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 […]
Mulching Your Schoolyard Garden
Weeding your schoolyard garden can be a tedious task for students and teachers alike. To help prevent weeds from growing in your garden, consider adding straw mulch to your schoolyard garden. A thick layer of straw mulch limits the weeds’ access to sunlight, thereby stifling emerging weed seedlings. Before applying mulch, weed the garden as thoroughly as […]
Take Your Schoolyard Garden a Step Further
With the school year in full swing and schoolyard gardens planted all over the city we are well into our fall gardening season! Your schoolyard garden is a unique element to your school community. It showcases pride in your school, provides hands-on learning, and exposes your students to fresh vegetables and fruit. Your students already […]
Why are my salad greens flowering?
You’ve got your fall school garden planted on time, you’re watering every day, and you’re excited to get those salad greens early on in the season. But one day you notice that all of a sudden some of your plants shoot up a flower stock. While pretty, these flowering plants are not good news for gardeners. […]