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 […]
Sumner Academy Vegetable Garden Thrives Under Student Direction
The students in garden club at Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences are a committed bunch. They have been single-handedly maintaining their four vegetable beds, their raspberry bed and their asparagus bed. The students come out regularly to water and harvest from their garden–this fall, they were harvesting their summer crops (tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers) […]
KCCG to Partner with The Family Conservancy
The Schoolyard Gardens program is excited to start working with The Family Conservancy’s “Growing Healthy Kids” project. The project will focus on healthy nutrition and physical activity by introducing the “ I Am Moving, I Am Learning” curriculum to students in local preschools. With the help and guidance of our program, the Family Conservancy will […]
How to Grow Great Garlic in Your Schoolyard Garden!
Garlic not only adds flavor to any dish, it also has many medicinal uses. It is antibiotic, antibacterial, antifungal and is said to lower blood pressure and even may prevent cancer! Kansas City Community Gardens offers two types of garlic: Softneck garlic is generally more productive than hardneck garlic and stores for longer, but it […]
Using Row Cover in Your Schoolyard Garden: Protect Your Veggies from Dropping Temperatures!
Since schools plant their fall gardens somewhat late in the season due to the school calendar, some vegetables need a little protection from frost as winter approaches! Keep an eye on the weather. As you notice temperatures dropping this fall, install row cover over your veggies so that they last a little bit longer. Row […]
Cleaning Out Your Schoolyard Garden For the Winter
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 […]
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 […]