Schools

School Gardens

School gardens provide children with an ideal outdoor classroom! Within a single visit to a garden, a student can record plant growth, study decomposition while turning a compost pile, and write a short essay. Gardens also provide students with opportunities to make healthier food choices, learn about nutrient cycles, and develop a deeper appreciation for the environment, community, and each other.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board offers resources to school gardens related to compost, recycled-content garden supplies, free supplies and more.

• How to Start a School Garden
• Compost and Mulch in the Garden
• Recycled-Content and Free Supplies
• Waste Reduction Strategies
• Funding Opportunities
• Curriculum

How to Start a School Garden

A wealth of information on how to start a school garden, linking school gardens to California Education Standards, funding, and so much more, is available from the California School Garden Network.

Compost and Mulch in the Garden

Both new and established gardens benefit from the use of compost and mulch. Many schools purchase compost when they initially establish their garden, then they start making their own compost. You can use grass clippings, yard trimmings, rotten vegetables, and in some cases even food scraps from the cafeteria and/or students' lunches. While some schools choose to make compost piles in the garden, others compost with worm boxes right in the classroom!

• Compost and its benefits--learn how your school garden can benefit from the use of compost.
• Sources of compost and mulch--a database of local sources of compost and mulch.
• How to make your own compost pile--guidelines for creating a compost pile at your school, just like building a "backyard" compost pile at home.
• Worm composting--learn how worms can "eat your garbage", even in a classroom!
• CIWMB Compost Publications--a variety of publications relating to compost and mulch.

Recycled-Content and Free Supplies

• Recycled-Content Garden Supplies
  Compost bins, garden benches, lumber for raised beds, and seedling starter pots are just some of the recycled-content products you can find in the CIWMB’s Recycled-Content Products Database.
• Free and Low-Cost Supplies
  An abundance of free or low-cost supplies, including soil and lumber, are available through a number of "Materials Exchange" programs throughout the state. For more information, check-out CalMax!
• Sources of compost and mulch
  This database of compost and mulch suppliers will help you find a producer near your school.

Waste Reduction Strategies

Many schools have developed some incredible programs to compost food waste from their cafeteria and students' lunches. The following case studies document some exemplary programs. Also explore additional waste reduction strategies that schools can implement.

Case Studies

• Harmony Union School District's garden project provides produce to the school’s cafeteria and enhances its science curriculum. Students learn to view organic materials as a resource by making compost and managing the vermicomposting bins (composting with worms) that handle all applicable waste from the cafeteria. Students sow seeds, transplant seedlings, weed, water, harvest, and most fun of all cook and eat the bounty from the garden. There is also an effort to provide the cafeteria salad bar with all of the salad greens needed in spring and fall.
• Hawthorne Elementary School Composting Project is an inner-city conservation project that other students and schools can replicate in their neighborhood. This project was planned with the guidance of adult mentors from the AmeriCorps National Civilian Conservation Corps and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 Office in Kansas City.
• Davis Joint Unified School District has developed three different composting/vermicomposting systems to divert food waste at three of its schools. More program details can be found on CIWMB's Food Scrap Reduction Case Studies web page.
• California Heartland also features a television segment on composting and recycling activities at Forestville Union School District. In addition to understanding how composting contributes to the school's successful gardening program, the school district discovered the economic value in resource conservation. The district's composting and recycling program has realized savings of at least $160 a month for the last three years by cutting down on the number of garbage dumpsters required.

Funding Opportunities

• California School Garden Network--maintains a comprehensive list of grant opportunities for school gardens.

Curriculum and Teacher Resources

• Closing the Loop includes supplemental lessons on composting and worm composting for grades K-6:

  • Composting Unit, grades 4-6 (Adobe PDF, 1.6 MB)
  • Worm Composting Unit, grades K-3 (Adobe PDF, 832 KB)
• The Worm Guide: A Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers is geared towards starting and maintaining a classroom worm bin. Worm bin building plans, troubleshooting tips, and classroom activities make this guide a useful tool for teachers.
• The Adventures of Vermi the Worm! is an interactive game that teaches 8-10 year-olds about waste management concepts by following Vermi through the school garden.
• The CIWMB’s Office of Education and the Environment is now implementing the Education and the Environment Initiative. As part of this initiative, the State is developing a curriculum that teaches California's academic content standards to mastery using the environment as a context for learning.

Still Have Questions?

Contact Christy Porter Humpert, the Office of Education and the Environment's School Garden Coordinator.

Last updated: November 01, 2007