Ever wondered how to start a school garden? In our last post, we discussed the benefits of a school garden, but now we will break down what it takes to start a school garden. School gardens have learning and sensory opportunities for all students to engage with. In this post,the steps to start a garden will be reviewed.
Step 1 of How to Start a School Garden: Gain Administrative Support
The first step in starting a school garden is gaining the administrative support within your district and more specifically your school. Start the conversation with your principal. Gain permission and insight.
STEP 2 OF HOW TO START A GARDEN: Start Small & build into it
Next in how to start a garden is starting small and building to it. A classroom teacher can have planters inside her classroom. Another option is filling rain barrels with dirt to plant in. The rain barrels are portable when trying to figure out a good location. Make sure to drill hole in the bottom though for water to drain out of. For younger kids, cutting the barrels in half is also more size appropriate. Start a Pinterest board for ideas and elements that intrigue you or you can check out my boards.
STEP 3 OF HOW TO START A GARDEN: Create a shared vision
Another important element of starting a school garden is creating a shared vision with other teachers in your school and district. You need others help.
Teamwork make the dream work applies here too!
It’s best not to start a school garden alone. Include other teachers with varying grade levels and backgrounds because there is power in numbers. Some teachers may teacher science in the garden, while other may reading or math. The options are truly endless.
STEP 4 OF HOW TO START A GARDEN:
Many organizations with the district and state have resources for teachers to start a garden. Community partnerships with organizations helps bring a dream into reality due to their resources. Included in this picture are some of the organizations, our school garden worked with when creating our garden.
STEP 5 OF HOW TO START A GARDEN: Funding opportunities
Finally, it is important to gain financial support from the community and grants available to fund the garden projects. Local non-profits and businesses are typically willing to share their knowledge and support as well as funding to help educators start a school garden.
These are just five steps to start a school garden. The most important one though is just to start!
