In many urban areas, children are surrounded by cement, brick and asphalt. The natural environment is behind fences and not available for hands-on exploration. This often means that urban children do not have a clear understanding of their agricultural heritage. A school garden program can bring nature and agriculture to life on campus. Children become excited about science, math and nutrition through gardening experiences. Creative skills and physical fitness can also be developed through gardening. Because we've seen how a school garden can be a powerful learning tool, we want to share how we've established school gardens in Los Angeles County.

A recent survey by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom found that more than 60% of the children thought that cotton comes from sheep and that vegetables come from the store. There is clearly a need for agriculture education for urban students. In addition, gardens create enthusiasm for learning, encourage nutrition and foster team-building.

A school garden gives young people an opportunity to better understand their relationship with nature, creates a dynamic environment for learning core subjects and promotes cooperation through group activities. Children can be taught to conserve natural resources and preserve the environment. A garden often encourages self-confidence and a sense of responsibility and belonging to one's community.

A garden can also bring a community together. Senior citizens, parents, students and community members can work together on designing, building and maintaining the garden as well as teaching the students after the garden is built. By getting help from many hands, the gardening experience becomes enjoyable for all.

Do remember to document all the steps in building your garden, and share the adventure with your students and the community.

SOME HISTORY: THE GARDENING ANGELS SCHOOL GARDEN PROGRAM

In 1990, Rachel Mabie, after visiting too many schools with asphalt play yards and little or no green spaces, had a vision to reconnect school children with their natural environment. At the time she was Youth Gardening Coordinator for the Los Angeles office of University of California Cooperative Extension Common Ground Garden Program. She initiated the Gardening Angels School Garden Program. Her hope was that all students - and especially inner city and urban youth - would more completely experience their world through the joys of gardening.

Working closely with teachers, Ms. Mabie integrated activities that enhanced curriculum. It soon became clear that to build a sustainable program, teachers would need to have the support of volunteers to assist with the initial development and ongoing maintenance of a garden. Thus the Gardening Angels Volunteer Program was developed. Volunteers worked with schools to install gardens and to teach students gardening skills.

Since that time, scores of schools have been assisted by hundreds of trained volunteers. Some volunteers come to the program with experience in landscaping, farming or construction. Others bring enthusiasm and an interest in learning about nature. The program includes volunteers who contribute professional skills on a one-time basis and others who have stayed involved for years.

In 1997, State Superintendent of California Schools Delaine Easton set a goal to have "A Garden in Every School." While this goal still hasn't been met, every year more gardens are being built on school grounds. Since there is a commitment to building school gardens at both local and state levels, there are more funds available to help you in your efforts.


GETTING STARTED: THE SHORT VERSION

You don't need much to grow a garden. Desire is the most important component. Just remember that any new skill takes time to learn and includes making mistakes along the way. Most "green-thumb" gardeners have killed more plants than many "brown thumb" gardeners have tried to grow. The difference is that the "green-thumb" folks keep trying until they learn how a plant likes to be grown. Gardening is a skill everyone can develop. If you're not interested in learning to garden, there are many other ways to support a school garden.

1. Desire and commitment. Since this is a school project, it is very important to have the support of the Principal or Vice Principal as well as teachers and parents. Students should also be involved from the beginning, but you probably won't have difficulty finding kids who like to play in the soil.

2. Find out who is interested in being involved by sending out a flyer announcing a meeting. Personally announcing the meeting to local groups (PTA, Rotary Club, teachers, churches, senior citizen centers, local garden clubs, etc.) is even more effective. You should try to involve members from the following groups:

3. Decide where to build the garden on campus. The following concerns should help you decide where plants will grow best:

4. The site will often determine if you will build raised bed boxes above the ground or put your garden directly into the ground. Note that it is often safer to build raised beds than to remove asphalt and work with the soil underneath, because chemicals from the asphalt can leach into the soil over time.

5. Find out how many teachers would like to have their classes participate. They don't need to know much about gardening themselves. It will take a small amount of time to coordinate parents and community volunteers to help teach gardening to their students.

6. If possible, build a raised bed for each classroom that participates. If not, you'll need to find a way to divide the space so that everyone can work without disturbing gardens belonging to other classes.

7. Each class that is going to participate in the garden should help with the design. See the section on design for details on how to involve everyone and integrate the different ideas.

8. Plan a community workday to build your raised beds and get the soil ready for planting. There are many tasks included in planning a workday. Some of the most important are:

9. Training of volunteers. Volunteers need to:

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