (PDF)
   17. Life Lab Unit Lesson 6: Glass Seed Sandwich (PDF)
   18. Life Lab Unit Lesson 7: Lunch Bag Ecology, Part One (PDF)
   19. Life Lab Unit Lesson 8: Stem, Root, Leaf, or Fruit (PDF)