Getting a School Garden Program Started on $500 or Less

1. Plan to start with a single raised-bed “Square-Foot Garden”.

Budget:

Item / Budgeted Expense
4’X4’ raised garden bed kit / $100
8-9 cubic feet of “potting mix” / $100
Square Foot Gardening, edition 2 / $ 25
Square Foot Grid & Weed Fabric 4x4 kit / $ 20
Pop-up greenhouse / $ 60
2-gallon Watering Cans, Hoses, Tools / $125
Assortment of vegetable seeds and plants
(up to 16 kinds) / $ 70
Total / $500

Comments on Supplies:

4’X4’ raised garden bed kit - $100 (Price varies depending on rail height and other factors. Do a Yahoo search to find the best prices.)

8-9 cubic feet of “potting mix” - $100 (Top soil is too heavy to drain well. “Potting Mix” drains well, but still holds water, and allows roots to easily grow through it. Potting mix is also free of toxins that are sometimes present on construction sites and free of a “seed bank” of weed seeds!)

Square Foot Gardening, edition 2 by Mel Bartholomew – $25 (Mel was an engineer by training and bases all his ideas on direct evidence!)

Square Foot Wood Grid & Weed Fabric 4x4 kit - $20 (available at http://www.squarefootgardening.com/grids/ and well worth getting)

Pop-up greenhouse - $60

2-gallon Watering Cans, etc. – $70 (Look for durability, but get several if possible.)

Assorted vegetable seeds and/or plants – Look for sources of free seeds. If these are “out of date”, germination rates will gradually decline over time, but can be expected to be usable for up to 5 years. If these are “saved” from someone’s garden, they may not “breed true” in terms of appearance or taste! In either case, free seeds are great to use with kids!!!

2. Create a Garden Plan

Check out the TN Garden Planner at http://gardenplanner.tennesseegardener.com/, which can be used for free for 30 days and then offers reasonable yearly subscriptions for individuals and for schools.

For gardens on school property, work with both the school leaders and representatives from any “after school programs” that use the school to create Multiple-Use Agreements detailing guidelines for use of the gardens both during and outside of school time. (See the TRPA document at c.ymcdn.com/sites/trpa.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/JFU_Toolkit/JFU_Toolkit_printing_version.pdf)

3. Coordinate the Gardening Program with Nutrition Education.

For access to numerous free resources, see the links for the Resource Library and the Resource Order Form at the Team Nutrition webpages at http://www.fns.usda.gov/team-nutrition.

Note also the link to the HealthierUS School Challenge, which is a USDA-sponsored recognition program that makes monetary awards to eligible schools.

4. Use your Gardening Program to incorporate Physical Activity.

Register at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation website at https://www.healthiergeneration.org/. (This organization was founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation (Bill, that is!!) as a response to the growing rate of childhood obesity.)

By registering your program under either the Healthy Schools Program or the Healthy Out-of-School Time Movement, you will be able to access numerous resources, such as the How to Start a School Garden Toolkit, at https://www.healthiergeneration.org/_asset/kmwdmt/10-2272_GardenToolkit.pdf.

Chapter 3 of the Toolkit suggests some physical activities, listed on the next page.

5. Minimize the environmental impact of your Gardening Program and other school grounds activities.

Lead the school to become a PLT Green School. Joining is free and can be done online at https://www.plt.org/apply-project-learning-tree-greenschools.

Share with the school the list of upcoming Green Stride Webinars at http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/green-strides/webinar.html, especially the following one, which could be used for a school garden program involving water conservation, recycling, etc.:

GreenWorks! Grant

Project Learning Tree’s GreenWorks! grant program is changing and growing in proud partnership with the USDA Forest Service.

·  Would you like your class to be part of the climate solution and have an idea for a school project that can help address climate change?

·  Do you want to start a project that reduces your carbon footprint and/or educates other students or community about climate change?

·  Want to start a recycling program, or energy and water conservation project for your students?

·  Need funds to implement your project?

An application for grants amounting to$500 to $1,000 will be available soon. Make sure you have registered HERE for ClimateChangeLIVE.

More information will be available about the GreenWorks! grants at the beginning of the calendar year. AWEBINAR about the grant will be held on Feb. 19 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. ET.

Details and an application will be available at the beginning of the year, but here’s some information. The proposed project must:

·  involve service-learning

·  include student voice

·  involve at least one community partner

·  secure at least 50% matched funds (in-kind acceptable)