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Garden Gate:  School Gardens  |
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 10 2006 : 05:35:36 AM
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Good Morning Everyone! Do any of you have any experiene with starting a school garden? I would like to start one with my 3rd graders, but have hit a snag. Our superintendent wants there to be a 100% "buy-in" from the staff before he will even allow it to go to the school board. That isn't a problem, but I am wondering what other curve balls he could possibly throw and am trying to prepare a proposal which covers as many as possible. The obvious ones are covered: where, $, who's going to take care of it in the summer, how will it be used, etc.
Any ideas, suggestions, pitfalls to avoid, etc.?
Thanks! This is a wonderful group!
Joy
If it's not illegal, unsafe, or immoral, why not try anything once? Who knows? You may come back for a second helping! |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Mar 10 2006 : 10:13:10 PM
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Joy - I'm not sure of the specific things you'll need in the proposal, but Sharon Lovejoy has some great books on children's/school gardens that you might want to look at for examples and information - the ones I have are "Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots" and "Sunflower Houses."
What a fun thing to do for "your" kids!!!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
Posted - Mar 11 2006 : 4:13:49 PM
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Thank you so much! Among the things I have to have that I know of are:
1. Cost of water
2. How will it benefit the school
3. What happens at the end? (In other words, what if it doesn't work out?)
4. How will the produce be used?
and about 50 others!
All for a little 9 x 10 garden plot for my kids to tinker in!
Have a wonderful day!
If it's not illegal, unsafe, or immoral, why not try anything once? Who knows? You may come back for a second helping! |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2006 : 03:37:35 AM
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I'm the school garden coordinator at my daughter's school. The school was very supportive. I wrote to a seed company and asked for seeds. They sent them to us. I asked the man who does my plowing to turn over the school garden. We planted seeds and seedlings before school ended and the summer program tended the garden until September. The kids ate the vegetables.
2. How will it benefit the school? It's a botany/biology experiement. The kids will be outdoors moving. They will learn about fresh food. They will work hard and have pride in their accomplishments.
3. If it doesn't work out? Turn over the plot, smooth it out and plant the same kind of grass seed that's growing now.
4. How will the produce be used? The kids will eat it. The cafeteria will serve it for lunch. Snacks. Give it to a food pantry.
You can cover the question of who'll tend it during the summer by saying you'll do it, and interested kids can meet you at the garden at set times. Mulch the rows to cut down on water use and weeding. Do you think there are parents who will donate the time to plow and rototill?
Does your school participate in a No Child Left Behind funded program? Our school has 21st Century. The funds for our garden come from that. The only expenses we had was the plowing and seedlings. Our school has a well so there wasn't a bill associated with it. We watered only once on planting day.
Good luck! This is a nice asset for the school and a lot of fun for the kids.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
Posted - Mar 13 2006 : 04:55:42 AM
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Thanks Robin, Does your garden have a garden committee? I don't want ours to be that formal, and I'm trying to get around forming one. As far as the questions go, they were pretty much rhetorical so as to show the breadth of the questions. I counted them up last night. There are something like 150 questions in a range from simple to downright stupid (such as "Will the kids be using any dangerous tools?" to "Will you grow anything besides flowers? (The name of the projects is "Healthy FOODS for Healthy Kids") I just wanted it to be a simple project, with the kids troubleshooting as the problems and challenges come up. It is fast turning into a huge, unmanageable project because certain people want publicity for the school!!!
Have a great day!
Joy
If it's not illegal, unsafe, or immoral, why not try anything once? Who knows? You may come back for a second helping! |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Mar 14 2006 : 07:29:32 AM
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Our school is so small that we're usually informal. I asked the kids what they wanted to grow. The principal is very supportive.
I can give you international publicity for the school garden if that's helpful to you. I'm the editor of an ezine. I'd love to write up a story.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2006 : 04:54:27 AM
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Talk to me Robin!
If it's not illegal, unsafe, or immoral, why not try anything once? Who knows? You may come back for a second helping! |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
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Garden Gate: School Gardens |
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School Gardens
