Dreaming of Spring!

Spring is in the air, which can only mean one thing!  It's time to brush off those gardening gloves, gather your tools, pick an assortment of seeds, and start planning your school garden!

While our fellow gardeners across the country may already be digging in the dirt, this is Wisconsin after all, and we all know that we will probably see snow before it is officially spring.

However, it doesn't mean that we can't dream about our soon-to-be garden! 

Have you started planning your school garden? If so, what will you plant?  How many children will be involved in your school garden?  Are your students excited?

Or, do you have questions as you plan your school garden?  No problem! Leave a comment below and one of your fellow school gardeners may have the perfect solution to your problem!

If you're a school gardening pro, what advice do you have for beginning school gardeners?

To date, we have had more than 300 teachers and childcare providers attend training sessions to learn to start a school garden.  We're hoping that school gardens will start sprouting up across the state!

Share your grand plans and school garden dreams below!

Getting Parents Involved in School Gardens

Parents can be a vital asset to the success of your school garden.  I was recently asked how to involve parents in a school garden project and thought I would share a few suggestions. 

Feel free to add your own thoughts and suggestions in the comment section below.

• Have parents donate gardening tools. Parents may have extra tools lying around that they don’t need. Donations save money instead of having to buy new tools. Parents can put their names on tools and pick them up after the gardening season is over.  By donating tools, parents will feel more invested in the project.

• Invite parents to help plant/care for/harvest the garden. Create a volunteer schedule. Send information home in a letter or newsletter; provide specific tasks so parents know how to get involved.

• Host a garden party.  It can be a planting/harvesting party where everyone works in the garden.  Or simply invite parents to tour the garden.  Students can show the parents around and tell them what they have learned.  Again, seeing the children get excited may encourage parents to pitch in.

• Invite parents to plan the garden. Involve them in the process early on to make them feel invested.

• Allow students to take fresh produce home. It may get parents more excited about the garden.

• Invite a parent to come in and cook with produce from the garden.

• Invite a parent to come in and read a children’s book about gardening.  Click here for a list of recommended books.

• If a parent is a gardener, have the students interview him/her and ask for advice/tips for their garden.   

• Don't forget about your PTA/PTO organization, which can be a great resource for funding ideas or volunteers!

March School Garden Ideas

At the beginning of each month, the Got Dirt? WI blog will feature a variety of month-specific ways to incorporate your school garden into your classroom.

It's the beginning of March, which means spring is on its way! Below are some suggestions for incorporating a garden into your classroom for the month of March.

• March 1-May 3: The Great American Cleanup--A time to beautify parks and recreation areas, plant trees and flowers, and pick up litter.  Take this time to clean up your local park or start to prepare your outdoor garden for planting.

• March 11: Johnny Appleseed Day--Read a story about Johnny Appleseed and have an apple-themed day.  Taste different types of apples, discuss how apples grow, and make apple art!

• March 17: St. Patrick's Day--You may have heard of a fairy garden, but why not create a leprechaun garden!  Think miniature! Have children imagine the leprechauns in the garden and write a story about their mischievous ways!

• March 20: National Agriculture Day--Discuss Agriculture in Wisconsin.  Invite a farmer or gardener to visit your class.  Have students eat food made in Wisconsin.  Discuss all of the ways that agriculture impacts us daily.

• March 26: Make Up Your Own Holiday Day--Have students brainstorm ideas for a new holiday and what they would do to celebrate it.  Get creative and use it as a day to celebrate your garden!

• March 30: Take a Walk in the Park Day--Go for a walk and identify different types of plants.  Identify trees and their plant parts.  Walk through your garden and have students plan what they want to plant.

Do you have ideas on how to incorporate a garden into the classroom? We'd love to hear your ideas! Share below!

Great School Garden Article and Resource List

Civil Eats, an organization that "promotes critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems as part of building economically and socially just communities," wrote a fantastic blog post about school gardens.


The blog post features stories of various school gardens throughout the country and an impressive list of additional resources. The resources include nonprofit organizations working to start school gardens, organizations creating curriculum and lesson plans for gardens, and funding opportunities.

The blog post shows the variety of ways to incorporate a garden into the classroom and the array of ways to approach it. Best of all, the blog post is inspirational and shows that it is possible to have a successful school garden.

Click here to check it out!

Create Your Own Raised Bed Garden

Learn how to create your own raised bed garden with these simple steps. 

A raised bed improves soil drainage, allowing for plant roots to breathe better.  The soil in a raised bed will also heat up faster in the spring, and the soil will not be compacted since you don't walk on your raised bed.

It's never to early to start planning your spring garden and getting everything ready!

Little Cost--Big Impact!

The blogger of ObamaFoodOrama just announced (via Twitter) that the official start up cost of the White House Garden was less than $200. It is broken down as $120 for soil amendments $55 seeds/starts, labor "free."

Wow!

For less than $200, the White House started a garden that has given momentum to the school gardening craze and produced hundreds of pounds of fresh produce.

Therefore, teachers/childcare providers, if you are concerned about the cost associated with starting a garden, remember it doesn't have to cost a lot. It also doesn't have to be a huge garden. All that matters is that you are gardening! And, most importantly, you make a profound impact in the lives of children!

Resource: School Garden Planning Guide

School Garden Wizard is a wonderful website that provides a step-by-step guide to planning a school garden.

There are so many great tips and tidbits on this site that it is hard to do it justice here. The site has everything from the planning process, to incorporating it into the curriculum, and how to maintain your garden and get the community engaged.

Of particular interest to those who are having a hard time getting "buy in" for the school garden, the website offers a guide to making the case for the garden, how gardening relates to National Science Standards, and a worksheet for drafting a proposal!

This website is a definite must read for teachers interested in starting a school garden!