Our agriscience program sees a need for access to sustainable fresh produce for our students and community. We plan on partnering with our school's culinary program to teach students how to cook fresh meals using our crops, and provide our cafeteria with fresh ingredients for school meals. The leftover produce will be donated to our local food pantry.
To secure funding for seeds, gardening supplies, and food processing supplies. This will allow us to plant in our raised garden beds, and start our hydroponic grow systems.
The project went very well. Students were able to set up a school garden. They built raised garden beds, prepared the soil, sowed seeds, transplanted, mulched, raised and harvested crops for the spring and summer growing season.
We learned the importance of working with nature and not against it. For example, using native groundcover to out compete weeds, or using organic compost and worm castings instead of synthetic fertilizers.
If we were to do this project over again, we would have used the no dig approach for garden bed preparation. This not only is less work, but the no dig approach to gardening is better for soil health.
Watching my students apply knowledge and skills they have learned in my classroom in a hands-on experience.
The biggest tip for starting a school garden is placement and planning. Know what type of plants you would like to grow, and find a spot that will be productive for what you have in mind.
