Despite the unpredictable temperatures of the midwest, and the short school calendar, your students could be eating broccoli, cabbage, collards and kale from their schoolyard garden before the end of the school year! But how? Row cover is a friend to the schoolyard garden. It not only insulates your veggies when temperatures drop, but it also keeps […]
Planning Out Your Schoolyard Garden Raised Beds
Now that planting season is upon us, it is time to plan out your schoolyard garden! Once your students have considered how much space they have, how much growing time they have and what they want to do with the produce, they should then decide what vegetables they would like to plant. Refer to our […]
How to Prevent Cabbage Loopers in Your Schoolyard Garden this Spring
The cabbage looper is a common pest found in schoolyard gardens. The larva is a smooth pale greenish 1-1½ inch caterpillar with thin white stripes on its back and sides. They get their name from the unique way they inch along forming a small loop with their bodies. The adults are a mostly nocturnal gray […]
Starting seeds under lights for your Schoolyard Garden
Growing your own seedlings to transplant to your schoolyard garden is a great way to get your students thinking about their vegetable garden in winter, and can help you get a jump start on spring. By planting transplants instead of seeds in your garden, your vegetables will be ready to harvest sooner. Cool season vegetable seeds can be […]
The Discovery of Photosynthesis: An Indoor Activity for Student Gardeners
While the winter weather is keeping us indoors and away from our gardens, it’s not too early to begin thinking about what makes our plants grow. The following activity and discussion, adapted from Life Lab, can help your students begin to explore how their vegetable plants grow. Objective: To introduce the concept of photosynthesis. Time: […]
Why Schoolyard Gardens Need Winter
In the dead of winter, the cold can seem endless for teachers and students alike. Those warm, sunny days, like what we’ll experience this week, are often treasured during the bleak months of January and February, but as gardeners, we should be thankful for the cold, icy and snowy days that the winter brings! But […]
This Winter, Make Garden Signs with Your Students to Prepare for the Growing Season!
Have you ever had trouble identifying plants in your garden, or forgotten what you planted in a bed? Plant markers help students and adults alike with vegetable identification. Rather than using the small plastic markers that can fall out or wash off, consider making larger, more permanent signs to make your schoolyard garden more informative […]
Season Extension Coming to Schoolyard Gardens!
Our schoolyard gardens team has worked creatively to fit the growing season into the school calendar. Unfortunately vegetable garden seasons do not fit into the typical academic year, so we try and work around this in a variety of ways! We encourage schools to plant crop varieties with shorter maturity times and have planted larger […]
Burke Elementary Schoolyard Garden Growing Strong for Seven Years
The vegetable garden at Burke Elementary in the Hickman Mills school district has continued to thrive over the last seven years thanks to the continued dedication of one teacher—Swapnam Kumar. Swapnam is a teacher for 4th grade English language learners. She is passionate about gardening and has partnered with KCCG since 2009, when the students […]
Sharing Veggies in the Spirit of Thanksgiving!
When I met with V. Lindsay Seventh Day Adventist School in Kansas City, Kansas this summer to plan their fall vegetable garden, they knew exactly what they wanted to do with their harvest. The teachers and students of this small K-8 school agreed to grow veggies to harvest and donate to the families living around […]