School Garden Resource Guide
As part of our Whole Kids family, you join more than 8,500 garden programs in the US, UK, and Canada that are growing healthy kids!
Download a digital version of the school garden resource guide below.
Additional Resources
Slow Food USA, in partnership with Whole Kids Foundation, has developed a toolkit to help school district food services safely bring school garden produce onto the lunch line!
Salad Bars to Schools > ADD LINK
Give kids good choices, and they’ll make good choices!
Get Schools Cooking > ADD LINK
The Get Schools Cooking Grant is intended to support U.S public school districts who are eager to transform their school lunch programs from processed foods to scratch-cooked meals.
Bee Grant Program > ADD LINK
The Bee Grant program allows for a K–12 school or non-profit organization to receive support for an educational bee hive.
Our Healthy Staff Program encompasses our Healthy Teachers Program and our Healthy Food Service program, which are both online and free to take.
Canadian Farm to School Grant > ADD LINK
We’re fueling change in Canadian schools by getting healthy, local, sustainable food on the plates and minds of students.
We believe in research-driven programs to create effective, lasting and impactful change. See below for a sampling of research that supports our programs – and can support yours, too!
Gather Your Tools & Build Your Network!
Curriculum Resources
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Big Green Garden Bites and Real Food Lab Curriculum
Edible Schoolyard Network database
Green Schoolyards Activity Guides
Learning for Sustainable Future (Canada-based) database
Life Lab (Spanish Language Resources)
National Agriculture in the Classroom
National Farm to School Network resource database
Red Internacional de Huertos Escolares (Spanish language) database
National Wildlife Federation’s Eco- Schools Program
University of Maryland Food Supplement Nutrition Education Program
Continuing Garden Education
Expand your garden knowledge, learn best practices, and connect with other inspiring educators like yourself through trainings and resources offered by these organizations.
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The Edible Schoolyard Project offers various trainings and resources on principles and practical tools for engaging students in lessons in the kitchen, garden, and cafeteria. Either virtually or in person at their flagship kitchen garden program at MLK Jr Middle School in Berkeley, CA, the Edible Schoolyard also offers an annual summer training.
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Life Lab offers virtual and on-site workshops, webinars, consultations, and many more resources and trainings for educators on facilitating learning in their school gardens.
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The American Horticultural Society hosts an annual symposium, typically held in the summer, to focus on the success and future of school gardens.
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Hosted by the National Farm to School network, this conference brings together many different stakeholders from across the country and is an opportunity to learn from, network, and collaborate with like-minded leaders of the farm to cafeteria movement. This conference is typically held every other year.
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A national event bringing together those who build, operate, and teach in green and sustainable schools.
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Children & Nature Network seeks to bring together best practices for increasing equitable access to nature for children, families and communities through their many resources – from free toolkits and reports to infographics and advocacy tools. They also offer guest speaker presentations and webinars and holder interactive events such as their Network Conference, held every other year.
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Hosted by Life Lab and the School Garden Support Organization Network, the Leadership Institute brings together school garden professional from across the country, providing and opportunity to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to be shared with a national audience. Designed for School Garden Support Organization leaders but is also relevant individual school garden practitioners.
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Hosted by the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation in partnership with Life Lab and the SGSO Network, a national conference focused entirely on school gardening, the summit will unite 600 educators and leaders to share innovations and harness our collective power for future change.
Reading Recommendations
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Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation by Sharon Gamson Danks
Creating Gardens of Goodness by Center for EcoLiteracy for Annie’s
Edible Gardening: 10 Essential Practices for Growing Your Own Food by Benjamin R. Eichorn
Getting Started: A Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms by the Center for EcoLiteracy
How to Grow a School Garden: A Complete Guide for Parents and Teachers by Arden Bucklin-Sporer and Rachel Kathleen Pringle
Slow Food USA School Garden Guide
Ripe for Change: Garden-Based Learning in Schools by Jane S. Hirschi
The Growing Classroom: Garden-Based Science by Roberta Jaffe and Gary Appel
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Accessible Gardening for People with Physical Disabilities: A Guide to Methods, Tools, and Plants by Janeen R. Adil
All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space by Mel Bartholomew
Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate by Wendy Johnson
How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons
Micro Eco-Farming: Prospering from Backyard to Small Acreage in Partnership with the Earth by Barbara Berst Adams
Step by Step Organic Vegetable Gardening by Shepherd Ogden
The New Organic Grower by Elliot Coleman
Community Engagement
It takes a village to support a garden...and enjoy it! Your community has a whole host of skills and passions that could grow and maintain your garden. Check out the following tips and resources to invite them in and share your story.
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Invite your community in to both enjoy and support your garden. You never know what skills and passions they may have to keep your garden growing. From community garden builds to community potlucks, there are a lot of ways to bring people into the space. Here are a few fresh ideas.
Promoter Packet Developed by Life Lab and supported by Whole Kids, this packet provides everything you’ll need to create an open house for school gardens in your community, including tips, templates for signs and emails, sample media communications, and more!
Have a surplus of garden produce, herbs, or flowers? Engage your students and enlist their entrepreneurial spirit to sell to your community. Not only will you bring your community into the garden but you may also make a little money to support your garden. Utilize the Denver Youth Farm Stand Toolkit to get started! Created by the Denver Youth Farm Stand coalition, a partnership between Slow Food Denver and Denver Urban Gardens, this toolkit is based on over a decade of experience running more 30 youth-run markets.
Bring your garden produce onto the lunch-line and truly create a seedto-plate experience for your students! Check out the Garden to Cafeteria Toolkit developed by Slow Food USA and Whole Kids to support your food service team in setting up the correct health and safety protocols so that your students can safely bring the produce into the cafeteria. You’ll also find sample protocols from districts that have already accomplished this.
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Healthy kids support healthy communities! Sharing your garden program with your local community can help get your community involved in this common goal.
Why Reach out to Local Media?
Your community can become supporters of your project, but they can’t support it if they don’t know about it. Local media is always looking for great stories to share, especially those about non-profit donations, local heroes, impact on children, and health education.
Local press is also helpful to engage your more immediate community of parents and families so they can hear about your great garden stories! Before reaching out to media, be sure to check your school and district policies about engaging the media.
Opportunities for outreach can include:
• Community Leaders
• Businesses
• Bloggers
• TV
• Newspapers and Magazines
• Websites
• Radio
Whole Foods Market
While we operate separately from Whole Foods Market, they are one of your biggest supporters. If you are located near a Whole Foods Market location, connect with the store team to invite Team Members to your garden. Share with them your garden needs, including volunteering and mentoring support needed – they might be able to help. Visit the store locator to find your closest store: www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores.
Tips on Engaging Media
• Write a press release and send to local media. This provides the details of your project and lets media know what you are doing so they can choose to write or film a story. See a sample press release on the next page.
• Reach out to local freelance writers or bloggers. Search for their contact information online to share about your garden and invite them to visit.
• Call your local TV station. Invite them to any planned activities or events for your garden.
• Write a “Letter to the Editor” of your local newspaper sharing about how your school is supporting healthy kids.
• Write an article of a first-hand account of your school garden and share it widely.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for the support you need! Whether it’s supplies, volunteer support, or technical expertise, let the media know so they can help get the word out.
• Leverage your school or district social media accounts to talk about the garden or set up a specific account for your garden according to your social media policy. Facebook, Instagram, and X are great ways to share your garden progress and highlight your success stories.
• Do a Google search to see how reporters have covered your school in the past. Start by reaching out to those who have done positive stories.
• Media outreach doesn’t have to be a one-time opportunity – develop a relationship and share ongoing exciting milestones about your garden.
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Use the templates below to reach out to local media and bloggers in your community.
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Social media is a great place to showcase the garden's progress.
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Sustaining Your Garden
DIVERSIFYING FUNDING SOURCES FOR YOUR GARDEN CAN BE A KEY FACTOR IN SUCCESS. HERE ARE A HANDFUL OF GRANTS TO SUPPORT DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF YOUR PROGRAM!
APPLY FOR GRANTS
Additional grants can support different aspects of your program!
FUNDRAISING
Company Profit Share
Reach out to local businesses and apply for a profit share. For example, Chipotle has a profit share opportunity where 25% of the profit will go to your cause.
Create a Wishlist
You can use Teacher Lists or Amazon Wish Lists to collect your garden classroom wish list and get it funded by your community.
Digital Platforms
Consider using an online fundraising platform like GoFundMe, Facebook or Schoolfundr to raise funds for your garden.
Green Fundraising with ECO lunchbox
Select from a couple of options to sell eco-friendly products at a discounted cost to support your school here.
High Mowing Organic Seeds
Sell seeds at a 50% profit for your school here.
Monetize your Garden
Consider selling garden produce (e.g. setting up a school farm stand), creating and selling products from your garden (e.g. basil pesto), creating and selling school garden merchandise.