Petite Riviere, Nova Scotia
Please describe your garden, is it raised beds, in the ground, do you have a greenhouse?
We have a greenhouse where we store our supplies and start our seeds in the spring. We have 4 new raised beds and one large in the ground bed. We have fruit trees and blueberry bushes.
What vegetables/fruit do you grow in your garden? What do you have a difficult time growing in your school garden?
Vegetables: garlic, cabbage, tomatoes, kale, beans, peas, broccoli, pumpkins.
Fruit: pears, blueberries
We have a difficult time growing carrots in our garden.
Why did your school decide to add a school garden?
To show our children and community where are food comes from and that we have a huge part in doing this!
What classes participate in the garden, what subjects are taught in the garden?
All classes participate in the garden. It is a team effort and we rely on community members/families for support as well.
Who manages the garden day to day? Who manages the garden over the Summer break?
We are 8 families who tend to the garden over the summer. As for the day to day management of the garden it depends on what curriculum areas the classes are working on and how this applies to the garden. When weeding or harvesting has to be done a sign up sheet is put in the staff room and classes sign up to help.
What do you do with the harvest from your garden? Do you have a harvest celebration? Do you use it in the cafeteria, or culinary classes? Do you donate some of the produce?
The families who tend to the garden over the summer can harvest what is ready and use for their family or freeze for the school year. We have a fall celebration where we make a stone soup together! We make salsa and coleslaw. We use the carrots and potatoes in our breakfast and hot lunch programs. We have a cooking club who helps make the salsa and coleslaw. We sold our garlic last year at the local corner store and used the proceeds to buy supplies for the garden.
Do you have community involvement? Do you have parents and volunteers? Have been able to source other funding to help your garden grow?
We have many parent/community volunteers who help in our garden. We couldn't do it without their support!
What are your future plans for the school garden?
Our latest project is an agricultural project. We are in the process of building a chicken coop inside our garden. The compost from the school will help feed the chickens, the chickens provide us eggs for breakfast and lunch programs and we can donate eggs to families. Then the chickens give us chicken manure that we can use in our school garden which helps our veggies grow in the garden! It all comes full circle! We will he incubating the eggs in the school as part of our curriculum outcomes. The students are excited to learn more about chickens!
We are also planning to build a few more raised beds in the spring as they did very well this summer!
Any words of encouragement/tips for a school starting a school garden?
Just do it! The kids will love it and it teaches them so many life skills!
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