A new school garden is so exciting for students, teachers and the entire school community. The opportunities for hands-on learning and teaching in a beautiful outdoor setting are abundant. The access to fresh food that students will grow themselves is so valuable to their health and development. Along with all of the benefits of a school garden, come several challenges. Maintaining a garden requires time and dedication and doing so in a school setting requires collaboration and working around the school calendar. Daily watering, regular harvesting, weeding, planning which crops to plant, and teaching lessons in the garden can all be fun tasks if they are managed and shared by a group of gardeners working together, but they can also be a huge burden if they are placed on the shoulders of just one or two people. For this reason, The Kitchen Community recommends that each school formulate a Garden Team to manage the Learning Garden.
A successful garden team includes teachers, parents, administration, facilities personnel, and community members contributing their enthusiasm and experience to the garden program. Every Learning Garden needs a leader, but even the most passionate and dedicated school gardener needs the support of a strong team. Planning for your new Learning Garden is a four to six week process. During the pre-build process your school will work towards building community-wide support for the future of your Learning Garden, planning your Planting Day, and establishing a mission for your Learning Garden. Below you will find worksheets, documents, and websites to assist in the pre-build process.
- Your Garden Team
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Building a Support Network
- Outreach For Your Learning Garden
- Principal Letter to Staff (pdf)- Invite your staff to be involved in the garden and suggest a number of ways they can start.
- Garden Team Letter to School Staff (Word doc.)- Invite your coworkers to participate in small or large ways.
- Garden Team Letter to Parents – Send this letter home with students or hand it out at a garden event.
- Order Seed Catalogs
- Let the USDA and Farmers Almanac help you find your Hardiness Zone and give you a local planting calendar
- Theme Your Garden – Themed Gardens are more approachable for those who are new to the garden, and both for the Garden Team and for your target audience.
Are you ready to for your installation Day? Click on the Project Management and Education pages to learn more!
