School Gardens/First steps

Home	First steps	School Garden library	Web resources	Show cases	Conceptual background

Why should we have a School Garden?

What are the steps to plan and set-up the garden?

1. Set the aims
2. Get support
3. Decide which classes
4. Decide what to grow
5. Find a garden site
6. Prepare the site
7. Make an action plan
8. Put plan to practise
9. Gardening methods

What can children learn in the garden?

7. Make a realistic action plan

It is essential that the growth cycles of your garden's vegetables fit in with the school term. To achieve this you will need to plan well - after all, you do not want the main harvest to coincide with school holidays when there is nobody to enjoy the fresh food! A good plan will list the tasks to be done each week so that you can:

	prepare for the upcoming weeks' gardening activities;
	make sure you have all the tools and materials at hand;
	mobilize voluntary helpers (if needed); and
	prepare some integrated lessons using the garden as an outdoor laboratory.

Apart from the practical gardening activities such as seedbed preparation, sowing, planting, watering and harvesting, you should also think about monitoring, record keeping and publicity. Don't forget to also enjoy your garden!

For more information see "Part 10: What's the plan?" of the FAO manual "Setting up and running a School Garden - a manual for teachers, parents and communities".

8. Put the plan into practice

You may need to motivate the school and community to support the garden. One way is to promote the value of the School Garden and your dedication to it. Gardening projects can last several months and involve repetitive work. It will be necessary to maintain motivation, even if there was enthusiasm from the beginning. Generally, the best motivation is the deep sense of pleasure and achievement when your School Garden is seen to bloom and prosper.

If parents and community members have had negative experiences with school gardening, a special effort may be needed to overcome these. It is best to proceed with patience and continuous advocacy for the learning objectives of the School Garden.

For more information see "Part 11: How do we get going?" and "Part 12: How do we keep going?" of the FAO manual "Setting up and running a School Garden - a manual for teachers, parents and communities".

Back to the top