Farm to Preschool_Garden Workshop_ From Seed to Snack
1. From Seed to Snack:
Planting a Garden in Your Preschool
Rosa Romero, Master Gardener, Farm to Preschool, UEPI, Occidental College
Milli Macen-Moore, Master Gardener, Common Ground, UC Coop. Ext.
Provided by the Farm to Preschool Program
LAUP RENEW Garden Workshop– January 20, 2012
2. Gardening With Students:
Why Edible Gardening?
• Encourages preference and consumption
of fruits and vegetables (McAleese & Rankin, 2007)
• Increases parental support and
involvement (Alexander, North & Handren, 1995)
• Improves student enthusiasm about
school, teamwork skills and self-
understanding (Robinson & Zajicek, 2005)
4. Connecting the Garden
to the Classroom
Language & Arts
Science Surveys, Investigation Labs & Taste Tests/Cooking
5. Before You Begin Planting
• Tools
• Site selection
• Choose type of garden:
– Raised beds, containers, in-ground
6. Tools and Safety
• Choose gardening tools
– Watering can, spades, rakes,
shovels, gloves
• Teach that tools are not toys
• Garden with them
• Make sure students use child-size tools
7. Site Selection
• Sunlight
– Spring/Summer 6-8 hrs
– Fall/Winter 4-6 hrs
– Place garden on Southside of building
• Water
– Close to water source
8. Choose the type of garden that works
best for you and your site
Soil + Water + Love
= Garden
9. Directly in the Ground
+ Cheaper
+ Requires less watering than raised beds
– Contamination: What was there before
you? Contact Coop. Ext. for soil testing.
When in doubt, grow in containers.
10. Container Gardening
Pots
+ Can be moved easily
– Pots dry out quickly, need to water often
Drainage is important, make holes if needed
Terra cotta: soak pot before planting
Soil- use potting mix
Fertilizer- apply compost every 4 weeks
What to plant
Shallow rooted crops: lettuce, radishes, spinach, herbs
If pot is deeper, root crops are okay: carrots, turnips, potatoes
11. Containers: Using Recycled
Materials
Old Kiddy Pools Wagons Tree Stump
Buckets of any kind – just remember to make drainage holes!
13. Traditional Raised Beds
+ Good drainage and prevents soil
compaction
+ Prevents weeds, a barrier to some pests
– Wood and soil can be expensive
– More water required
14. Creative Raised Beds
+ Recycled materials save money
+ Teaches children to think creatively
Sand Bags Bottles
Hay Bales
16. Building a Raise Bed
• Build a raised bed between 3 x3 and 3 x 12 ft
(easier to reach across)
• Never use treated wood
• Depth and width of at least 12 inches
17. Raised Bed Demo
To build a basic 3’x6’ bed you’ll need:
• (4) 2”x6’ wood boards
• (4) 2”x6’ wood boards
• (4) 3”x3”x12” wood posts
• Screws
• Power Drill
If you have a gopher problem add 1 piece 3’x6’ hardware
cloth to the bottom
From page 2 of the Preschool Garden Primer
18. “Play” with Soil Before Planting
Add Water Add air
Once beds are planted, give children
opportunities to play with soil
20. Plant Selection
• Plant vegetables in season (Burpee guide)
Cold season crops (leaves and roots)
kale, lettuce, carrots, beets, radishes
Warm season crops (fruits)
tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini
• Annuals and Perennials
• Space: A Cabbage needs 4 sq ft.
A Head of lettuce needs 1 sq ft.
A Beet needs ¼ sq ft.
Vines can grow vertically but need support
21. Soil
• Feeds your plant nutrients
• Alive with worms & microorganisms
• Fill garden bed with organic soil from a nursery OR
• Mix your own soil
– equal parts compost, vermiculture & coconut coir
• Compost is the best fertilizer
– “amends” any type of soil: sandy, clay or loamy
– add compost every 4 weeks
Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants
22. Seed Starting
+ Cheaper than transplants
+ Know quality and variety of seed
– 4-6 weeks until ready to transplant to soil
– Not all seeds sprout
Most seeds are best to start in containers
But never transplant more than 3x
breakfast ~ lunch ~ dinner
Some seeds are best directly in the ground
Plant seeds with children
Extra seedlings can go home with
parents
‘Seed starting’ is teachable moment
23. Transplanting
+ Transplant immediately, harvest sooner
– More expensive
– Quality and variety often unknown
How to Transplant
1. Soil is damp but not soaking
2. Gently squeeze pot to loosen seedling
Do not pull the stem
3. Gently place in hole, fill with dirt
4. Tamp down gently
5. Water
Activity: “Tickle the roots”
24. Watering the Top Soil
• Water the soil, Not the plant
• Water before mid-morning
• Hand water with a watering can or hose
- encourages preschooler’s participation
-only waters the surface of soil
• Must use the right nozzle or will harm top roots
Water Wand Spray Nozzle
Not
25. Watering Deep Roots
• Deep and infrequent watering needed
• Once a week in fall/winter
• Twice a week in spring/summer
• Standard Hose
+ Less expensive
- Time consuming
- Uneven watering
- Closely monitor and move frequently
26. Watering Deep Roots
• Drip irrigation
+ system of applying water to soil slowly
- expensive, installation required
- often gets clogged
• Soaker hoses
+ tiny holes along hose to apply
water to soil slowly
- when under mulch, may be
pierced when digging
27. Good vs. Bad Bugs
Beneficial Insects
Harmful Pests
28. Homemade Remedies for Pests
• Encourage birds with bird feeders and fountains
• Use high pressure hose or wipe leaves
• Aphids and others: Make a solution
- Soapy water with vegetable oil
- garlic or hot pepper water
(1 part to 9 parts water)
• Slugs
– Fill small low container with cheap beer
– Crumble eggshells
29. Companion Planting
• Interplant garlic, onions and marigolds (other
herbs) amongst edibles to repel insects
• Some plants behave well with others
– Carrots and tomatoes
– Corn, beans and squash
– Peas with lettuce
• Some plants don’t behave well with others
- Beets and Climbing Beans
- Potatoes and Tomatoes
30. Poisonous or Dangerous Plants
• Talk with children about what plant parts
we eat and which we do not
– Tomato, potato & eggplant leaves and stems
are poisonous
• Avoid hot chili peppers
• Avoid non-edible flowers
• Avoid or use caution with berries (thorns)
31. Spacing and Inter-planting
• Each vegetable needs different space to grow in
- cabbage needs 4 sq ft, a beet only ¼ sq ft
• Tall plants and vine on North and West side of
garden
Inter-planting
• Save space
• Help each other grow
• Maximizes use of soil/nutrients
• Different plants, means
continuous harvesting
33. Harvesting
• Early in the morning
• Leafy vegetables- harvest outer leaves for
continual harvest through the season
• Pick vegetables often to promote new growth
• Harvest only what will be
eaten in next day or two
34. Sustaining your garden
• Garden parent committee
• Hold garden “work days”
twice a month
• Fundraisers
-Sell decorated garden stones/pots
-Sell seedlings, seeds, herbs
35. Resources
LA Cooperative Extension ~ Common Ground
http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Common_Ground_Garden_Program/
www.FarmToPreschool.org
www.KidsGardening.org
Rosa Romero rromero@oxy.edu
Milli Macen-Moore milli@modern-sustainability.com
36. Stretch Break
Tutti Fruiti Instant recess – Dr. Yancy, UCLA
