Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
Please describe your garden, is it raised beds, in the ground, do you have a greenhouse?
We used the money to encourage students to garden at home! This way, they are able to tend to their plants all summer and see the entire process through. Lessons were taught in a lunch club format to students interested in gardening. We talked about food sustainability and how growing even a small amount at home can help with food sustainability and your nutrition. Students picked the veggies and herbs they felt they would eat and planted a container garden at home. Even more students were also provided with a take home herb garden kit to plant with their families and enjoy at home.
The kids got to go to a huge local greenhouse and pick out their plants and explore. They had a lot of fun!
What grade levels worked in the garden and did you or another teacher link some of your curriculum outcomes to the garden?
We focused on grade 6 as there was the most interest there from the students. We linked the sustainability and community outcomes.
What vegetables/fruit do you grow in your garden? What do you have a difficult time growing in your school garden?
The kids chose tomatoes, peppers, onions, basil, parsley and cilantro.
Root vegetables were hard with it being a container set up.
Who manages the garden day to day? Who manages the garden over the Summer break?
We knew this would not be doable in our school as there isn't any summer programming that runs out of our school. Because of this we did everything as take home and made sure the families were on board with tending to it over the summer.
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?
We talked about and provided some recipes for our students to try with their harvest at home. Bruschetta and pico de gallo salsa.
The kids chose veggies they liked and knew would be used in their household cooking.
Do you have community involvement? Do you have parents and volunteers? Have been able to source other funding to help your garden grow?
Parents had to agree to have their child in the club and feel that these take home gardens would be a good fit for their family over the summer.
What are your future plans for the school garden?
We would love to do this set up again! We had great feedback from the kids and their families. While different than having a school garden; this set up is much more sustainable and realistic for our school.
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