Introducing an organic garden in school is a great way to get students involved in learning about where their food comes from and how it is grown. This may serve as an extra curricular activity aside their usual academic curriculum.
Having an organic garden in a school can provide students with an essential hands-on learning experience in plant identification, cultivation, and environmental stewardship. Children can learn about the benefits of organic gardening and how to create a healthy environment for plants.
In addition, an organic garden in a school setting can help promote health and well-being by providing fresh produce for students and faculty members.
Why An Organic Garden In School Is Beneficial
There are many reasons why an organic garden in a school is beneficial including the underlisted reasons:
- Having a school garden can provide children with the opportunity to learn about the importance of sustainable agriculture.
- Secondly, a school garden can help reduce waste and promote recycling as leftover from the school’s food waste bin can be recycled to organic compost and used as a fertilizer for the garden beds.
- Thirdly, a school garden can help teach children about the ecosystem and how it works by organising a garden program annually or quarterly. Such school gardening programs can be subsequently adopted in other schools across the country.
- Also, having a good garden in a school can help children in learning about food; they get to learn about nutrition and how to make healthy meals.
- Additionally, one way to improve the school environment is to start a school garden, adding to the beautification of the school grounds. And this can be taken on class by class as garden projects and use the garden as means for teachers and students explore their natural environment, plant seeds and see the results of their hands in the soil.
- Having an organic garden in school can enable many schools provide healthier food options in their cafeteria for the students, which can provide students with essential fruits and vegetables. This is also an excellent way to promote healthy eating habits for children who want to grow healthy.
- Growing a school garden can help to teach environmental awareness and responsibility. Not only do they learn about the benefits of organic agriculture, but they also get to help grow their own food. This can help instill a sense of responsibility and importance for food in their minds.
- Having an organic garden in school teaches children where food comes from and also enables them to learn how food is cultivated. By growing their own food, students can learn about where their food comes from and how it is grown.
- Growing an organic school garden in school has been shown to improve academic performance. Students who are involved in organic gardening tend to have better grades and perform better on standardized tests. They also have higher attention spans, motivation, and self-discipline.
Tips For Starting An Organic Garden In School
When considering starting an organic garden in a school setting, keep in mind that there are a few important things to consider. All the tips listed below should be taken into account:
- First and foremost, it is important to make sure that the garden is properly planned and designed. You may decide to have a garden committee to help with the planning and they may also be able to do extensive research on any existing school garden around where your school is located, for benchmarking.
- Secondly, you will need to find an area that can be adequately maintained, both in terms of watering and fertilizing. Having a school garden helps better if you are able to spend time in the garden as such ensure to choose an an an area in the local community that will make it easy to visit the garden often.
- Work with your school’s administration on it. It is necessary to involve the school authority when considering having a school garden in the school premises, especially when there isn’t much space. This will enable the administration to get a gardener to come in and assist with identifying which parts of the school has healthy soil that can produce food that will be of nutritional value for many children.
- Find a teacher to champion the project. This can be made an outside classroom curriculum.
- Get the students involved in growing the organic garden in the school to support food production.
- Start small: If you’re just starting out, don’t try to plant an entire garden all at once. Try planting a few pots or containers first and see how it goes before you decide to put up raised beds.
- Have a plan for educating students about the benefits of having an organic garden in school – both in terms of their physical health and emotional well-being.
- Get creative: There are lots of ways to create an organic garden in a school, whether you’re using natural materials like dirt, rocks, and plants, or using more modern tools like grow lights and watering systems.
- Start planning: Once you’ve got a little bit of experience under your belt, start planning your garden. This will help you make sure everything goes as planned and that you have enough space for everything you want to plant in the organic garden in your school.
- Be patient: It can take some time to get an organic garden up and running in your school but don’t be discouraged
Conclusion
Having an organic garden in school can provide so many benefits to students and the environment. Ensure that you have a good water source, a soil with good drainage, adequate supply of manure and other organic matter to help you grow organic, wether its a new or existing school garden.
