Edible School Gardens

School gardens come in many shapes and forms. They can be edible gardens, tabletop gardens, mini gardens, and outdoor classroom gardens. The school gardens can be where beneficial insects will flock for advanced learning concepts. They can also be volunteer gardens that sprout up with no rhyme or reason. We grew pumpkins and watermelons that way once after a very slippery summer day. But my favorite type of school garden to plant with children is the edible learning garden.

Over the years my edible gardens have consisted of an ABC garden, where the plants all began with a specific letter of the alphabet. Even a winter edible garden, where we grew cabbage, Brussels sprouts, spinach, celery, and other leafy greens.

Edible School Gardens Promote Learning

Edible gardens are a key component of the learning day. We worked to create a pizza garden where students planted oregano, basil, thyme, tomatoes, spinach, and peppers. A taco garden had cilantro, peppers, tomatoes, corn, and lettuce. The harvest garden is always a favorite as well; pumpkins, corn, squash, potatoes, and carrots. One thing each of these school gardens had in common was the ability to grow seasonally appropriate fruits and vegetables and then use them for snack and learning purposes. Students learned about life cycles from start to finish, and many bonus concepts as well.

I am going to take you through the process of planting and utilizing a school harvest garden. As an educator, you can do one of two things. Have last year’s class plant the seedlings for pumpkins, and squash or you can start them during the summer and replant them in the school garden come August. I have done both, and as long as there is a watering system in place- option #1 works. If not then you as the teacher have to be willing to water plants all summer long. I am going to assume many of you have not already planted the pumpkins and squash, but have a school garden area, so we will start there.

School Gardens Come in all Shapes and Sizes

As an aside, school gardens can be an actual plot of land where classes can plant. Part of an Outdoor Classroom space. Or simply a large barrel or pot where individual plants can be planted and eventually harvested. In one school parents donated their time and created 4 raised planter boxes so the children could plant right outside their classroom doors. This allowed for daily interaction with the growing season.

The dollar tree has pots, soil, and seeds this time of year. I plant the seeds around the middle of July so that by the time school starts in mid-August the seedlings are ready for transplant. Don’t worry- my students get plenty of opportunities to watch seeds sprout. We grow carrots in the classroom and start beans each year in September. Once school starts it is time to turn the Harvest garden into a learning bounty. When the students have settled into school, have them begin to help prepare the garden beds and/or plant the seedlings. Pumpkins, corn, and squash should be started in mid-July to be ready for Harvest time (October/November). Carrots, potatoes, beans, and sunflowers can be planted after school starts and still be ready by November.

Edible Gardens as a Learning Center

Every day the students can join in the learning that surrounds an edible garden. They can water, measure, observe, discuss, and problem-solve. One year our school garden became the home to a family of squirrels, and while they were cute, they kept eating the seedlings. My students had to problem-solve how we would keep the plants growing and the squirrels happy. The students actually created some wire cages in the art center for the seedlings and they worked great until the plants were hardy enough to survive a few nibbles.

I used the edible garden as a place to spark wonder and excitement, on warmer days we read stories in the garden area and painted using the garden as a creative influence. Since many students do not have access to where food actually comes from school gardens support integrated, hands-on learning. Many times, they believe the grocery store is where strawberries are born. It is our job as educators to inspire creative thought, and also give facts.

When students can see, touch, taste, and smell the vegetables growing they are more likely to remember this part of childhood and the growing season. Once the garden is ready to be harvested; carrots are grown, potatoes are ready, and the pumpkins have turned a nice orange, it is time to plan additional math and science activities. Measure and weigh the pumpkins. Compare and contrast the sizes of beans. Have a taste test with carrots and potatoes. Finally, discuss the differences between fruits and vegetables.

Harvest Activities in the Edible Garden

There is so much learning that surrounds edible gardens. The following list of harvest activities may be used as a jumping-off point for in-depth learning.

• Count and graph the number of items harvested
• Seed explorations, size, and shape of seed versus the size and shape of the fully-grown vegetable (it is amazing how small carrot seeds are to start!)
• Use measurement skills as a way to weigh, and graph the height, and length of various squash
• Compare and contrast the size and shape of the bounty
• Compare and contrast types of fruits and vegetables, using their plants and bounty as a discussion point
• Graph likes and dislikes after a taste test
• Observe and record the ways items grew– above/below ground
• Read books related to harvest, pumpkins, and life cycles
• Use the vegetables as still art inspiration
• And so much more…

Discussions about mulch, compost bins, worms, and water cycles were all additional parts of the learning. As a result of the idea that edible gardens can support multiple academic domains, I have hope for our future learning. Allow the children to reach the standards and objectives in fun hands-on ways. Let them interact with their food, and create positive eating habits from an early age. All children should be given access to fresh foods, and taught when there is an abundance, sharing the bounty with the less fortunate is another learning opportunity and should be celebrated.

Extending the Learning

Our edible gardens usually produced enough that every student was able to take some home, plus we would share with the local women’s shelter. Since it is just down the street, the walk, in turn, becomes a field trip experience. We were able to enter some harvest items into our local county fair, where the students could literally see the fruits of their labor. The culmination of the harvest garden is to serve STONE SOUP during our Friendsgiving feast. We use our vegetables to make soup and share it with other classes in our school. It could also become a family tradition where students are able to invite a family member to share in the bounty.

Whatever the outcome, remember edible gardens will have educational opportunities built right in. Even if the garden does not grow or yield enough food to share. (One year the weather was so hot we lost everything in late September.) Or the year the squirrels got the best of us. That is another learning occasion in itself.

Harvest Garden Activity Pack

Looking for additional integrated activities? Check out my favorites:

• Honey Bee
• Pumpkin Life Cycle
• Sunflower Life Cycle
• Watermelon Life Cycle
• Strawberry Life Cycle
• Apple Life Cycle

Until next time- happy planting,