I had never heard the term an “EdCamp Experience” before today. We all came up with ideas or questions that we wanted to discuss and then voted on which ideas were our favourite. Four ideas were chosen to be discussed. The idea that I chose to go with was “How to start a successful garden program at school”. This is something that I feel quite passionate about. I love gardening and I hope to share that passion with my future students. There are a lot of potential hurdles that one might encounter when starting a school garden such as access to the necessary space and the resources to do so. Fencing is an important aspect, especially in Victoria as there is an abundance of deer who like to eat all your plants. Then there is the question of who gets to use the garden and who will keep things alive over the summer. One idea we discussed in our group as a budget option is growing plants indoor using normal planters or vertical planters, which you can DIY.
For context, here is a picture of the questions and discussion ideas generated in class.
I have accumulated some resources for starting your own garden at a school. The link I am attaching here (https://farmtoschoolbc.ca/school-gardens/) has lots of ideas on how to get started. I will be narrowing in on a few specific ideas found on their website that I think are interesting. They have a complete guide that is 84 pages long on how to start your own school garden as well as an excel sheet detailing when to plant which crops and where to do it. One of the most important questions to ask before starting your own garden is “what is the purpose of the garden?” Is it an outdoor classroom or to grow food? Or is it to grow native plants and work on restoring the land. The answer to this question will determine what kind of plants you need and what the space should look like. It’s a good idea to form a garden committee within the school as well to reach our to community partners to have support in making this garden a success.