View other garden projects we've featured on GardenABCs.
GardenABCs
Success Stories - School & Youth Gardens Making a Difference
Each month GardenABCs features a garden program or project that's making a difference with students and the community. We're honored to share these stories and hope they inspire you to get gardening with children! Read Success Story:
Growing Vertical
Space often is an issue. That is, none exists or it's covered with asphalt. Schools with open ground may have contaminated soil, which makes digging and growing food a bad idea.
Bay View School (PS 102) in Brooklyn, N.Y., didn't let limited space stop its desire for a thriving edible garden program. It decided to grow vertically.
Called Nature's Classroom @ PS 102, the garden grows in a hanging pocket system on two chain-link fences surrounding the school courtyard, said parent coordinator Margaret Sheri. The system is designed by Woolley School Garden Program."It’s the easiest method we’ve tried so far – no weeds, easy watering, no bending," said Sheri.
Students grow zebra and cherry tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, squash, baby greens, mizuna, eggplant, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, broccoli, bok choy, arugula, marigolds and herbs, including basil, mint and cilantro.
These veggies are used in the school's Garden to Cafe Program, a New York City school food initiative, for Friday salads and fall and spring harvest festivals.
Students have learned a lot, too. They now can identify vegetables and their nutritional value and know they taste delicious. They've learned what plants need to grow and that you can grow vegetables in a city -- even on a fence. Students also have learned how herbs enhance the flavors of food.Children love spending time in the garden, explained Sheri. They feel "they are in a special, magical place that does not look like the rest of Brooklyn." This break in the day lets them experience nature up close through activities like watering, touching soil and finding worms.
"They are always full of questions and good suggestions."
More Inspiring Garden Projects!
GardenABCs has featured some awesome school garden projects. In fact, they're so inspiring we've listed them here so you can review them whenever you like. Garden organizers - thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion with us! Tell us about your garden project and we'll feature it on GardenABCs.
After-School Gardens
Cesar Chavez Middle School iGrow Garden Club Watsonville, Calif.
Fruits and vegetables, orchard, food security, academics, peer mentoring
City Blossoms Washington DC
Children & youth, entrepreneurship, hands-on learning, art, community, healthy living skills
Gary Comer Youth Center Rooftop Garden Chicago
Youth, community, rooftop, season-extending techniques, healthy eating
Butterfly & Bird Habitats
The School 5 Learning Garden with City Green Paterson NJ
Third grade, learning lab, integrated curricula, also incorporates vegetable patches
Woodland Primary Butterfly Garden Gages Lake, Ill.
Students, seeds, flowers, butterfly life cycle, integrated curricula, hands-on
Community Gardens
Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Community Garden Columbia, Tenn.
Access to healthy food, garden and nutrition workshops, water conservation, kids programs, building community and relationships
Common Ground Community Garden Univ. ofCalifornia Coop. Ext, LA
County, Nutrition, access to fresh produce, build community, employment opportunities
Lake County Health Department WIC Garden Waukegan, Ill.
Nutrition education, mothers and children, vegetables, farmers' market
The Mel Johnson School Gardening Project Wabowden, Manitoba
School garden, home gardens, intergenerational programs, peer mentoring, healthy eating, entreprenuership, healthy lifestyles
Troostwood Garden Kansas City, Mo.
Youth, vegetables, healthy eating, market / entrepreneurship
WE Garden in Capital Park Sacramento, Calif
State capital demonstration garden, community, students, edible, lessons in nutrition, academics, healthy living
Container Gardens
Interlachen Elementary Cafeteria Garden + More Interlachen, Fla
Multiple examples of container gardens. Elementary and high school students, science, curriculum, food production, healthy eating, science exploration
Cultural Gardens
Organic School Project Multiple locations - Chicago
Culture and history-based gardens, healthy eating, food sources, multiple disciplines
Discovery Gardens
Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Children Garden Brooklyn, NY
Planting, weeding, harvesting, tasting, and exploring the garden ecosystem, PreK and caregivers
Wee Gardeners Nature Workshop & Legacy Demo Garden Greensboro, N.C., Early childhood, hands-on, sensory, exploration, multiple intelligences
Environmental Education / Green Gardens
Patuxet Elementary Upper Marlboro, Md.
Outdoor classrooms, schoolyard and habitat improvement, community-building
Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School Washington DC
Garden-based academics and watershed education, student mentoring, business model for garden sustainability, healthy eating, developed in partnership with Earth Day Network
Mentoring Gardens
Gardening Together Habitat for Humanity Lake County, Ill.
Homeowners, landscaping, vegetables, community-building
Nutrition Education Programs
Kidding Around The Kitchen Los Angeles
Healthy eating lessons, cooking classes, in-school program, nutrition education
Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy New York City
Eating healthy by eating what you grow, terrace garden, cooking classes, nutrition education, community education programs
Outdoor Classrooms
GardenABCs has featured some awesome school garden projects. In fact, they're so inspiring we've listed them here so you can review them whenever you like. Garden organizers - thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion with us! Tell us about your garden project and we'll feature it on GardenABCs.
After-School Gardens
Cesar Chavez Middle School iGrow Garden Club Watsonville, Calif.
Fruits and vegetables, orchard, food security, academics, peer mentoring
City Blossoms Washington DC
Children & youth, entrepreneurship, hands-on learning, art, community, healthy living skills
Gary Comer Youth Center Rooftop Garden Chicago
Youth, community, rooftop, season-extending techniques, healthy eating
Butterfly & Bird Habitats
The School 5 Learning Garden with City Green Paterson NJ
Third grade, learning lab, integrated curricula, also incorporates vegetable patches
Woodland Primary Butterfly Garden Gages Lake, Ill.
Students, seeds, flowers, butterfly life cycle, integrated curricula, hands-on
Community Gardens
Columbia Housing and Redevelopment Community Garden Columbia, Tenn.
Access to healthy food, garden and nutrition workshops, water conservation, kids programs, building community and relationships
Common Ground Community Garden Univ. of
Nutrition education, mothers and children, vegetables, farmers' market
The Mel Johnson School Gardening Project Wabowden, Manitoba
School garden, home gardens, intergenerational programs, peer mentoring, healthy eating, entreprenuership, healthy lifestyles
Troostwood Garden Kansas City, Mo.
Youth, vegetables, healthy eating, market / entrepreneurship
WE Garden in Capital Park Sacramento, Calif
State capital demonstration garden, community, students, edible, lessons in nutrition, academics, healthy living
Container Gardens
Interlachen Elementary Cafeteria Garden + More Interlachen, Fla
Multiple examples of container gardens. Elementary and high school students, science, curriculum, food production, healthy eating, science exploration
Cultural Gardens
Organic School Project Multiple locations - Chicago
Culture and history-based gardens, healthy eating, food sources, multiple disciplines
Discovery Gardens
Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Children Garden Brooklyn, NY
Planting, weeding, harvesting, tasting, and exploring the garden ecosystem, PreK and caregivers
Wee Gardeners Nature Workshop & Legacy Demo Garden Greensboro, N.C., Early childhood, hands-on, sensory, exploration, multiple intelligences
Environmental Education / Green Gardens
Patuxet Elementary Upper Marlboro, Md.
Outdoor classrooms, schoolyard and habitat improvement, community-building
Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School Washington DC
Garden-based academics and watershed education, student mentoring, business model for garden sustainability, healthy eating, developed in partnership with Earth Day Network
Mentoring Gardens
Gardening Together Habitat for Humanity Lake County, Ill.
Homeowners, landscaping, vegetables, community-building
Nutrition Education Programs
Kidding Around The Kitchen Los Angeles
Healthy eating lessons, cooking classes, in-school program, nutrition education
Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy New York City
Eating healthy by eating what you grow, terrace garden, cooking classes, nutrition education, community education programs
Outdoor Classrooms
Alice Fong Yu Alternative School San Francisco
Pond garden, composting, raised vegetable beds, elementary students, environmental stewardship, California science, math & environmental standards
Atwood Elementary School Macomb, Mich.
Theme-based gardening, Wildlife Habitat, Michigan Junior Master Gardener Program, Feed the Hungry, Native Gardening and environmental sustainability, composting and vermicomposting.
CitySprouts Cambridge, Mass.
Helps school communitities create schoolyard learning gardens and teachers use these gardens by supporting core curriculum.
Julien Elementary School Garden Turlock, Calif.
K-6, multi-curricular, healthy eating, fruits and vegetables, native plants, insects, vermiculture, science experiments
Mattey's Garden at Matthew Whaley Elementary Williamsburg, Va.
Butterflies, water wise, vegetables, history, art, community, rain barrels, tied to curriculum and state standards
Rainwater / Stormwater Gardens
The Buhr Park Children's Wet Meadow Project Ann Arbor, Mich.
These wet meadow ecosystems provide a habitat for native plants and animals, an attractive educational site for children, neighbors and other visitors, and an environmental filter for stormwater runoff from the park grounds.
Gregory Elementary School Rainwater Garden Wilmington, N.C.
Students, stormwater run-off, pollution control, environmental education
School Ground Improvement
The Schoolyard Greening Project - Brent Elementary, Washington, D.C.
Safety, learning, health, environment, gardens, asphalt graphics, library development
Various Projects
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Projects
Vegetable / Edible Gardens
Bay View School (PS 102) Garden Brooklyn N.Y.
Vertical garden, edible garden, seed to plate, , nutrition education
Borton Primary Magnet School Community Garden Tucson
Nutrition education, farmstand, chickens / eggs, tastings
Common Ground School Garden University of
The Dawes School Garden of Eatin' Evanston, Ill. Website
Slow Food in the School Project, healthy eating, preparing food
Dorset Cereals Edible Playgrounds Winner - 2008 RHS Chelsea Garden Show, Children, community, school yards, healthy eating, food production
EnrichLA School Garden Programs Los Angeles
Edible gardens, nutrition education, outdoor classroom curriculum, cooking classes, community building, turn-key garden development from site design to fundraising to hands-on programming
Nutrition education, eating what you grow, gardening basics, art in the garden, life skills
Seed to Soup organic fruit and vegetable garden, raised beds, beneficial insect garden, compost yard, chickens, spiraling curriculum
North Junior High Garden-to-Plate Class Boise, Idaho
Eating what you grow, nutrition education, math and science lessons, junior high students
Organic School Project Multiple locations - Chicago
Healthy eating, food sources, gardens based on culture and history, multiple disciplines
SEED School Good Food Garden Washington DC
Healthy eating, 7th grade curricula, community education
St. Francis School Garden Goshen, Ky
Nutrition, lifecycles, germination, greenhouse, learning where food comes from, environmental stewardship, grades K-8
The Ivy School Garden Portland, Ore.
Healthy eating, learning how to grow food, cooking classes and tastings, creativity with recipes
Urban Sprouts School Garden Programs Multiple locations, San Francisco
Middle and high schools students, under-served neighborhoods, nutrition and health, academic achievement, ecoliteracy
Woodland Elementary West Harvest Garden Gages Lake, Ill.
Students, vegetables, charitable giving / food bank. View a self-guided tour of garden.
Urban Farms
Bay Point Garden Bay Point, California
Healthy eating, garden and cooking classes, garden maintenance, teen summer employment program, seed-to-plate education
Earthworks Urban Farm Detroit
Learning food's origin, social justice, helping others, farm markets, summer programs
Food Literacy Project at Oxmoor Farm Louisville, Ky.
Field-to-fork experience, school programs, hands-on learning, healthy food preparation, learning where food comes from.
Green Youth Farm Chicagoland Also visit this link
Vegetables, market / entrepreneurship, team-building
