School vegetable gardens can provide education and nourishment.
Many schools are rediscovering the garden's educational opportunities in the 21st century, although they have been part of schoolyards since the 17th century. These outdoor classrooms connect kids with nature and offer hands-on learning opportunities across the curriculum. In addition, fruit and vegetable gardens encourage kids to develop healthier eating habits and can provide fresh produce for school lunches.
Fruit and Vegetable Gardens
Many schools across the U.S. are beginning to realize the educational value of an on-site fruit and vegetable garden. One example is the Edible Schoolyard Project, a one-acre urban garden developed in 1995 at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Berkeley, California. Children there get experience with planting, growing, tending and harvesting a garden. In addition, they spend time in the adjacent kitchen, learning to prepare nutritious meals using produce grown in their garden. It is not expensive to turn an unused plot of school property into a garden. On its School Garden Wizard website, the U.S. Botanic Garden and the Chicago Botanic Garden estimate that a school could start a small garden for as little as $100.
Wildlife Habitat Gardens
Other schools have created wildlife habitat gardens to attract birds, butterflies and small animals. Habitat gardens use native plants to re-create small natural ecosystems. These gardens can be developed in any underused area of a schoolyard. The students and teachers at Potter Street Elementary School created their award-winning Patriot's Sanctuary in a small school courtyard. Other schools have replaced parts of lawns with habitat gardens. They provide outdoor learning environments for students and save money because natural habitats need less water and maintenance than grass lawns.
Wildlife habitats also create cross-curriculum learning opportunities. At Foster Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, every fifth-grade art class works together to create an accessory for the school's butterfly garden. Classes have made a mosaic bench and bird bath, a hand-painted picket fence and bird houses.
Schools can apply for grants for developing wildlife habitat gardens from government organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency; nonprofit organizations such as the National Gardening Association; state agencies such as departments of natural resources; and charitable foundations sponsored by companies such as Lowe's and Home Depot. A list of grant programs is available on the KidsGardening website and in the Guide for Schoolyard Habitats published by the National Wildlife Federation.
Pond Gardens
School pond gardens help kids develop an appreciation of nature while learning about the importance of water to our planet. A pond garden can be used for science experiments on water quality, the water cycle, biodiversity, weather and seasonal effects on a pond, and plant conversion of sunlight to food energy. A pond also can be used to learn about famous painters such as Claude Monet, who created a water garden in Giverny, France. It can inspire painting, drawing, creative writing and poetry projects. In its Ponds for Kids Planning Guide, the North American Water Garden Society estimates that it take students and teachers eight hours to install an 11-by-16-foot pond for $2,000 to $3,000.
