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Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program 

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Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program 

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The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is an essential resource which is incorporated into the POP. It is a crucial resource as it involves how to look after and harvest school vegetable gardens and has a variety of recipes which the students can use in the creation of the cookbook.

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In celebration of Kitchen Garden Month 2024, the Kitchen Garden Foundation team has curated a special recipe collection to give you a delicious little sampler of the dishes cooked up by children and young people in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program.

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This is a link for the students to use when creating their vegetable timeline. It is a helpful resource which is child friendly.

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Tomatoes are by far the most popular home garden crop - and taste is the reason why. Nothing beats the taste of a perfectly vine-ripened tomato! Whether you have the space to grow rows of in-ground plants or only enough for a few container plants, growing your own is a fun and easy way to enjoy the delectable harvest that only a homegrown tomato offers.

Varieties

The iconic tomato may be round, red and softball-sized, but there is a lot of variety in the world of tomatoes. You can choose from varieties with fruits as tiny as marbles or ones with fruits weighing several pounds. In addition to the classic red-orange hue, fruits of various varieties ripen to orange, yellow, purple, green, striped - even white! Vines size ranges from a foot and a half high to six feet high or taller. With all this bounty, how do you choose? Here are some things to keep in mind to help you choose the best tomato varieties for your garden.

Growth habit. Depending on the variety, the growth habit of a tomato plant falls into one of three categories - determinate, indeterminate, or semi-determinate. Check the seed packet, plant label, or catalog information on the growth habit of a variety.

Indeterminate tomato plants continue to grow taller and set fruits throughout the growing season, stopping only when frost finishes them off. Many of the tasty heirloom varieties fall into this category. The continued fruit set makes them ideal for gardeners who want a regular supply of fresh tomatoes for the table. These large vines need sturdy stakes, cages, or trellises to support all that growth.

Determinate vines grow to a particular height, usually under 4 feet; then set their fruits within a relatively short time period, usually over several weeks. The smaller plants need less in the way of support than indeterminate types and are a good choice for container growing. Determinate varieties generally ripen the earliest, making them well-suited to short-season parts of the country.

Semi-determinate varieties fall in between. Like determinate tomatoes, they only grow to a certain height, often a little taller than determinate varieties. But, like indeterminate varieties, they continue to produce new fruits all season long.

Hybrid or open-pollinated. Hybrid tomato varieties are the products of modern breeding programs. These varieties are created through controlled pollination and have been bred for specific traits, such as increased disease resistance and greater and more uniform fruit production. If you plant seeds saved from a hybrid, they won't come true, meaning they won't produce plants like their parent.

Open pollinated varieties are the result of pollination by natural mechanisms. The result is plants with more genetic diversity than hybrids. Tomatoes are self-fertile, meaning that the pollen produced by the anthers in a tomato flower can pollinate the stigma of the same flower, but the action of bees and wind help to move the pollen successfully within the flowers. The seeds of open-pollinated tomato varieties do come true and can be saved from year to year, if you choose.

Heirlooms. These are generally defined as varieties that are more than 50 years old and have been passed down through generations of gardeners. Many gardeners feel that these open-pollinated varieties have the richest tomato flavor.

Fruit type. Large beef-steak types are great for slicing, while cherry and grape tomatoes are perfect for snacking or tossing in a salad. Meaty paste-type tomatoes cook up into delicious sauces and are good choices for canning and freezing.

Temperature and length of growing season. If you garden in a part of the country with a short growing season, look for varieties that mature quickly and that have been bred to set fruit well in cool weather. High temperatures can also interfere with fruit set, so if you garden where summer day temperatures regularly soar to the high 80s and 90s and night temperatures stay above 75 degrees F, choose varieties bred for heat tolerance.

Disease resistance. Look for varieties bred to have resistance to nematodes (N) and diseases such as verticillium (V) and fusarium (F, FF, FFF) wilts, and tomato mosaic virus (T), indicated by the appropriate letter after the variety name. Resistance is not immunity, but will decrease the chances of some disease problems.

Site: Full sun is best in many parts of the country, but if you garden in the warmest areas, such as the low desert Southwest, the Deep South and Texas, try to choose a spot where plants will get some light or filtered shade in the afternoon. Tomatoes do best in moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Choose a spot that allows for ample spacing between plants, as good air circulation will help to reduce disease problems.

When to plant: Start seeds early indoors 6-8 weeks before you plan to set plants in the garden. When seedlings have their first set of true leaves (what appears to be the second set; the first are seed leaves), transplant to 4-inch individual pots if you started seeds in flats, or thin to the strongest seedling if you started seeds in individual pots. Make sure seedlings get plenty of bright light. Growing seedlings under fluorescent lights rather than on a window will help you produce stronger plants.

Set young plants (either homegrown or purchased) out in the garden when the soil is warm and all danger of frost is past, usually a couple of weeks after the last spring frost date. Be sure to harden off transplants for 7-10 days before you plant them outside.

If your goal is the earliest harvest, you can set some plants out 2-3 weeks earlier and give them some protection. (Don't put all your plants out early because it's still something of a gamble.) Pre-warm the soil in the beds by covering it with black plastic for a couple of weeks prior to planting time. Then surround each plant with a cage wrapped in clear, heavy plastic sheeting; cover with a floating row cover; or place a commercial product such as Wall-o-Water around the plant. Provide some extra covering on especially cold nights. Be sure to remove this protection once the weather warms so you don't "cook" your plants.

Gardeners in long-season areas may be able to grow two crops. Plant the first crop in spring and harvest before the hottest weather hits. Then set out another round of transplants about 3 ½ months before the date of the first fall frost for a fall harvest.

Planting: Some type of support is needed for tall, indeterminate varieties, and even the shorter determinate varieties will have fewer disease problems and be easier to harvest from if given some support. There are lots of options for supports, from individual stakes to trellises to cages. Be sure to put supports in place at planting time to avoid damaging roots later on.

Stakes: Sturdy, 8-foot tall stakes work well to support indeterminate varieties, with at least 12 inches of the stake anchored in the ground, while 5-6 foot stakes are adequate for determinate varieties. Set plants that will be staked at least 18-24 inches apart.

Cages: Cages work well to support determinate and semi-determinate varieties. Cages should be at least 4 feet tall and 18 inches wide; even taller and wider if you plan to cage indeterminate vines. Be sure to secure the cage to two stakes driven into the ground on either side of the cage to prevent it from toppling over as the vine grows and becomes top-heavy. And make sure the openings in the cage wire are at least 6 inches square so that you can reach in with your hand to harvest your tomatoes. Set caged plants 3-4 feet apart.

Trellis: There are lots of possible designs for supporting tomato vines with a trellis or fence that work well for both indeterminate and determinate varieties. One simple setup is to sink sturdy posts into the ground at 5 foot intervals and staple support wire to the posts. Use either three to four wires running horizontally about a foot apart, starting a foot off the ground, or 6-inch wire mesh. Plant your tomatoes in a staggered pattern 3-4 feet apart on either side of the trellis and weave the stems through the wires as they grow.

When you are tying tomato stems to their supports, be sure to use a soft material that won't damage the stem tissue, such as pieces of old panty hose, strips of soft cloth, or thick, soft twine. Especially when tying up the succulent, newest growth, wrap the ties in a figure-eight to lessen the chances of the stem rubbing against the ties and getting injured.

Tomato plants have the ability to sprout new roots along the length of their stems. When you set young plants in the ground, bury the stem up to the first set of leaves to encourage this extra root formation. Place cutworm collars around the base of seedlings at planting time to prevent these night-feeding caterpillars from chewing through tender, young stems.

Care: Once the soil is warm (assuming you are not using plastic mulch), spread organic mulch over the soil in your tomato bed. This will help to keep weeds down, conserve soil moisture, and reduce disease problems by preventing fungal spores in the soil from splashing up onto lower leaves.

Keep plants watered consistently throughout the growing season to reduce problems with blossom end rot, a physiological disorder related to fluctuations in soil moisture. Even soil moisture will also reduce fruit cracking.

You don't need to prune the suckers on your tomato plants to get a good crop, but pruning can be helpful at times. In general, determinate varieties do better with little or no pruning, since they are smaller plants and removing suckers may take away too much foliage and leave ripening fruits vulnerable to sunscald. Removing suckers on larger indeterminate varieties can help reduce fungal diseases by improving air circulation and light around the leaves. Where are the suckers? Look for the side shoots that arise in the angle between the leaf stalks and the main stem. When they are a couple of inches long, just reach in and pinch them off with your fingers by gently rocking the sucker back and forth until it breaks off.

Clean up and dispose of all plant debris in the tomato patch at the end of the season. This will reduce the number of overwintering insects and disease spores that will be around to cause problems the following season.

Troubleshooting:

No fruit set: Flowers dropping off without setting fruit are often the result to temperature extremes. If it's too cool (below 55 degrees F at night) or too hot (daytime temperatures above 85-90 degrees F; night temperatures above 75 degrees F), plants may not set fruits. When the weather moderates, fruit set will begin. Too much nitrogen fertilizer can result in lots of deep green foliage and few flowers and fruits.

Catfacing: Tomato fruits that are puckered with corky brown strips of scar tissue form when something interferes with the normal development of the flowers, such as cold temperatures or drought. It is common on the first fruits of the season. Don't set out plants too early when the weather is still cool, and keep soil moisture consistent throughout the growing season.

Cracking: This occurs when tomato fruits enlarge too quickly as they ripen. The cracks usually occur at the stem end of the fruit. Sometimes they form concentric circles; sometimes they radiate out vertically. When tomato fruits are at the mature green stage and the water supply to the plant decreases, the outer layer of the tomato skin begins to thicken. If the plant's water supply increases again suddenly, as when heavy rain follows a period of drought, the fruits enlarge rapidly and this tougher outer layer of skin cracks. Some varieties, especially some of the older ones, are especially susceptible to cracking. To control this problem, select crack-resistant varieties; try to keep soil moisture consistent by watering regularly, especially as tomato fruits are maturing; and make sure the soil around the plants is well mulched.

Blossom end rot: The blossom end of the fruit (furthest from the stem) turns black and leathery. This is the result of a lack of calcium in the fruit as it is forming. Usually there is plenty of calcium in the soil, but the roots of the plant are not able take up enough due to factors such as a sudden decrease in soil moisture, root damage from cultivating too close to the plant, or planting in cold, heavy soil. To control this problem, try to keep soil moisture consistent; mulch plants to conserve moisture and keep weeds down; and wait until the soil is warm before planting.

Late blight: The first sign is the appearance of dark, water-soaked, irregularly shaped spots, about the size of a nickel or a quarter, on the leaves. These spots become covered with a fuzzy white mold on the undersides of the leaves. They enlarge quickly, turn black and kill the entire leaf. The infection then spreads to the leafstalks and main stem, eventually causing the entire plant to collapse and die. Tomato fruits can also be affected. If you see spots on just a few leaves, you can pick these off, put them in plastic bags and toss them in the garbage. But if lots of leaves or the stems are infected, it's best to destroy the whole top of the plant to prevent the spread of spores to uninfected plants.

Tomato hornworm: These huge, green caterpillars chomp on the leaves and fruits of peppers and eggplants, as well as tomatoes. Because they are so large, even a few hornworms can consume a lot of plant, so it's important to control them if they turn up in your tomato patch. Keep an eye out for the newly hatched caterpillars; when they're small they blend in easily with the foliage. You may see their black droppings on the leaves. When caterpillars are under about 2 inches the microbial insecticide Bt will control them. Once they are larger than this, control them by handpicking. Cultivating the soil in late fall will help reduce the number of overwintering pupae by exposing them to birds and cold weather.

Harvesting: When tomatoes have reached full color for the variety you are growing and they have a little give when gently squeezed, they are their peak for picking.

Don't panic if the weatherman predicts light frost and your tomato vines are still loaded with green fruit. Often if you protect plants from an early light frost, the weather will turn warm again and you might get as much as several weeks more for green fruits to ripen. Protect plants by covering them with medium to heavy weight row cover fabric, old sheets, and the like before the sun sets; then remove coverings in the morning. But if hard frost is predicted, it's best to harvest what's left on the vine.

Also, once nights remain consistently below 50 degrees F, it's best to harvest any remaining mature green tomatoes (those that are at least 3/4 of their full size and have turned glossy light green to white), even if the vines haven't yet been hit by frost. These tomatoes will ripen better indoors once the weather is this cool. Clip tomatoes from the vine with a short piece of stem attached. Partly red tomatoes well on their way to ripening tolerate cooler temperatures and can be left on the vine until frost threatens.

Indoors, place the tomatoes on a shelf and cover them with sheets of newspaper or wrap the individual tomatoes with newspaper or waxed paper. The wrapping helps trap the ethylene gas tomatoes naturally give off that hastens ripening. Tomatoes need warmth, not light, to ripen, so there's no need to put them on a sunny windowsill. Keep them out of direct sunlight -in a spot where the temperature is in the 65-70 degrees F range. Proper humidity is also important during the ripening process. If it's too dry the fruits will shrivel; too humid and rot will set in. Placing individually wrapped fruits together in a covered box often works to keep the humidity level around them at a suitable level. To stretch out your indoor "harvest" over several weeks, keep some tomatoes at 55-60 degrees (no colder than 50 degrees) to slow the ripening process. Every few days check the fruits and remove ripe ones or any that have begun to rot.

Want a novel way to eat tomatoes? Try this recipe for Tomato-Peach Cobbler from Eating Well for dessert tonight!

FUN FACTS

Tomatoes are both fruits and vegetables. From a botanical perspective, they are fruits because they develop from the ovary at the base of the tomato flower and contain the plant's seeds. But from a culinary standpoint, we usually use them vegetables because they are savory, rather than sweet.

The tomato is the official state vegetable of New Jersey. Arkansas covers its bases - the tomato is its official vegetable and official fruit!

Tomatoes are native to South America and were first cultivated as a food crop by the Aztecs in Central America. Their name for tomatoes translates as "plump things with a navel." Following Spanish explorations in the New World, tomato cultivation made its way around the globe, not only to Europe but to Asia as well, via Spanish settlements in the Philippines.

The leaves of tomatoes are toxic. This may be why people were initially reluctant to eat tomato fruits when the plants were first brought to Europe in the 15th century.

The heaviest tomato, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was grown by a gardener in Oklahoma. The record for the most tomatoes harvested from one plant was set at the Epcot Center at Disney World in Florida - 32, 194 individual tomatoes weighing close to 1152 pounds all together!

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Tomatoes are by far the most popular home garden crop - and taste is the reason why. Nothing beats the taste of a perfectly vine-ripened tomato! Whether you have the space to grow rows of in-ground plants or only enough for a few container plants, growing your own is a fun and easy way to enjoy the delectable harvest that only a homegrown tomato offers.

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This is a resource for the teacher to use when needing ideas of what to include when teaching the 5 Arts subjects. The elaborations from the content descriptors provide ideas on how to implement them in the classroom.

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Introduction In the Australian Curriculum, The Arts is a learning area that draws together related but distinct art forms. While these art forms have close relationships and are often used in interrelated ways, each involves different approaches to arts practices and critical and creative thinking that reflect distinct bodies of knowledge, understanding and skills.

Key ideas
Strands
Content descriptions in each arts subject reflect the interrelated strands of making and responding.

making includes learning about and using knowledge, skills, techniques, processes, materials and technologies to explore arts practices and make artworks that communicate ideas and intentions.

Structure
The Australian Curriculum: The Arts covers each of the five arts subjects - Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, and Visual Arts - across bands of year levels:

Foundation to Year 2
Years 3 and 4
Years 5 and 6
Years 7 and 8
Years 9 and 10.

PDF documents
Resources and support materials for the Australian Curriculum: The Arts are available as PDF documents.
The Arts: Sequence of content
The Arts: Sequence of achievement

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This is a teacher resource which explains the 8 Aboriginal ways of learning framework. It also has resources on each of the 8 ways and could be used as reference when incorporating the 8 ways into the classroom.

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This Aboriginal pedagogy framework is expressed as eight interconnected pedagogies involving narrative-driven learning, visualised learning processes, hands-on/reflective techniques, use of symbols/metaphors, land-based learning, indirect/synergistic logic, modelled/scaffolded genre mastery, and connectedness to community. But these can change in different settings.

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This Aboriginal pedagogy framework is expressed as eight interconnected pedagogies involving narrative-driven learning, visualised learning processes, hands-on/reflective techniques, use of symbols/metaphors, land-based learning, indirect/synergistic logic, modelled/scaffolded genre mastery, and connectedness to community. But these can change in different settings.

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Tips on planting vegetables in a school vegetable garden. 

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Tips on planting vegetables in a school vegetable garden. 

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This website provides ideas for what vegetables are best planted at the different times of year. It provides examples of how to plant, where to plant, when to plant. What the easiest vegetable to grow is.

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Fun Gardening for Kids | Planting with preschoolers? Need planting activities for kids? We have you covered with the best gardening activity ideas, tips and reviews!

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Children’s Vegetable Garden Ideas | Fun Gardening for Kids

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A kids vegetable patch or kids herb garden can be fun for the whole family! All the best tips for growing vegetables with children and what you need to succeed!

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This is a teacher resource on incorporating the five interconnected learning and development outcomes and how they coincide with the Victorian Curriculum.

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This textbook is an excellent resource for a teacher to have. It provides detailed strategies and ideas of how to incorporate authentic arts experiences into the classroom. It comes full of credible sources.

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This is a teacher resource for the Victorian Curriculum Arts subjects. This is extremely helpful as it provides mapping templates for each of the Arts subjects.

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Important: These resources are aligned to the current Victorian Curriculum F-10 (Version 1.0). For resources to support implementation of the revised curriculum, visit the Victorian Curriculum F-10 Version 2.0 website.

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Canva is used in the POP as it is used for the students to create their recipe pages. It is a fantastic resource as it provides ideas and inspirations for the children and teachers.

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Canva is a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.

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This is a web page from the NSW Sustainable Schools website which showcase how to create a sustainable vegetable garden. It also provides useful information which can be shown to the students about Sustainability and the importance surrounding it.

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Dive into the world of food gardens! Find resources for teaching, student activities, and more to foster a greener, healthier classroom.

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This is a fantastic and informative web page which goes through creative gardening activities for kids. But it also discusses sensory inputs which I thought was very impressive and not many websites explain that.

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Top 12 Creative Gardening Activities For Kids

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Gardening is an engaging activity that brings children closer to nature. Explore these creative gardening activities for kids to keep them active & entertained.

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Guide to starting a school vegetable garden 

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Guide to starting a school vegetable garden 

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This is an excellent guide for schools who have not yet implemented a school vegetable garden. It also provides an immense amount of information about how to keep your current school vegetable garden running.

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1. School gardens help children learn.

Gardening is the study of life. The simple act of caring for living soil and plants gives children a foundation for understanding the principles of birth, growth, maturity, death, competition, cooperation and many other lessons that transfer to human lives. In a school garden, children experience these lessons 'hands on' through a learning method that is rich and inclusive to varied learning abilities. The results teachers see every day are now supported by science: school gardens can help our children learn better, both academically and emotionally. For more information, read School Gardens: Can They Make Our Children Smarter?

2. Gardening together strengthens ties between school and community.

School gardening programs offer opportunities for community members to get involved, reducing the social isolation of seniors with skills to share and connecting children to older generations. They also help connect schools to local businesses and groups when they request sponsorship or volunteer assistance.

3. Getting their hands dirty helps connect children with nature.

Children who garden get a close-up look at natural processes and the living organisms that thrive in these environments. By learning to care for a living, breathing ecosystem, children develop an understanding of nature's importance in their lives and the lives of other beings. This fosters a culture of environmental stewardship.

4. Gardening strengthens children's immune systems.

There's more and more evidence that getting dirty exposes us to a variety of microbes that can fortify our health and balance our immune systems against our overly sterilized world. This is particularly true for children who benefit from reduced allergies and asthma when exposed early in life to dirt and the outdoors. The vitamin D they absorb when gardening doesn't hurt, either!

5. Working in a school garden helps children stay active, reducing obesity.

Teachers across the country agree: when children garden, they move their bodies more than when passively listening in a classroom. Jumping, bending, lifting, and stretching all take place during a typical gardening session.

6. Gardening moderates moods and eases anxiety.

There's some evidence that exposure to the beneficial microbes in soil can help regulate the neurotransmitters affecting our brain's emotional state. A whole practice involving exposing yourself to green spaces to lift the mood has even emerged globally, with convincing results. But gardens are more than just another green space: they're hands-on, outdoor classrooms that teach children self-regulation and mindfulness -both of which have been shown to decrease anxiety and depression.

7. Children who garden at school develop empathy and practice risk.

Teachers who garden with their students notice increased empathy towards other students and the organisms living in their school patch. That's because tending to a 'bug hotel' or watching birds and earthworms thrive in the garden helps children understand the interdependency of nature. A garden also provides the perfect place for children to learn about boundaries and responsibility by practicing new activities in a safe space. Using a paring knife, trying out a hammer, or balancing on the edge of a raised bed are all ways for children to test their edges and learn new skills in a supportive environment.

8. Teaching and food gardens improve children's diets.

Academics and journalists agree: children who garden eat more fresh vegetables. This extends beyond what they nibble on during classroom gardening time. Apparently just having a garden at school increases their intake of vegetables at home. And that's good news for parents, teachers, and kids.

Whatever your reasons for wanting to start a school garden, the benefits are many. (Special thanks to The Classroom Gardener for sharing their expertise on school garden benefits.) So how can you help a garden come to your school?

To provide outdoor, hands-on learning.
The classic teaching garden helps teachers provide their students with real-life learning. The hands-on environment compliments lessons about plant and insect life cycles, along with experiential activities like building a bug hotel, ...Art, math, English, and social studies: all these lessons can find a home in the teaching garden.

To cultivate food for school programs.
Some schools use school gardens to augment their school lunch or food services programs. Fresh greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and more can all end up in the kitchen or in the school cafeteria salad bar.

To send fresh fruits and vegetables home with students.
In some locations, children don't have access to fresh produce or lack the resources at home to afford them. Schools gardens can provide the chance to experience vine-ripened goodness while meeting the goals of the curriculum.

To reduce school-generated food waste.
Adding a composting system to a school garden helps teach children about the decomposition process and eliminating food waste. Many schools even encourage teachers and students to bring compostables from home to really get the process going.

To provide a therapeutic space for children and young adults.
Gardens are peaceful, healing spaces where many can find rest and respite from the world around them. Many therapeutic programs feature gardens for their healing abilities.

Identifying the primary and secondary goals for your garden will help you determine what size and style of garden you need. Once you have a sense of your garden's direction, consider the following questions to further hone your vision:

1. Who will use the garden? Which grade levels will spend time in the garden? How will they use the space? Some schools assign one bed for each class to tend, while others share the beds over multiple classrooms.

2. How often will students use the garden? Biological processes are always taking place in the garden-not just during planting and harvest time. Aim to have children visit the garden weekly during your gardening season and less frequently when things are dormant. Even when things appear to be sleeping, there are still lessons to learn. Regular visits will help children develop a connection with the space.

3. Who will be responsible for scheduling? Someone on your garden's committee, usually a teacher, will need to oversee the timing of classroom visits. Too many children in the garden at once can take pleasure out of the experience.

4. Who else is needed to accomplish your goals? If your plan is to provide the school cafeteria with fresh vegetables for part of the year, you'll need to plan your activities around local seed and harvest times. Consult local experts through your neighbourhood nursery or extension office to get information right for your climate and soil conditions.

How much space do you need to meet your goals?
How many beds do you plan to install to produce food for your school's needs? What is the best way to divide that space into beds? What other items (compost bin, tool shed, potting tables or benches, trellises, etc.) do you need? The answers to these questions will help you design the configuration of your beds and how much space you need to contain them.

Is there enough sun?
Direct exposure to sunlight is one of the most important needs your garden will have. While salad greens need about 4 hours of sunlight each day, your site will ideally have 7-8 hours of sunlight to accommodate the broadest range of fruits and vegetables. If you're unsure how much light your site gets, use a sunlight calculator to be sure.

Where is your water access?
Your site should ideally be no more than one hose length away from the nearest faucet or standpipe. If you plan to install in-ground irrigation, the distance away from your water source will affect the pressure needed to get water to your site.

What type of beds will you use?
While a traditional in-ground garden is the simplest to install, it requires that good quality soil be available onsite. You can order additional soil or well-seasoned compost to augment what's there, but there should be something to start with. Benefits of in-ground gardens include flexibility, good moisture retention, and the ability to add cold frames or hoop houses as needed to extend the growing season.

Raised beds are commonly used in school gardens because they make weed control easy and are accessible for all ages and abilities. They also come in a variety of heights, widths, and lengths. In most cases, use beds 3 or 4 feet wide so that children can reach the center of the bed without standing on the soil.

Raised garden boxes generally have no bottoms and sit directly on the soil. This is the ideal set-up. However, if you must install your beds on concrete, consider purchasing beds with integrated bases and increasing the height of your garden to at least 18 inches. Taller beds will give you more versatility in terms of what plants you can grow. Any garden beds that have bottoms fitted to them must be designed to ensure good drainage.

Many schools also use horse troughs, either alone or in conjunction with other raised beds.

Can you go vertical?
Schools wanting to get the most out of their space often add vertical elements. This includes trellises on raised garden beds, wall pockets of varying sizes hanging on fences or walls, and stacked garden towers in a central, accessible location. Just be sure to place vertical elements so they don't shade any beds behind them (e.g. place them south of shorter beds if you're located in the northern hemisphere).

What type of soil is on site?
The key to successful gardening is building and maintaining heathy soil. Starting with healthy, living soil gives your garden the nutrients it needs to thrive. And while you can add fertilizer before planting, healthy soil is more than just nutrients. The best soil structure is fluffy, lightly textured, and full of organic matter that's continually breaking down. It provides enough air pockets for roots to infiltrate and water to travel.

If there is dirt available on site, conduct a soil test to find out what nutrients you can add. Performing a simple squeeze test will help you further evaluate your soil's tilth and organic matter content.

If, like most soils, yours needs help, the best sources of organic nutrients are finished compost and well-rotted manure (at least two years old). Both of these can augment whatever soil is available on site for a winning combination of nutrients plus organic matter.

Is the site secure?
In most locations, gardens must be fenced to keep out animal pests and little feet looking for short cuts at recess. Factor your need for a fence into your initial site considerations. Is there a location close to an existing fence that could help reduce your expenses for full perimeter fencing?

Even if you don't have much foot traffic or pests in the vicinity, consider securing your garden with a fence to deter human mischief. Locating your garden in a well-lit area with neighbors nearby is another way to discourage nighttime visitors.

Teaching / gathering area

Small clearings with benches.

Potting benches or tables

For sowing and potting up plants, making paper pots using a press, or seed saving activities.

Fruit and vegetable beds

Raised or in-ground beds; horse trough beds; container gardens.

Annual and perennial flower beds

Butterfly and pollinator garden beds.

Trees and shrubs

Fruit trees, shrubs, and brambles.

Irrigation

Soaker hoses, drip irrigation, overhead sprinklers.

Greenhouse
To extend the growing season and/or as a seed starting area.

Storage shed

For storing tools, containers, seeds.

Sink

Washing station for cleaning up hands and harvest.

Special features

Bug hotel, bee condos, pond, bird houses, bat houses, theme beds, etc.

Recycled Plastic or Wood?
If your garden will contain raised garden beds, what will those be made from? Although treated wood lasts longer where wood is concerned, it is coated in chemicals that can leach into the soil and get taken up by plants. Recycled plastic beds are made of solid HDPE plastic which is safe for gardening, will not rot or degrade, and is very durable. These beds are heavy and expensive. However, they are worth the cost since they are so long lasting. Cedar beds are beautiful and rot resistant when compared to other woods, and some even come with a natural, silica-based treatment that is safe and non-toxic. For those that don't, the application of eco-wood treatment (also safe and non-toxic treatment) will improve longevity when applied to the inside of the beds. Other less expensive species of wood can be used, of course, which might not last as long as cedar. Ask your local lumberyard about options they recommend."

Soil
As noted above, soil is best amended by compost and organic, well-aged manure. But what if there's no soil on hand to fill your beds? Purchasing good garden soil requires research. Often "topsoil" may appear healthy, but on closer inspection it consists of low quality dirt and sand. Talk to local suppliers about their sources, specifying that you want to grow vegetables. Many municipalities now offer compost for sale from local landfills or industrial composting facilities. Avoid anything that isn't processed under high heat, because it may contain weed seeds.

Fertilizers
Chemical fertilizers may give plants a quick fix, but they have been shown to deplete soil over the long term. Instead, feed your plants and your soil at the same time with an all-purpose organic fertilizer. You will need half a pound for each 10 square feet of soil. Perennial plants and shrubs will have other, more specialized requirements. You can also grow a cover crop chosen for your climactic area to add nutrients to the soil. Talk to your local nursery or seed supplier for more information.

Irrigation
As noted above, different irrigation systems are available to suit different garden designs. While drip irrigation is ideal for some set-ups, it can also be expensive and require some ongoing maintenance. Using soaker hoses or hand watering are viable options, depending on the size and configuration of your beds. You can also set up rainwater catchment systems using rain barrels to store water during the rainy season.

Tools
Since most gardens are designed for one class to visit at a time, the number of tools will usually reflect the average class size at your school. The following list of materials was adapted from the Healthy Planet Foundation's basic supply list for a schoolyard garden.

Watering can (3)
Hand trowels (25-30)
Round shovel (2)
Flat shovel (2)
Garden hoe (2)
Digging fork (2)
Drinking water safe hose (1)
Garden twine (1 200ft roll)
Gardening gloves (25-30)
Plant labels (50)
1 wheelbarrow
1 spray nozzle

Fencing
As noted above, school gardens benefit from a secure fence. Wire mesh fencing with wooden or metal posts is usually more cost effective than wooden slat or picket fencing. Choose your preferred material, and then calculate the length needed by measuring around the perimeter. Be sure to add clearance for paths around all sides of each bed. Paths greater than three feet will accommodate a wheelbarrow (allowing you to turn and dump its contents).

O'Farrell Charter School, San Diego Windermere High School, Vancouver

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How to Start a School Garden: Your Complete Guide

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From striking your garden committee to hosting a school-wide 'dig day', learn how to start a school garden for education, eating, and fun.