School gardens: how to get started

School gardens by the numbers

A child who has pulled a carrot from the ground eats it differently. School gardens are spreading. In USDA's 2023 Farm to School Census, covering the 2022–23 school year, about 15% of school food authorities reported running at least one garden where food is grown, and 9% of all schools had an edible garden. Three in four school food authorities did at least one farm to school activity.

What the research says

The evidence is encouraging, with limits. The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends school gardening combined with nutrition education to increase children's vegetable intake; in the studies it reviewed, vegetable intake rose while fruit intake didn't change.

A 2017 review of 14 studies by Savoie-Roskos and colleagues found a small but positive effect on fruit and vegetable intake, and called the evidence mixed. A 2015 review by Berezowitz and colleagues found garden-based learning did not harm academic results and may help: two of four studies measuring academics found better science scores. A broader 2016 review by Ohly and colleagues found the quantitative research generally weak, and named funding gaps and reliance on volunteers as the main threats to school gardens.

Build a team, not a hero

University of Georgia Extension's guide to starting a school garden is blunt: one teacher alone cannot maintain the garden. Build a team of teachers from different grades and subjects, plus custodians and support staff, and tie the garden to the state standards teachers already have to teach.

Pick and prepare the site

The same guide recommends full sun, six or more hours a day, and a water source close by, and suggests starting with one to three small raised beds. USDA's food safety tips for school gardens add the groundwork:

• Site the garden away from, or uphill of, garbage, animals, runoff, and septic systems.
• Call 811 before digging.
• Test the soil for heavy metals such as lead, or use commercially packaged soil.
• Don't build beds from pressure-treated wood, tires, or railroad ties.

Food safety

USDA does not prohibit garden produce in school meals, but the school nutrition director is responsible for its safety, so check with your local health department. USDA's school garden food safety tips cover the basics:

• Test non-municipal water, such as rain barrels or wells, at least once a year, and don't let students drink from the hose.
• Use no pesticides or herbicides, avoid raw manure, and keep animal products out of school compost.
• Teach handwashing and glove use, and keep anyone who's sick out of the garden until 24 hours after symptoms stop.
• Harvest into clean, food-grade containers, never garbage bags.
• Confirm volunteers are covered by district insurance, and get parent permission.

Plan for summer

Summer is when school gardens die. University of Georgia Extension calls summer maintenance imperative and suggests a parent committee to share it. Plan the watering schedule before school lets out, choose crops that can handle a little neglect, or let beds rest under mulch or a cover crop until fall.