School Garden Resources
Welcome to our School Garden Resources section! We love working with schools to establish sustainable learning gardens and wanted to put together a resources section that will help you establish your own school garden at your or your child's school! We hope this section will provide you with some helpful information. Feel free to take a look at our School Garden blog post as well. If you have any questions, please shoot us an email at info@alohaurbanfarming.com.
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School Gardens:
Using Gardens to Grow Healthy Habits in Cafeterias, Classrooms and Communities
School gardens pre-date the National School Lunch Program; the Federal government has been encouraging school gardening since the early 1900s, even building a “School Garden Army” during World War I and supporting victory gardens at schools during World War II. Today, the 2015 USDA Farm to School Census indicates there are over 7,000 school gardens across the nation. USDA encourages school gardens by providing grant funding, guidance and resources, and support for food service personnel who are interested in purchasing products from a school garden. |
Gardens as ClassroomsSchool gardens are living laboratories that create teaching opportunities ripe for nutrition and agriculture education and experiential education across all disciplines.
In Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, California all 6th-8th grade students are taught science standards using the Edible Schoolyard, a one-acre organic garden and kitchen classroom. The school has seen increases in science test scores since using the model. In West Virginia, the local FFA program educates young farmers about entering careers in agriculture by growing, marketing and selling produce and eggs for schools. In North Carolina, a non-profit organization, Growing Minds, develops school garden lessons for preschool through 5th grade that align with state standards for literature, science and math. USDA has free resources for nutrition education lessons in the garden through Team Nutrition, and lists garden-based curricula on the USDA Farm to School Resources page. For additional free lessons, the Edible Schoolyard has a searchable database of shared lessons and curricula. |
Students at CCA working in their garden classroom!
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*This information comes from the USDA School Garden Fact Sheet. Click Here to view the sheet.
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Funding Your School GardenFunding diversity is key when planning a sustainable school garden. Here is some food for thought:
• Matching funding sources with needs is a good start. What is the primary funding need? Supplies? Construction? Staff? Once you know your needs, approach local hardware stores if you need supplies or consider looking for a volunteer agency, if your greatest need is staff. • Think local! Parent associations, healthy fundraisers, local non-profits and public agencies have all supplied resources to start and sustain school gardens. • Federal funds, including USDA Farm to School Grants, Team Nutrition funds and even National School Lunch Program funds, can and have been used to support garden supplies, equipment and staff. Here are some grant writing tips. • There are several School Garden grants available from private companies such as: the Whole Kids Foundation, Annie's Homegrown, Lowe's, Fiskar's, etc. |
Links
Testimonials
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"I've been researching tips on transforming your garden for the past few days and I came across your [School Garden Resources] page on your site...thanks for the resources, they really helped me out!"
-Sophie Mainland Aggregates Ltd. "More schools need gardens! I wish my daughter's school had one to help kids learn more about growing food. Thank you for sharing [this information]!"
-Rimantha |
"I love what you guys are doing, and really appreciate your school garden resources! Myself and some other volunteers are working towards starting up a community garden. We think it will be a great way to promote organic agriculture and healthy eating with the kids in our neighborhood. You guys were so helpful to us!"
-Sam Hawthorne Community Center |
Click Here to view Hydroponics Basics. A similar learning guide designed for use in the classroom will be coming soon!
For questions, contact us.
For questions, contact us.
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Pictured: students at Christ Cathedral Academy in Garden Grove, CA helping assemble Vertical Victory Gardens for their school garden.
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School garden presentation at Christ Cathedral Academy!
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Christ Cathedral Academy "Garden of Hope" slide show!
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