Got questions about schoolyard gardens?
220 people attended the 2013 Schoolyard Gardens Conference on Friday, February 22. There they heard from principals, teachers, school lunch practitioners, and youth about making schoolyard gardens both successful and sustainable! Presentations are available on Arboretum's website. Gardening Matters is one of many great organizations making this conference possible!
Schoolyard Gardening Curriculum- The California School Garden Network has a number of curriculae on their website, with all sorts of activities for all grades.
- Creating and Growing and Edible Schoolyards, an online manual for school professionals, created in partnership between Anoka County Community Health & Environmental Services Department’s SHIP initiative and the Anoka–Hennepin School District
- Edible Schoolyard Project, based in California has curriculum resources and offers an intensive training. Worth taking a look!
- Teaching ToolKit is a comprehensive set of lesson plans and educational activities entitled "Setting Up and Running a School Garden," the Teaching Toolkit was prepared by the Nutrition Education and Consumer Awareness Group of the Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division in consultation with the Horticultural Crops Group of the Plant Production and Protection Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2010.
Funding
- The Lunchbox Project has tons of resources for school gardens. The Resources page lists grants for anything school food-related--including Community Gardens!
- The National Gardening Association has many youth garden grant opportunities that they develop through sponsorship with businesses.
Kids Gardening
A comprehensive site dedicated to all-things youth gardening. Find grant opportunities, curriculum templates, gardening activities for the classroom, professional development for teachers, and much more.
Gardening with Youth Tips
10 Challenges of having a youth garden program and some ideas on how to meet them! Thanks to Friends of Burlington Gardens in Vermont
Life Lab Science Program
This California-based program assists teachers and youth garden educators with getting the most from their youth garden. There's a wealth of resources available through their website, including a hefty collection of lesson plans and gardening tips, including a large manual The Growing Classroom - Garden and Nutrition Activity Guide available for purchase.
Rebel Tomato
An educational site designed to help high school and college-age students (and everyone else) start their own community gardens.
Gardening With Children
USDA’s National Agricultural Library has terrific links to information about gardening ith children of all ages, covering areas like working with kids with disabilities, starting a schoolyard garden, and garden themes and activities for children. From this website, you can also click over to learn more about health and nutrition resources.
Gardening Matters - 310 E. 38th Street, #204b, Minneapolis, MN 55409