SchoolGardens

Results : Each of the three youngest school age children had their own boxes and we made one more family box for an herb garden this fall since we are blessed with two growing seasons here in Texas .

Benefits : The children have learned a lot about planning, preparation, and perseverance. We have been able to interest the grandparents in square foot gardening, which will be much easier for them since grandpa is limited in his ability to get around easily due to hip problems and he loves gardening.

2nd Place ($200): K.C. Farr Private Academy , Rigby , Idaho (The Fitzgerald Family)

Results : Awesome! We are harvesting and replanting all the time now. We are learning about shorter growing seasons and cooler weather.

Benefits : Once the garden was in, maintenance has been very easy and the kids like that. (No weeding!)

Results : Still in process. Created a SFG Display to enter into the Nevada State Fair.

Benefits : Love of gardening caught on – most families have started SFG at home as well! Kids are very enthused and love the “hands on” learning; learning to cooperate, the older ones helping the younger ones; exploring the great variety of vegetables that can be grown, and discussing growing time, No. Nevada growing season. Kids are excited to share with others what they are learning. I’ve noticed increased confidence among the children with their gardening knowledge and skills. Lots of pride of accomplishment.

Honorable Mention: Chris Bacchus and the Lamar High School Agriculture Department and FFA, Lamar , Arkansas

Results : In the Spring, after much planning and research, my Ag Mechanics class constructed the beds and we were on our way. My Ag Science classes then came in and mixed the soil and gridded the beds off. After the soil was ready they planted the plants and seeds according to the diagram that was provided in Mel’s book. I can honestly say that as an educator, it was truly remarkable to see the amount of dedication and determination that these students had throughout the planning, building, and planting stages of this project.

Benefits : The thing that I feel has been most beneficial from this experience is that my high school students have taken on the role of educating younger students about horticulture and gardening and the Square Foot Gardening method is a perfect manner to do this. Using the lesson plan book, my students created lessons appropriate for kindergarten and first grade students, and then actually went in the classroom and talked to the students. We then constructed 4’x4’ beds for each teacher and helped them grid them off. My students then helped the younger students plant flowers in their beds. This was truly a learning experience for all involved.

Honorable Mention: Kathy Lopez and the Royal Academy/Homeschool Youth Association, Powell , Ohio

Results : SUCCESS! We built and planted a beautiful and productive SFG in a once ugly and less productive space from mainly recycled materials! We productively planted and harvested radishes, lettuce, greens and garlic enough to share. We even enjoyed sharing the fruits of our labor as we celebrated the graduation of our family’s 17 year old. We are still enjoying the fruits of our labors and looking forward to the fall harvest. A great result of our SFG is the realization that we could set and accomplish a goal without the weeds taking over our garden under an adverse situation where life threw us a speeding, curve ball! This realization raised a BIG HURRAY especially from folks well acquainted with hours of tedious weeding!! We’ve gotten our hands dirty, had fun and experienced the joy and empowerment of success through hard work and cooperation well before fall arrived. Thank you for inspiring us to reach up and out!

Benefits : The greatest benefit of SFG is the blessing of superb tasting veggies (free of chemicals) grown from our cooperative labors without the dreaded weeding!! Other benefits have been ease and productivity -we have never enjoyed spring, summer and fall planting and harvesting in the past; practical math; science; life skills; plant identification skills; effective plant rotation; beauty - an appreciation for aesthetics; and a new skill we can share with others. We had fun working together, making memories, gaining confidence and creating something we can be proud of.

Results : Created a magical children’s garden that would peak my children’s curiosity and love of plants as they played and learned about them and their care. The garden is a maze filled with a variety of plants - plants with different textures, some that they may use their imaginations for play. There are a few berries and vegetables as well as herbs for projects. The maze leads to a teepee made out of bamboo, and covered with moon flowers. Each child has a section of the maze to care for.

Benefits : This is our first attempt at a Square Foot Garden . My husband and I have built a few boxes and are anxious for our big harvest. Each child has a section of the maze to care for.

Results : Four teams started with the basic concepts and premises. Many students used a hammer for the first time. Math and measurements with design and construction learned and used. Community and environmental benefits discovered and discussed. Four 2x4 boxes gridded, elevated, soiled, lighted, planted, and ready to go!

Benefits : Students eagerly discussed and monitored the progress of their projects, and after planting – THE GROWTH!! They look forward to sharing their new knowledge with friends/family, and can see how they could benefit from a year-round garden.

Results : This project required teamwork and cooperation from all involved. It utilized both academic and physical labor with the fruits of our labor on their way. This project was a great success, not merely in the prospective harvest, but in what it taught us.

Benefits : The physical and spiritual lessons were a benefit to all. We see the physical fruit of our labors as harvest time nears and trust that God will also bring spiritual fruit as He sees fit.

Results : The class hosted a garden salad party and invited friends and family to visit the garden. Everyone had a good time tasting what was grown. The children explained to parents how they grew their garden.

Benefits : The children enjoyed eating what they grew. They learned to cooperate and work together. They learned to share with others and were able to take extra plants home to plant and share with their families. They learned about likes and dislikes.

Second Grade students at Maple Lake Elementary completed the school garden year by creating a cornstalk bundle citing all the vegetables grown in the garden. All 4 classrooms of second graders participated in the project by cutting pictures from seed catalogs, stapling them to the proper vegetable name and then Ms. Schneider's students tied them to the bundle which was on display in the school lobby the past month.

Beginning last April, as first graders, the students studied compost and seeds and the first plantings in the garden were onions and peas. Lettuce plants were started in the classroom and then transplanted outside during the first week of May with the Summer Academy students enjoying the first taste test. The sweet corn was planted one per square foot in a space 4' x 4' per the Square Foot Garden System and yielded 16 generous cobs of sweet corn in August.

Students enjoyed munching on the raspberries and cherry tomatoes, planting and harvesting cabbage, kohlrabi, peas, beans, peppers, beets, turnips, rutabaga, carrots, radishes and digging the potatoes and seeing the bountiful zuchinni. There were 27 different fruits and vegetables growing in the garden and on each weekly visit to the garden the students were asked to identify each one.

This is the 7th season the garden has been active with the aid of volunteers Pat and Connie Lahr. More and more schools are seeing the value of a "hands-on" approach to studying plants and teaching better nutrition through tasting the organically grown vegetables. The children are excited to say how tasty the produce was from the school garden or simply to say: "I tried it!"

10 lettuce plants growing in 4 foot box under lights and natural light in our window using rain water and only compost medium for growing. This system is also used in the school for starting plants and also grow as you see here in the spring. This is a test for the school to learn if they could accommodate a small CSA selling/eating lettuce. This grows one leaf a day---a cos variety, we call Queensland.

Dear Mel Bartholomew,
We are second graders at Caswell Elementary School in Ceres, California. (Brandon)

This year we are using your ideas in our part of the school garden. (Jocelyn)

We bought and measured the grids on the floor to see how it will look (Bryson).

We have learned never to step on the soil. (Jorge) The soil will be made up of vermiculite, peat moss, and compost. (Fabian).

If we want are plants to grow our plants need to have soil, sun, water, and air. (Andres & Zulieka).

We will plant our garden in squares instead of rows. Last year Mrs. Sturtevant's class made a garden with her students and they made a video teaching how to make a square foot garden (Alex).

We are going to teach other people how to make a square foot garden too.(Zulieka)

Florelena wants to plant flowers. Janet wants to plant carrots. Bianca wants to plant green beans. Our class is happy and excited about planting our garden(Timothy).

Would you please send us back a letter if you have time. (Fatima)

Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Sturtevant's Second Grade Class

Brandon, I'm glad to know you are second graders and that you are from California.

Iridiana, I'm happy you like the garden ideas and that you are learning from my book.

Well, Isidro, you are right when you say the weeds will come back if you don't pull out the roots. Try to get them when they are small.

Bryson, how do you think the grids look? What material did you make them out of ? It's exciting to plant the seeds and then watch for them to sprout.

Jorge, it is good to have learned not to step on the soil. That will help your plants grow tall.

Andres and Zulieka, you will grow wonderful plants if you have soil, sun, water and air.

Alex, I'd like to see the video of Mrs. Sturtevant's last students teaching how to make a square foot garden. Did you learn a lot from it?

If you can send me a copy of that, I will send you a copy of my video titled "Introducing Square Foot Gardening" for your class. Is that a deal ?

Florelena, I like to plant flowers too. Your beautiful name almost sounds like a flower.

Janet, carrots are one of my favorite vegetables to grow. It's fun to watch the carrot tops growing and imagine what the carrot is doing under the soil.

Bianca, you can think about the Jack and the Beanstalk story when you plant your green beans. Are your beans bush beans or pole beans ?

Timothy, I'm happy that your class is excited to plant your garden. I'd like to see a picture of it.

Fatima, of course I will make time and am so happy to be able to write to you and your class.

Mrs. Sturtevant, you have a terrific class. I would like it very much if you could have someone with a digital camera take a picture of each member of your class to go with their part of the letter or at least a group picture for us. We would like to put the letter from your class along with their pictures on our web site. Also, we would like to have a picture of your school garden, if possible. Can you see the grids in a picture so people know it's a SFG ?

You are a wonderful teacher and I can see the excitement in each child. How can we show other teachers around the country how many subjects can be taught with gardening. Have any ideas ?

Do you have our Lesson Plan for Children? (See the "Catalog Page" on the web site for a description. If not I would like to send you a complimentary copy.) Let me know how we can help you with your class and your Square Foot Garden.

Thanks again for writing and keep on doing such a great job with your Square Foot Garden.

Dear Mel Bartholomew, We’ve been busy working on our SFG garden and making a video of what we are learning. Many of us have already written you a letter but we still need to edit and write final copies. But for now, we would like to send you a response to the very kind letter that had a sentence for each one of us and send you our picture in front of our SFG.

In your letter you asked how we are using your ideas in the school garden. We are making our video to teach others how to make a SFG. (Fatima & Gykisha) Our class is using your instructions in the book to create our SFG. (Jorge & Alex)

We put a grid that Mrs. Sturtevant ordered from you on our garden. (Adam) We pulled the weeds out before we added new soil. (Isidro) We made our soil out of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost. (Zuleika, Iridiana, & Gykisha) We are taking pictures of the activities we are doing to make our garden. (Janet & Florelena) We measured 12 inches by 12 inches to learn how big a square foot is. (Iridiana) We put the grid on the floor and measured it to see how it will look on our garden. (Fabian & Iridiana)

We put a life size SFG model made out of paper on our classroom wall. (Cody, Brandon, & Bianca) It has colored pictures of plants in each square foot: 16 carrots, 9 bush beans, 4 marigolds or lettuce, 1 pepper etc. (Jocelyn, Bianca, Gykisha, Jorge) We learned the measurements of a foot, inches, and a square foot. (Iridiana)

We showed multiplication models of multiplication using the rows of plants in our squares. For example 2x2=4 plants in one square. (Jorge, Iridiana, Fatima) We learned about how many plants will fit in a square depending on how big they will grow. We know that each square can have 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants depending on the size of the plants. (Fatima & Fabian)

We wrote you a letter to practice writing friendly letters. (Lyndy) We practice reading using your letters and your book. (Timothy & Jared) We made a map drawing of a square foot garden and what we would like to plant. The grids are white and look very good because each plant has its own personal space. (Alex & Jorge)

We are using a drip system for our school garden but in the video we made sure to tell others that they can just water from a cup if they would like.

Mrs. Sturtevant is going to send you the video of last year’s students teaching square foot gardening. She won’t be able to get permission slips from all of the last year’s parents so the video will have to be just for you and can’t be shared on the internet etc. If you have a pet, they can watch it with you also. (Gykisha, Iridiana, Jorge) We learned a lot from the video. We learned how their class did their square foot garden and that it looked like they were having fun. (Iridiana) It feels good to have seen the other video so that we can see how our SFG will be. (Zuleika, Alex, Bianca). Mrs. Sturtevant already has the introduction SFG video and others that she bought from you last year but thank you for the offer to send us a copy. (Alex, Adam)

We want to teach other students, maybe the principal, and other people in the district how to make a square foot garden. (Fatima, Gykisha, Zuleika, Iridiana) Here is a picture of us in front our square foot garden after we put the new soil and grid on and some others we took along the way. I hope you enjoy these pictures and thoughts from my Students.

I will send you a copy of my visual mind map and all my ideas of how to teach many subjects with gardening. The mind map is hanging on the wall of my classroom I just started gardening the end of last teaching year because I was interested in doing one at home.

I had researched for some interesting and successful approaches and came upon you ideas via the internet and then got your book. I do have the lesson plan book for children but thank you very much for your generous offer.

We are all very excited and look forward to working with you this year. Sincerely yours, The soon to be square foot garden experts from Caswell School in Ceres, California: Adam, Isidro, Cody, Florelena, Iridiana, Bryson, Fabian, Alex, Zuleika, Janet, Fatima, Jorge, Brandon, Jared, Andres, Bianca, Lyndy, Jocelyn, Gykisha, Timothy, & Mrs. Sandy Sturtevant

We are thrilled with our garden, inspired by your book. Our children's garden project was awarded a grant in 2002 from the National Garden Association

I have had a small home-based preschool for 14 years and have always incorporated gardening into our daily learning activities. I have in fact, used raised bed gardening in the past with great results, but the fine-tuned and simple to apply techniques you've shared in your method of Square Foot Gardening has made our garden curriculum and experience SO much more manageable, enjoyable, and bountiful than I'd ever imagined our backyard garden could be. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with others. You have changed MANY lives.

Our garden project has inspired several square foot gardens in our small community. People ask me to "show them how" and it's something I am happy to volunteer to do. I have three copies of your book - two of which are in constant circulation on loan.

Last year, in addition to those who started their own SFG, I assisted three families in creating theirs, and built one for my grandson for his 6th birthday. One of the families even took their garden with them when they sold their house and moved across town!

By next year, those families will be sharing their successes with others, and so the pyramid grows. I love that the concept is spreading around the globe. It is the answer to so many people's needs and desires.

Our square foot garden project continues with frequent visits from the children and families who have been involved over the past two years. It is such a joy to have the garden as a source of continuity and growth, not to mention GOOD FOOD!

Dear Manja: All I can say is "WOW" after reading your letter and seeing those terrific pictures. Thank you so much for such a wonderful letter. You have really made my day - in fact my entire week with your success story. It is letters like yours that make my work all worthwhile. Congratulations on the grant you were awarded from the National Garden Association. It is easy to see how much you deserved that!

It is absolutely thrilling to see what you have done and how you have spread Square Foot Gardening through your example and teaching. Where are you located? If you would send us your mailing address, I would be happy to send you a complimentary copy of our Introducing Square Foot Gardening video to add to your lending library. It is a great tool to use in teaching and explaining Square Foot Gardening. I would like to give this to you to show my appreciation for all you have done.

Also, your letter and pictures will be inspiring to so many that I would like to make it our "Letter of the Week" on our web site and use those pictures. Would you please give us your permission to do so. Also, it would be great to include a picture of "Teacher Manja" to go along with the letter and the other pictures. We'll take you up on your offer to send more pictures for our perusal. Do you have any far away shots showing the entire garden area?

We have found so many people like you who have not only become experts at Square Foot Gardening, but are so willing to share their knowledge and interest with others - usually with great enthusiasm. Those are the same words that I often describe a teacher and their students cannot help but get caught up in the excitement of the subject. So, we are thinking about assembling a corps of volunteer teachers around the country who will share their knowledge with the rest of their neighborhood. The idea is still in the planning stages and I wonder if you would have any suggestions or ideas on how best to organize, assemble and carry out this plan. Is there some way we can tie in the web site with such an idea? How could we support this corps of volunteers? I would appreciate any ideas that you have on this.

Thank you again so much for your letter. We'll look forward to hearing from you soon and please send us your mailing address. Please keep us up-to-date on your gardening endeavors and let us know if there is any way we can assist you in the future. Please invite all your friends and neighbors to visit our web site which is continually being updated with the latest information, improvements and ideas.