Garden Size: We are currently in the process of gathering a team of students, community members, and staff members to create a lay out of the areas we will use to establish our garden. When this is done we will be able to calculate an accurate garden size.

Foods Planted in Garden: The foods we currently intend to plant include: Potatoes, Corn, Green Beans, Carrots, Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Cucumbers, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Squash Zucchini, Sweet Potatoes, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Onions, and Strawberries.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

Program emphasis:
Health and Nutrition- Students will get to see the fruits of their labor at harvest time and learn that gardening is very hard work. The students will get to experience the plant to plate, helping them realize what goes into making a meal. The students will get to learn about how healthy fruits and vegetables are so good and tasty for them.

Service Learning- the students will be able to help with the garden as part of their service project. The students may choose to give some of the fruits and vegetables to older residents or family members in need of food in our community.

Science- The students will learn that gardening also helps them gain respect both for each other and the environment. By learning about the nature they can come to appreciate its many wonders and possibilities. They will learn plant ABC' s, including identifying main parts of plants and explaining their functions. They will learn about key processes of plants and their functions. They will gain workable knowledge about growing plants and learn what plants need for growth.

English- Students will write about the crops they raised in a report. They will write food nutrition labels and create a menu that follows the food pyramid guidelines.

Math- Students will use math skills to figure proper dimensions and the layout of the new raised beds. Students will figure and set the budget for the next year's planting. Students will keep a record of growth chart for at least one plant that they grow. They will measure proper spacing for plants and learn to read a PH scale in testing soils. They will use a large amount of measurement tools to know when to transplant, planting depth, and plating distance. Students will weigh and measure a variety of the plants they harvest and will apply necessary math skills in preparing the foods to eat.

Values and Self -image - The students will gain a great appreciation for teamwork throughout this garden experience. The garden experience will improve their social skills and self-esteem as the students work together and produce something of their own. It will make children aware of the hard work that goes into making the food we eat, and also will require the children to make a strong and dedicated commitment to accomplishing a task that takes a lot of hard work.

Outdoor Classroom- Students will have hands on learning experiences and fun in their garden. They will have some exposure to fresh produce and gain an appreciation for the wonders of mother earth. Students at Bruneau Elementary will become more aware of agriculture right here in Idaho.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

Our school garden will partner with the school foodservice. We hope to sell some of the produce to the kitchens allowing the cooks and students to prepare the food that they grew. We also hope to establish a compost bin where we will use the school food waste as compost and later soil conditioner for our garden in the future. This will also help us eliminate the large amount of waste.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

Bruneau Elementary plans on having all the students, community members, PTO, and staff members help with this garden. We hope to have our virtue teams take charge in the development and making of the garden plans. We are currently having students help decide which fruits and vegetables they will grow. They are currently starting some research and learning facts on basic gardening and will start growing the seeds they choose in their classrooms in recycled milk cartons. The students will help with the garden by measuring and assisting in making the raised beds, preparing soil, planting seeds, weeding, pruning, watering, harvesting, consuming, cleaning up, and getting ready for the next growing season. We plan on holding our healthy harvest meal using our own vegetables and fruits grown in our garden. We also hope to sell some of our produce to our kitchen and community in order to have some money to purchase future materials and seeds for the upcoming growing season.

Garden Size: approx. 75' x 90'

Foods Planted in Garden: A wide variety of vegetables and a number of fruit trees.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

All grades will be using the site, and the curriculum areas will vary by grade but match standards in health and nutrition, science, and some math areas too ( i.e.. measurements, area, size, perimeters, and quantity for math).

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

We have made arrangements to use fresh produce in our lunches and for snacks.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

The garden site will be fenced and gated. The garden area itself will be watered by an adapted sprinkler system that will connect into existing lines. Risers will be used with pop-ups initially and hopefully transferred over to a trickle system. The garden beds will be elevated beds covered with seed barriers. Access rows will be covered with small gravel to reduce muddy walking conditions. The most unique aspect will be the opportunity to have all of our students involved.

Garden Size: 4 raised beds/ 12' x 3' each

Foods Planted in Garden: Squash, carrots, peas, and potatoes. We have a few others such as tomatoes if there is room.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

We will incorporate nutrition awareness, science, math, reading, and writing, when possible.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

Yes. We would like to be able to serve some of our vegetables at lunch. We need to figure this out because we don't have a produce sink.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

We are very excited about our garden. We will incorporate all grades at some point. We are also relying on the Girl Scouts to water and maintain our garden during the summer. We would like to be able to provide some of our produce to the community center of Athol. The Girl Scouts are helping with fundraising. We have already had a compost bin donated for our garden. We also have a program called "Work to Learn" where our students take certain jobs in the school. I hope that we can incorporate some of these students into the garden process.

Athol Garden Article

Garden Size: 1st year: 1 acre (about 200 X 220 feet)

Foods Planted in Garden: Tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, beans, corn, zucchini, yellow crookneck, carrots, okra, pumpkins, gourds, winter squash, and cucumbers.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

Greenhouse Production (starting plants, etc.), Ag. Construction (build signs, produce stand, bee hives), Animal Science (bee keeping), Intro. to Ag. (record keeping & business planning), Health (nutrition & healthy lifestyles), several elementary classes (healthy eating, pumpkin patch, corn maze, etc.)

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

Yes. We plan to provide a variety of fresh vegetables for summer lunch programs and for school lunch until fall frost. Eventually, we will provide honey for the food service also.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

Our garden will start as a one acre plot, utilizing plastic mulch and drip irrigation where possible. We plan to use steel posts and wooden stakes to trellis tomatoes, beans, and peppers. The Hansen FFA Chapter will provide most of the labor to maintain and water the garden in the summer, and it will serve as a fund-raiser to help students attend national FFA convention in the fall. We will build a produce stand and sell fresh vegetables during the summer to anyone interested. We also plan to establish 3 or 4 bee hives to aid in pollination, and eventually collect and process the honey. Much of the produce in the fall will be routed through our food service program and offered for use in whatever classes (Health & Family, Consumer Science & elementary) will make good use of them. Surplus produce will be offered to area elderly or needy families. In the fall, we also hope to provide a pumpkin patch for elementary students and a corn maze for the community. In years following, we plan to expand the garden until we fully utilize the 3.25 acres provided by the school. We would like to look into grapes, strawberries, and fruit trees.

Garden Size: Approximately 910 square feet. It will have a combination of 3 raised beds (4 x 16') with a section for larger vegetables that require more space to grow. There will be some room for potted plants, and paved paths (3' in width) for wheelchair accessibility. Because of the ongoing recreational activities that take place at the school, a fence will be built around the garden.

Foods Planted in Garden: Tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, corn, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, onions, basil, chives, oregano, rosemary, and radishes.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

Nutrition education will be implemented for life skills students across grade levels. Students will learn the importance of daily nutrition, well balanced diets, and obesity prevention. The life skills program will be using the Junior Master Gardener curriculum, which includes a variety of activities: planting and growing of plants, soils and water, vegetables and herbs, and life skills and career explorations. The students will also work with the food pyramid, determine portion sizes, and discriminate between different foods for overall good health.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice, if so briefly describe.

The gardening program will not be partnering with the school foodservice. Because of the wide range of grade levels involved, we did not think the garden would produce enough food for all four schools to benefit from.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

The school garden plans entail many different unique and innovative features. Students will be involved from the initial designing and building of the project, to carrying out the maintenance and harvesting of the crops. This process will involve students from different programs, such as high school students enrolled in the Drafting and Design Class. They will use their knowledge of the Computer Aided Design program to create and design the garden layout as an assignment for their class. Once the blueprints have been designed and the garden has been created, the responsibility for the use and maintenance of the project will be handled by students with special needs. Fine motor and gross motor activities, such as manipulating plants or pushing a wheelbarrow, are opportunities for students to practice occupational and physical therapy skills in a natural environment. Students with speech and language difficulties will be encouraged to talk about their gardening activities during communication therapy sessions. General education students will also be active partners with the special needs students as they visit and help with the garden during their class curriculum. Students in English classes will practice writing descriptions of the program to be shared with local newspapers.

Garden Size: 5,000 sq. feet

Foods Planted in Garden: Variety of herbs, fruits, vegetables, and edible flowers to be determined by school-wide survey.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

A large curricular area which will be addressed is independent living skills for our extended resource students and general education students. Science areas of plant life cycle and nutrition will be taught. Math areas of budgeting and measurement will also be taught.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice, if so briefly describe.

Our kitchen identified tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, potatoes, melons, and strawberries as items they could use. They may also be able to use some herbs and salad greens. In addition to incorporating items into the kitchen, a separate serving area for fresh vegetables and fruits will be established so that the entire school can partake of the produce, not just those who eat the cafeteria lunch.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

Our garden contents will be determined by input from the entire student body (800+) and staff (60+). Our extended resource students will be major participants in the planting and maintenance of the garden, paired with general education students who express an interest in being involved. Our garden will have 2 raised beds which will be wheelchair accessible. Funds will be raised for future garden needs via a Farmer's Market at the Middle School. It is the goal of the Garden Team to create a positive school-wide and community project which will serve our school and community for years to come.

Garden Size: 114 x 44 ft.

Foods Planted in Garden: Several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, herbs, melons pumpkins, cilantro, broccoli and cauliflower.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

Botany and Horticulture with MHS 10th and 11th graders. Nutrition will be taught to MES 3-4th graders. Afterschool 4-5th graders will be taught all aspects of gardening, propagation, and the marketing of produce. Cooking and food preparation activities will be held for Academy students. Academy students will also learn how to use digital cameras in documenting the development and progress of their garden plants. The computer lab will be used to help research and print off gardening activities and worksheets.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

Yes. We will serve garden produce for some afterschool snacks in September and October of 2009 with the food service's cooperation and supervision.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fund raising, or service learning projects).

MHS, MES, Academy and Summer School students will be involved with the garden in some significant manner for the next 11 months. One fund raising event for Academy students will be to sell vegetable starts at the MES Spring Carnival in May 2009. Service projects will be to grow and display vegetable and flower planters for the Owyhee County Fair. Produce will also be used to stock our salsa-making station during the Fall Harvest Celebration. Students and community members will be able to make their own salsa from donated produce grown from the garden. Academy students will help plan and run this community activity.

Garden Size: 50'x 100'

Foods Planted in Garden: Raspberries, cantaloupe, carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, corn, sunflowers, watermelon, zucchini, and assorted herbs for seasoning.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

6th,7th, and 8th grade science, health, cooking classes

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

Yes. We will supply whole vegetables and fruits to the kitchen and our cooking classes.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

We will use a combination of raised beds, rows, and patches. An outdoor classroom will be included for teaching. An enrichment class will focus specifically on harvesting the garden, while science classrooms will use it to help meet state standards. Our community involvement already includes students, parents, and a local contractor. To sustain the garden, we are starting a school/community recycling program.

Garden Size: Using cedar landscaping ties, we will create three 8' X 12' raised bed gardens. Raised bed gardening was chosen because it provides easier access for the children.

Foods Planted in Garden: The primary focus of the garden will be to successfully grow multiple types of vegetables: sugar snap peas, green and yellow bush beans, red and orange tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and a variety of lettuces. These vegetables are easy to grow with high productivity.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

The students (K-6th) will be involved in the garden in several ways: first, the children will assist in the construction of the garden by measuring, moving and spreading mulch, and then will help fill the raised beds with soil. Once the initial building of the garden is complete, the children will focus on raising the various seedlings. This will take place in the classroom and each teacher (K-6th) will be given a prepared seedling tray with the seeds to grow and monitor. The children will plant the seeds, water the seeds and watch them grow. Every teacher will, at the appropriate grade level, construct lessons aimed at maximizing this learning experience. Lessons will vary in content matter, including the effects of hot or cool weather variations on plant growth, soil nutrients, and pollination, differentiation between root vegetables and above ground leafy greens, and countless related subject matter.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice? If so briefly describe.

Holy Spirit Catholic School is part of Team Nutrition as well as the USDA's Child Nutrition Program. Serving well-balanced, nutritious, eye-appealing and colorful meals is paramount to the success of the Holy Spirit lunch program. With the utilization of Team Nutrition's MyPyramid for Kids plan, the children will learn the importance of consuming vegetables every day as an integral part of a healthy diet. The food produced will be harvested then incorporated into the school lunch menus at Holy Spirit Catholic School.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

Holy Spirit Catholic School is part of the Holy Spirit Catholic Community. We are fortunate to have many parent and church volunteers willing to help. This is an important and innovative aspect of our garden project, welcoming involvement not only by our school clientele, but also welcoming all parishioners, stakeholders, local schools and neighborhood citizens. Through this garden project we want to emphasize work through service and giving, cooperative learning by doing, nutritional education and engagement in outdoor activity. The school and the Catholic Community will care for the garden continuing in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, the original ecologist, developing into better guardians and stewards of our precious Earth and her reserves. As part of the outdoor classroom experience, the children will become authentic scientists by exploring, discovering and investigating their natural world. We hope to instill in them the powerful importance of conservation, the value of the "3 R's" (recycling, reducing and reusing), proper nutrition, and environmental science while offering the satisfaction of enjoying the true bounty of their labor.

Garden Size: 45 ft by 70 ft area to be used for raised beds, row crops and orchard

Foods Planted in Garden:

• Salsa garden: to be harvested in late summer and fall, including varieties of tomatoes, peppers, onions, egg plants.
• Root crops: fall-harvest potatoes, carrots; spring-harvest carrots
• Leaf crops: fall-harvest chards, lettuce and spinach; spring-harvested spinach and lettuce
• Legumes: fall-harvest beans; early-harvest peas
• Squash: fall-harvest winter squash and mini-pumpkins for festival decorations
• Perennial Herbs: parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary (cuttings as annuals), chives, mints
• Annual Herbs: cilantro, summer basil, dill
• Orchard: apples, grapes, raspberries

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden?

Horticulture, Health, Biology, Ecology, Language Arts, Math

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice, if so briefly describe.

The garden is not yet established and so we have not developed the partnership the food services. This is a possibility when our production becomes predictable.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

Meridian Academy is an alternative high school for 150 students in the Meridian School District. Our school is designed to give students a second chance at getting their high school education and we are dedicated to developing a community of caring that fosters individuality, dignity and responsibility. As part of our mission, the garden project aims to promote personal health and environmental health by teaching students to grow foods and to support local food producers. Students participating in the Horticulture and Ecology classes will develop and maintain a small orchard and vegetable gardens, and will visit and learn from other local growers. Most of our students participate in a high school Health class. In this class, they will use garden produce from school and local growers to create healthy snack alternatives: juices and smoothies. Partnering with the school counseling program, we plan to establish a Healthy Choices after-school program. The juice bar will be a project for participating students who are committed to living drug-free. Using school garden produce and other local foods, the juice bar is envisioned as a gathering place and a fundraising opportunity for student activities. Once developed, we anticipate that the Meridian Academy garden could be a site for learning expeditions from an elementary school partner or a Head Start partner program. Our students would be teachers and mentors to the younger population. Summer maintenance needs in the garden will provide high school students with volunteering opportunities.

Garden Size: 2 tables 16'X6' and 20 buckets

Foods Planted in Garden: radishes, lettuce, spinach, arugula, and basil.

What classes and/or curricular areas will be taught through the garden? Horticulture, Metal Fabrication, Welding, Nutrition, and business.

Is your school garden partnering with school foodservice, if so briefly describe.
Yes, Vegetables will be harvested and sold or donated to the school cafeteria.

Write one paragraph describing your garden plans (please include any unique aspects of your garden plan including special groups of students involved, fundraising, or service learning projects).

Our garden will consist of two tables in the greenhouse that have individual planting beds on them. It will also include 20 hydroponic buckets growing cucumber, peppers, or tomatoes. The two tables will be built low to the ground in order to accommodate elementary students. They will be doing some of the planting and harvesting. Nutrition and Horticulture will be taught to both high school and elementary. The welding and metal fabrication classes will be building the tables, and plumbing the greenhouse. The products grown will be sold to the school cafeteria, and sold to the local co-op Idaho's Bounty. Later in the spring garden starts such as tomatoes and peppers will be started for the spring plant sale. Students will be able to take a plant home free of charge and start their own garden.