How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers

by Arden Bucklin-Sporer, Rachel Pringle

“A school garden is a tremendously valuable tool to help young people turn book knowledge into real experience. This book is a must-have resource for anyone considering embarking on a youth gardening adventure.” —Mike Metallo, President, National Gardening Association

In this groundbreaking resource, two school garden pioneers offer parents, teachers, and school administrators everything they need to know to build school gardens and to develop the programs that support them. Today both schools and parents have a unique opportunity—and an increasing responsibility—to cultivate an awareness of our finite resources, to reinforce values of environmental stewardship, to help students understand concepts of nutrition and health, and to connect children to the natural world. What better way to do this than by engaging young people, their families, and teachers in the wondrous outdoor classroom that is their very own school garden?

It's all developing the concept, planning, fund-raising, organizing, designing the space, preparing the site, working with parents and schools, teaching in the garden, planting, harvesting, and even cooking, with kid-friendly recipes and year-round activities. Packed with strategies, to-do lists, sample letters, detailed lesson plans, and tricks of the trade from decades of experience developing school garden programs for grades K–8, this hands-on approach will make school garden projects accessible, inexpensive, and sustainable.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Education

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2010

Reviews

[Angela]

Seems like a well thought-out guide to starting a school garden. It goes all the way from initial consensus-building, goal-setting, and fundraising to harvesting, ensuring continuity, and even some suggested lesson plans. A good way to learn some ideas that work well, as well as some of the challenges. Should be required reading for anyone who considers starting a school garden.

[T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite it being set up for a school garden, this is applicable to a public library garden (which I have now). Lesson plans are included which could easily be library programs. A must read if you are considering or have a library garden.

[Nathalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource if I ever need it

[Marguarite Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This full-color guide with lots of photographs, sketches, and lesson plans to creating a school garden is great. I would have given it 4 stars, but some of it is a little repetitive and wordy and I can be "star-stingy" sometimes. It definitely is 3.5 stars, however.

Teachers/Parents looking into starting a school garden project will find this book very useful. It goes into great detail on the following topics: history and benefits of school gardens, planning and pitching your school garden, how to solicit support and funds for your project, how to construct the garden and gather supplies, and how to develop a program that links content standards to the garden curriculum. The back of the book has tons of resources that will help you in your gardening endeavors.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a long time for me to get through this book because it is going to be more of a reference book for me, and a great tool for starting our elementary school garden. I have highlighted, underlined, bookmarked and post-it note-d the heck out of my copy. From basic timelines to garden curriculum, this book has it all -- almost. I had to give it four stars because it concentrates nearly exclusively to edible gardens, with barely a mention of including other types of plants alongside the lettuce and beans, and because it is a book with a fairly narrow focus -- don't pick it up unless you want to start a school garden. Duh.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long believed that every school should have a garden to use as a teaching tool. Unfortunately, not all schools have the funds or support to do so. This book is an excellent resource with great ideas for how to raise money and gain support form teacher, parents and the community, how to implement the garden into the kids' regular subject material, great ideas for what to grow and easy recipes to help the kids enjoy what they harvest. A must-read for elementary school teachers!

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great resource, and I carry it with me to all of our school garden meetings. The photos are inspiring, and the compilation of information is very valuable.

I just don't think it is "a complete guide". It's a starting point. In many cases I have had to do much more research myself.

[Joann Freda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors did a very thorough job of weaving together the logistics of setting up a school garden, a tutorial on garden basics and the tricks of adapting gardening for children so that it is educational and inspiring and fun. A complete "how-to" book with wonderful real life gardening stories.

[Daphne Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I am on the Board of Education Outside, an organization directed by Arden Bucklin-Sporer. Still, putting aside my allegiances, I think this is an EXCELLENT how-to book for the school garden educator. Plus it was useful in my own back-yard garden.

[CFAITC]

Using a practical and hands-on approach, this book provides everything parents and teachers need to plan, build, use, and maintain a school garden. Includes lesson plans, design ideas, and recipes.

[Beth Diiorio · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely fantastic resource!!!

[Temoca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas, not that I can use all of them or that the book always pertains to my school, but I definitely have great ideas to start our school garden at work. I'm excited!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

soon...soon

[Cindy Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're planning a garden at Congdon.

[Julie Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Color picture guide for setting up garden curriculum. Offers interesting ideas regarding weekly school wide curriculum plans. I can imagine a world where the garden is an additional classroom.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great approach to starting a school garden, but it doesn't really cross over to an independent school very well.