Get Growing -- From the Ground Up!


Grab some seeds and a watering can and start a garden with your students so they can see how the foods they eat grow -- from the ground up! Gardening presents a good opportunity to involve parents, other community members, Team Nutrition Supporters, and local organizations and merchants. Work with your school food service personnel to use the products from your garden in a special school dish, lunch, or food festival, or have your students take some home to share with their families. A great location for your project might be right in your classroom, an existing community garden, or your school's yard. Focus on local crops and design a Team Nutrition garden that meets your school's needs and resources. The size of the garden and crops you grow are up to you. You can start out small with classroom experiments or jump right into growing your own outdoor garden. The list of educational resources provided at the end of this section is a great place to get ideas.
Simple Gardening Experiments
Indoor gardening can provide interactive lessons in science, math, language arts, and social studies. In fact, your class may already be doing these fun classroom experiments. Here are some additional suggestions to help plant a seed in young minds:
	Plant a bean (lima, kidney, great northern) in a cup and watch it sprout. You can also conduct an experiment to find out what grows when you plant potatoes, avocados, or alfalfa sprouts.
	Build a rain guage and measure the rainfall in your area for an entire month or season. Call your local weather service to get last year's rainfall in the month(s) that you measured and compare the two. Discuss how rain might affect the growing season.
	Grow carrots, onions, or bean seeds in a clear container so your class can observe the amazing network of roots. Discuss why roots grow in all different directions.
Classroom Gardening
You might want to grow a garden in your classroom or plant seedlings to be transplanted outside at a later date. If growing a classroom garden sounds exciting, then contact a master gardener, small resource farmer, or Cooperative Extension Agent for specific gardening information. Discuss with your partner(s) the type of garden and crops (vegetables, fruits, herbs) that you would like to grow. Consider the following:
	Containers. Many types of containers work as long as they're at least two to three inches deep and have drainage holes. Try a recycled container such as a milk carton. Indoor gardens can also grow in other inexpensive containers such as in a garbage bag, bushel baskets with a plastic liner, a cardboard box, or a Styrofoam cooler.
	Soil Preparation. Encourage students to research the best types of soil to use for different crops and growing conditions. Even after you have selected the appropriate soil, encourage your students to experiment with growing plants in different soils. A hydroponic garden does not use soil. Ask a hydroponic farmer how this type of garden grows.
	Ready to Plant. This is a great time to build math skills. Have students read the package instructions, count how many seeds should be planted in each container, and decide how far apart they should be planted.
	Light. Although you can grow seedlings on well-lit windowsills, they tend to grow better under fluorescent lights. Try exposing your seedlings to different amounts and sources of light and compare how they grow.
	Temperature. Soil temperature is very important for quick germination of seeds. Students can research the temperature at which your particular crops will grow best. You might want to try growing certain plants at different temperatures in order to determine how this factor affects their growing cycle.
	Tending Seedlings. It is best to water seedlings when they need it rather than on a regular schedule. Students should test soil moisture with their fingers, and water only when the top 1/2 inch of soil is dry. Consult your local gardening resources to determine the appropriate fertilizer and how often to feed your crops.
Outside Gardening
	Determine where you will grow a garden, decide what to grow, and develop a planting calendar. If you have the resources to transplant your garden outdoors, consider average frost in your area, frost tolerance of desired crops, time required for growing, and project deadline. When deciding what to grow, consider a thematic garden, such as an Alphabet Garden, Nutritious Snack Food Garden, Culinary Herb Garden, Ethnic Garden, or create your own theme. Follow the same instructions provided above for growing seedlings indoors. Students can check seed packets or gardening books to find out about ideal planting time and conditions. Your local gardening resource can help with any questions you might have.
	Before transplanting your seedlings to an outdoor garden for the remainder of the growing season, it will be necessary to "harden off" or expose them to harsher outdoor conditions. Your students may want to experiment with the health and growth of a hardened-off plant compared with one planted directly outside.
	Pick an outdoor gardening spot. A 5'x5' plot of land is ideal for a Team Nutrition School garden.
	Make sure a vegetable garden gets at least six hours of sunshine a day -- otherwise the seeds produce plants and leaves and not much food.
	Other considerations: Is the plot of land reasonably level and on higher ground? Is there access to water? Is the soil healthy? What is the soil lead content and pH level? What needs to be done to prepare and enhance the soil?
	Design the site. Draw a picture of your garden and map out what plants will grow in which rows. Figure how far apart the rows should be by finding out how wide the plants will grow. This is a fun way to teach math to your students. During the seedling germination, students can draw or paint pictures of what your garden will look like at the various stages of development.
	Get the tools. If your school does not own gardening tools, find a community organization or local business to donate or loan you the tools, or check "yard sales" to buy used tools.
	Develop your garden. The seedlings can be planted as soon as the soil is dry enough to be dug into and loosened, and the danger of frost is past. Involve your students in this process of preparing the soil. Consult with your gardening partners to determine how to develop your garden.
	Ready to (trans) plant. Check with your gardening partners about how to transplant seedings and the care involved in tending a garden.
	Identify your crops. Place markers in the soil to identify each crop as it is planted. Students can create markers in art class, while seedlings are germinating indoors.
	Working the garden. Plan class time for students to tend the garden.
Promotion
It is important to promote your event throughout the community. This can help you attract volunteers and gain media coverage of your school garden. See the section on *Promoting and Publicizing Your Event* for suggestions and sample materials.
Growing Minds
The lesson doesn't stop here! After the garden is harvested, there are many ways your students can continue to learn from their hard work. Health experts have observed that many children do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. Your Team Nutrition gardening activity can motivate students to choose to eat the healthy fruits and vegetables they're growing and studying. Encourage students to seek information from a wide variety of sources like those listed at the end of this section. The following suggestions can help students understand the connection between agriculture and a healthy diet. Following are grade-appropriate activities that are both fun and educational: Grades K - 2 Encourage students to expand their willingness to taste and their ability to describe new plant flavors. Help them develop "taste etiquette" -- describe something as "peppery" or "zesty" rather than "yucky." Read garden- or food-related stories to your class to expose students to literature and language. Contact your school or community librarian for a suggested book list. Build sensory awareness -- blindfold students and let them taste, touch, listen to, and smell different foods. Remove the blindfold and let them explore these foods with their eyes. Grades 3 - 4 Students can learn about health by creating a chart that shows how many fruits and vegetables they eat each day. This can become a personal "I Tried It!" chart to track the new foods they have eaten. Create a craft or other entertaining educational activity to present what your students have learned. Suggestions include a puppet show, video, essay, poem, or dance. Grades 4 - 6 Students can develop writing skills by documenting gardening activities in a journal. Students can keep a log of foods they eat then sort foods according to the Food Guide Pyramid, and compare what they ate to the recommended number of servings in each food group. Invite local chefs from the community to show a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, tell where the foods come from, and how they grow. Invite a farmer's market into your school and have a "touch and feel" display of produce, herbs, and spices. Grades 7 - 8 Research a particular food crop, including its botanical family, where it fits into the Food Guide Pyramid, its history and origin, where it's grown, how it's used around the world, its structures and life cycle, its nutritional value, and ways of preparing it for eating. The students can learn about social science, history, language, geography, and health all at once! Research different ways to use herbs and fresh vegetables and conduct cooking demonstrations. If the students grew herbs or vegetables, share them with your food service staff to complement a nutritious school meal. If possible, coordinate a cooking lesson in your school's kitchen using the produce your class has grown. Grades 9 - 12 To provide a journalism experience, publish a class or school newspaper about gardening activities and what your students are learning. Involve older students in helping younger children understand the importance of nutrition and physical activity to good health. Older students could serve as role models, mentors, or teachers' aids.
Follow Up Activities
Send thank-you letters to all participants. Follow up with them to evaluate if the activity was a success and if they would be interested in collaborating again.
Educational Resources
	National Gardening Association
	CD-ROM encyclopedias
	Internet: www.fns.usda.gov/tn or schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov:8001 or www.usda.gov
	Gardening books
	Educational materials from food companies
	Journals
	Food Guide Pyramid
	Recipes and cooking instructions
	Materials for educational crafts, essays, poems, etc.
	Team Nutrition's *Community Nutrition Action Kit* for information
	Team Nutrition's *Food, Family and Fun: A Seasonal Guide to Healthy Eating*
Team Nutrition Supporters
These organizations have expressed specific interest in assisting Team Nutrition Schools with their gardening projects by providing volunteers, educational materials (fees may apply), and supplies.
Other Suggestions
Other potential sources of support for your gardening projects: State Department of Public Health Farmers' markets Local farmers and growers Nurseries/gardening centers Botanical gardens/arboretums/nature centers Urban gardening leagues Churches/synagogues Senior centers Grocery stores Neighborhood co-ops Local businesses Adopt-A-Garden (Adopt-A-School) Parents/grandparents/retirees Local chefs/cooks from restaurants, hospitals, businesses, large and small feeding operations Back to the top

Grades K - 2

Grades 3 - 4

Grades 4 - 6

Grades 7 - 8

Grades 9 - 12