The White House garden

There was a special culinary showdown for Iron Chef America where the First Lady gave the chefs their special challenge: each team had to create the ultimate meal for America, using the White House Garden as the 'secret ingredient.' After the Iron Chef battle was held at the White House, the Food Network published the garden plot and this information:

Garden Fun Facts
The garden cost $200 to start just seven months ago and has already generated more than 700 pounds of produce
15 volunteers a week, plus five full-time chefs, care for the 1100-square-foot space
Grows six types of lettuce along with greens and spinach, eight types of tomatoes plus tomatillos, and five types of cucumbers – plus dozens of other varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruits.

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  First of its kind here since Eleanor Roosevelt's time
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  Near this spot is a one-of-a-kind bee-hive that has produced 134 pounds of honey.
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  Fruits and vegetables that Thomas Jefferson grew at Monticello are growing in the White House garden.

Is the theory behind school gardens valid?

Caitlin Flanagan’s article in The Atlantic, Cultivating Failure, is rubbing lots of people the wrong way. Blogs are buzzin’ and the Twittosphere is a flutter with heated opinions. Basically Flanagan contends that the school garden movement makes promises that it can’t keep or confirm and that it’s not a good idea to change school curricula drastically based on a fad. She says it is “predicated on a set of assumptions that are largely unproved, even unexamined”. She also bluntly asserts that Alice Waters of the Edible Schoolyard has been largely responsible for launching this movement without any evidence that the kind of learning that may come from these gardening experiences in schools is a valid substitute for the classes it replaces. Flanagan asserts that Waters has no educational background, yet she admits that Waters enjoys support from Delaine Easton, the California State Superintendent of instruction.

Gardens are great

We always say that school gardens can be used to teach anything across the curriculum, and here is a very poignant case in point. At North Adams School in Massachusetts students have donated 232 pounds of produce to the Berkshire Food Project. This is the product of their school gardens and of their study of local social issues relating to hunger and access to healthy food. They also learn and write about growing their crops. Read about it in this article from The Berkshire Eagle.

It's magic!

There's a School Garden Wizard! This supports your vision of a school garden with the necessary tools to make it a success. There are steps for building a team, designing, getting funds and supplies, learning the basics, planting, activities, resources, teaching and sustaining your garden. Plus lots of photos and wonderful ideas.

26 and counting...

That's how many Washington State school garden are registered so far. Garden in Every School is a registry of school gardens at kidsgardening.org. It might be fun to register your school garden here, but it is also a fabulous source of who's doing what and how. It is searchable by state or states, grade ranges, country, and gardening emphasis. Maybe your school can become garden buddies with one across the country or in a different nation. Maybe you can invite others to a turnip growing contest. Maybe you'll trade art projects. The possibilities alone are inspiring.

The history of a school garden

At Lewis Elementary School in Portland, OR the school garden includes greenhouses, composting bins, raised beds, barrels for rainwater harvesting and an outdoor classroom. This garden is used for all sorts of education and it is a peaceful relaxing spot as well. This garden was started small and has progressed following the ideas and needs of the school itself. There are teachers, parents, students and community volunteers hard at work, building a successful garden that can meet the very specific needs of the school. Read about the Lewis garden at Edutopia.

An alternate type of garden

Container gardening allows you to grow plants in difficult situations, using different gardening types, many of them very suitable to schools. The blog Container Gardening is completely dedicated to making your growing experience a successful one.

One of the ideas that they explore in great detail is how to grow a vegetable garden in plastic bottles. They have some clever ideas and good advice. There are exhaustive details about containers, soil, drainage, seeds, etc.

This might make a good school project that could then be taken home.

An example from Washington (the other one)

A few hours ago Michelle Obama hosted a White House event to spotlight kids and nutrition. Her speech talked about what to eat and how to eat. She talked about child obesity, the USDA HealthierUS School Challenge - more about that in my next post -, getting exercise and ensuring that kids have healthier and healthier options at school. The Associated Press has some photos of Mrs. Obama participating in the fun and games and they report that she was able to do 142 swivels. Pretty impressive on all counts!

Why we need to change school food

The San Fransico Chronicle published an article last week that really underlines the problems with the state of our schools' cafeterias. It highlights the testimony of Chef Anthony Geraci before a congressional panel Thursday. He recounts his experiences as a school chef and why we need to change how we feed children at school and why we need school gardens.
The experience "forever changes the way a kid looks at food," said Geraci. He says that too many children only know fruit as a flavor, that they have not experienced fruit as an actual food. Schools don't have kitchens and cooks, childhood obesity and related diseases are soaring, and we are paying to process our school food in ways that add expense in both dollars and results. The food that is given to children at school is often over processed and unappetizing leading into this vicious cycle of bad eating habits and higher costs.

We're in fashion!

An article in the Washington Post, Thinking outside the school lunchbox, highlights how schools are adopting the goal of eating healthy by using fresh, local products in their school meals. This article has examples from schools in and around the captial while estimating that there are "more than 2,000 farm-to-school programs...in about 40 states."

Another funding oportunity!

AeroGrow is a system that allows inside gardening without dirt or weeds. Sounds perfect for an in-class experience, doesn't it? The AeroGrow Growing Kids Award is for K-6 classrooms with at least 15 students. 300 winners will be supplied with eveything needed to start a classroom garden that can help teach kids nutrition and life science. The easy instructions will guide the class through providing water, nutrients and light (imitating nature) to make this garden a replica of what happens naturally. The applications are due October 24th.

Grants season - Grants for School and Youth Gardens

On their web page, The National Gardening Association explains that it "works with sponsoring companies and organizations to provide in-kind grants to projects that actively engage kids in the garden and improve the quality of life for their communities.
To be eligible for these awards your school or organization must plan to garden with at least 15 kids between the ages of 3 and 18."
On the right sidebar there is a list of the upcoming deadlines with links that will help you apply for any and all of these awards for your group. The first deadline is September 18th for the Hooked on Hydroponics award that helps teach children and teens how to grow plants hydroponically (without soil).
There are six other grants listed in order of their deadlines and you can apply for as many as you wish. Winning one does not disqualify your group winning another. In fact, multiple applications are encouraged.
Good luck!

A garden grows

'Classroom in Bloom' is a half acre garden shared by two schools in Winthrop. The garden lets the students (K-12) experience growing their own food and the cycles of food production hands on. The teachers have incorporated the whole gardening experience into the curriculum which increases the learning and gardening aspects for everyone.
Anaka Mines and Lexi Koch are the founders and co-coordinators of the program, which has been supported by the schools since the spring of 2004. Participation in the garden means young people can experience the satisfaction of working with the soil, understand the pleasure and disappointment of caring for a garden that produces food - from preparing and enriching the soil to planting and nurturing the plant to harvesting and consuming to converting the waste back into the soil.
There is a wonderful video on their web page that recounts a lot of their philosopies and experiences.

Gardening tips

Although many may have already seen this article from Seattle’s Child magazine last fall, it has a wealth of information about the process of making a school garden. Eric Boutin, Auburn’s child nutrition services director, was interviewed about the challenges that he and other Washington school districts face as they strive to “eat local”: The interview is a blueprint and a must-read both for schools that want to start a garden and for others that would like to take advantage of his wealth of knowledge. The merits of the garden for community relations, better food, parent involvement, and school learning opportunities as well as the common pitfalls of contacting farms and securing financial support are all touched upon here.

Learning to live healthy

Are the kids in your school talking about salad and raspberry dressing before lunch? That’s what’s happening at Veterans Memorial Elementary in North Naples. This school decided to plant a school garden so the students could plant and grow their own food. The goals, to save money and educate children about healthy food, have been met with enthusiasm on the part of all.
The program was suggested by a mother and seconded by the whole community. The children are proud to raise their own food and are learning good nutrition by living the experience. They get fresh, wholesome food in their cafeteria. The hands-on experience of working in their own garden builds self confidence from achieving through hard work and an understanding of delayed gratification. It is also a godsend economically in times when all school budgets are tight.
According to an article about the school and its program in the Macro Eagle, about 60% of the students chose salad for lunch on the day the reporter visited the school. The school sought advice and partnership in the endeavor from their school district, master gardeners and a local foundation. The children benefit by an increased desire to learn about the science related to growing food, time spent outside working in the garden and healthy food.

Five winners announced in "Kids are Growing"

This year’s winning schools for the “Kids are Growing” contest sponsored by the International Greenhouse Co, Washington State Potato Commission, PCC Natural Markets and King 5 were Concordia Lutheran in Tacoma, Graham Hill Elementary in Seattle, Cedarhurst Elementary in Burien, Rainier Elementary in Rainier and Explorer Community School in Redmond.
Each school had to complete an entry binder that detailed what a greenhouse would do for them: how they would use it and what they could learn from it. They also had to submit an original, healthy potato recipe.
The prizes for each school were an 8’x 8’ EasyGrow greenhouse kit, a $1000 grant from the Washington State Potato Commission, and a $500 grant and garden supplies from PCC Natural Markets.
The winning schools will use these prizes to grow food for school lunches and community food banks and to learn about healthy food choices and how food grows.

Auburn School District Gardens In the News Again

Here's more about Auburn School District Nutrition Director Eric Boutin and his garden and orchard program. As far as we know, it's the first school district in the state to grow food to be served in cafeterias. The garden is also an educational tool--students plant and work in the garden.

Auburn High School Program hopes garden is step in healthier direction.

As for the oft-asked question, "Who will care for the garden in summer?"--it will be tended by students enrolled in summer programs at the school district and served in their summer food program.

Auburn School District's Fabulous Garden Project

Auburn High School has a great fruit tree and greenhouse garden project and it's in the news!

The garden project is the brainchild of Eric Boutin, School Nutrition Services Director at Auburn School District (and regular attendee of the Farm to School Connections Team meetings). Inspired by the Edible School Yard project in Berkeley, he's working with community partners like Bastyr University and Cascadian Ediuble Landscapes to make it happen. With greenhouses and a dwarf fruit tree orchard, the garden inhabits a one acre lot between Auburn High School and an elementary school. Food from the gardens will be included in school lunches. I hope this project can serve as a model for other schools--we'll watch the progress and hopefully create a more detailed case study soon!

More on School Gardens - with advice and links!

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is also looking at school gardens this week. Elizabeth Lee's article, "Schools plant gardens to sprout healthy eaters," looks at the usefulness of school gardens as classrooms for math, science and other traditional school subjects, while also teaching nutrition, self-esteem and more adventurous eating. The article acknowledges the challenges that garden season doesn't match well with school season (though here in the Pacific Northwest, much can be grown year-round), and that school gardens can be dependent on a single enthusiastic teacher or parent, but suggests that better integration into the larger curriculum can provide staying power.

Suggestions for school garden work, and links to other resources, are provided at the end of the article.

School Gardens in the Other Washington

One of my favorite websites on food issues is The Ethicurean: Chew the Right Thing. They have a regular news digest on food and ethics issues, as well as general articles from contributors around the country, all with a focus on eating locally. Yesterday's article, "The plot quickens: The Children’s Studio School Garden in DC," was about school gardens in Washignton, DC. In addition to a specific profile of Ed Bruske and his work at The Children's Studio School, it includes a link to a piece about DC School Gardens Week.

A School Gardens Week, declared official by a mayor, city council,or County official, may provide a good focal point for school garden campaigns. It's a way to highlight school garden work and it's importance in educating youth, while spreading information about the needs for funding, space, staffing and curriculum links to gardens.