Now that the temperatures are dropping, and your fall garden is slowing down, it’s time to think about wrapping up the growing season in your schoolyard garden. Before winter comes, and it’s too chilly to work outside with your students, you will want to clean out your garden so that it’s neat, empty and ready […]
Sweet or Savory Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potatoes are a favorite among children and adults alike for their versatility. They can be enjoyed in a pie topped with whipped cream, or eaten as a savory side. I’ve found that many children enjoy eating sweet potato fries, especially when they can dip them in ketchup! Ingredients: 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 medium […]
Foreign Language Academy Harvest Party
The middle schoolers in Mr. Robinson’s class have been tending to their vegetable garden at Foreign Language Academy almost every school day this semester by watering, weeding, and observing the growth of their vegetable plants. Last week the students harvested red and golden beets, spinach, Swiss chard, snap peas, radishes, carrots and kale, and were […]
Time to Dig Up Those Sweet Potatoes!
Fall is here, and that means it’s time to harvest the sweet potatoes in your Schoolyard Garden! The preschoolers at Exploring Minds were so excited to help harvest sweet potatoes from one raised bed in their garden. Sweet potatoes take around 150 days to grow. Harvest your sweet potatoes when you notice the soil starting to bulge […]
Why Do You Want to Join Garden Club?
Each time our Schoolyard Gardens staff goes to one of our 200+ schools, we hear the unique story of that school’s garden. Schools utilize their gardens in many different ways, and students interact with their school gardens in different ways. Many schools use the garden as a tool for classroom learning, or to simply grow […]
Peanut Harvest at T.A. Edison Elementary
Students in garden club at T.A. Edison Elementary School harvested a special crop from their schoolyard garden on Thursday—peanuts! In May, before school let out for summer, students in garden club planted sweet potatoes and peanuts, both of which are good summer crops for Schoolyard Gardens. The students removed the shells from the raw peanuts, provided […]
How to Harvest and Prepare Sunflower Seeds from your School Garden
Sunflowers are a great addition to any schoolyard garden. Not only do they add beauty to your garden over the summer, they also provide a tasty treat for children when they return to school in the fall. Ready around September, sunflower seeds are an enjoyable and familiar snack that you can prepare with your students. […]
Third Graders at Ingels Elementary Build Their Very Own Vegetable Garden!
On Sept. 13, all of the 3rd grade classrooms at Ingels Elementary in the Hickman Mills school district built 4 raised beds on their playground. The garden will be used and maintained by every 3rd grade class at Ingels, this school year and for years to come! “Team work makes the dream work,” one 3rd […]
Thinning Seedlings in Your Schoolyard Garden
Now that your schoolyard garden is planted for the fall, and your seeds are starting to sprout, it’s time to inspect your seedlings and do some thinning! If you notice that your seedlings are growing too close together, thinning them out early on—two or three weeks after planting—will give your veggies enough room to grow. […]
How to Prevent Cabbage Loopers in your Schoolyard Garden
While out exploring in the garden with preschoolers from Learn A Lot in Raytown, Mo., we noticed green caterpillars on our broccoli plants! These small green caterpillars are called cabbage loopers. They enjoy eating greens in the brassica family (kale, cabbage, collards, broccoli, etc.). Cabbage loopers are especially pesky during the fall gardening season. After […]