The following resources emerged out of a Cultivating Community with Garden-Based Learning webinar series aimed to introduce the fundamentals of garden-based learning program development.

Getting Started with Garden-Based Learning: An Introductory Guide for Program Leaders/Educators (pdf) offers abbreviated version of the basics to consider if you are starting a new program or wishing to enhance outcomes in an existing program.

Back to Dig Art! Activities

Adapt these activities to the age, interest, and skill levels of your group.

Human Camera (pdf)
Time-Lapse Video(pdf)
Grass Photographs(pdf)

Connections to NYS Learning Standards

Activity:  THE HUMAN CAMERA
Health, Physical Education, and Home Economics
STANDARD 2   Students acquire knowledge and ability necessary to maintain a healthy environment. Students develop skills of cooperation and collaboration. Students work constructively with others to accomplish a goal in a group activity.
STANDARD 3  Students understand and manage personal and community resources.

Mathematics, Science, and Technology
STANDARD 1  Students use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design to pose questions and develop solutions.
STANDARD 2  Students access, generate, process, and transfer information using technologies.
STANDARD  3  Students understand math and become mathematically confident by communication and reasoning.  Look at recurring patterns and functions.
STANDARD 4  Students understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories. Students sharpen observation skills.
STANDARD 5  Students apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products. Students can describe how technology can have positive & negative  effects on the environment — pollution, garbage, trash pickup.
STANDARD 6  Students understand and apply relationships and common themes that connect math, science, and technology.  Students observe and describe interaction among components of simple systems and identify common things that can be considered to be systems (e.g., a  plant population).  Students analyze data and look for patterns.
STANDARD 7  Students apply knowledge and skills of math, science, and technology to address problems.

English Language Arts
STANDARD 1  Students listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. Students collect data, facts, and ideas, discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations, and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources. Online resources.
STANDARD 2  Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression. Write haiku about observed plants.
STANDARD 3  Students listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation.
STANDARD 4  Students listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Discuss observations, share poetry.

The Arts
STANDARD 2  Students make use of materials and resources for participation in the arts. Artwork could be featured in a nature based poetry slam.
STANDARD 3  Students will analyze visual characteristics of the natural environment and explain social, cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students respond critically to variety of works in the arts.
STANDARD 4  Students understand personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communications. Students explore concept of art made with nature.

Activity:  TIME-LAPSE VIDEO
Health, Physical Education, and Home Economics
STANDARD 2   Students develop skills of cooperation and collaboration. Students work constructively with others to accomplish a goal in a group activity.
STANDARD 3  Students understand and manage personal and community resources.

Mathematics, Science, and Technology
STANDARD 1  Students use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design to pose questions and develop solutions.
STANDARD 2  Students access, generate, process, and transfer information using technologies.
STANDARD  3  Students understand math and become mathematically confident by communication and reasoning.   Measurement and estimation skills, time line, look at recurring patterns/functions.
STANDARD 4  Students understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories.
STANDARD 5  Students apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products. Students as a group plan and implement a school project. Design & model time-lapse video.
STANDARD 6  Students understand and apply relationships and common themes that connect math, science, and technology.  Students observe and describe interaction among components of simple systems and identify common things that can be considered to be systems (e.g., a  plant population).
STANDARD 7 Students apply knowledge and skills of math, science, and technology to address problems.

English Language Arts
STANDARD 1  Students listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. Students collect data, facts, and ideas, discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations, and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources. Online resources.
STANDARD 2  Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.
Printed flip book.
STANDARD 4  Students listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Screen video.

The Arts
STANDARD 1 Students will actively engage in processes that constitute creation and performance.
STANDARD 2  Students make use of materials and resources for participation in the arts.
STANDARD 3  Students will analyze visual characteristics of the natural environment and explain social, cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students respond critically to variety of works in the arts in the production of film.
STANDARD 4  Students understand personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communications. Students explore concept of art made with nature.

Activity:  GRASS PHOTOGRAPHS
Health, Physical Education, and Home Economics
STANDARD 2   Students develop skills of cooperation and collaboration. Students work constructively with others to accomplish a goal in a group activity.
STANDARD 3  Students understand and manage personal and community resources.

Mathematics, Science, and Technology
STANDARD 1  Students use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design to pose questions and develop solutions.
STANDARD 2  Students access, generate, process, and transfer information using technologies.
STANDARD  3  Students understand math and become mathematically confident by communication and reasoning. Predict experimental probabilities. Measure growth of plants.
STANDARD 4  Students understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories.
STANDARD 5  Students apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products. Students as a group plan and implement a school project.
STANDARD 6  Students understand and apply relationships and common themes that connect math, science, and technology.  Students observe and describe interaction among components of simple systems and identify common things that can be considered to be systems (e.g., a  plant population).
STANDARD 7  Students apply knowledge and skills of math, science, and technology to address problems.

English Language Arts
STANDARD 1  Students listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. Students collect data, facts, and ideas, discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations, and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources. Online resources.
STANDARD 4  Students listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Screen photographic print on living canvas.

The Arts
STANDARD 1 Students will actively engage in processes that constitute creation and performance.
STANDARD 2  Students make use of materials and resources for participation in the arts.
STANDARD 3  Students will analyze visual characteristics of the natural environment and explain social, cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students respond critically to variety of works in the production of grass art installations. They will use concepts from other disciplines to enhance their understanding of photography.
STANDARD 4  Students understand personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communications. Students explore concept of art made with nature.
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Back to the Curricula Page

Introduction
Benefits
Eco Arts
Activities
Resources
Gallery
Toolkit
Project Acknowledgments

Introduction

What:
Dig Art! Cultivating Creativity in the Garden is a new project guide for educators working with youth that integrates gardening with the arts. The arts activities in this guide will help to teach ecological literacy and inspire new enthusiasm for garden-based learning.  Dig Art! activities support youth to creatively express themselves and their garden experiences through gourd art, printmaking, time-lapse photography, and other creative projects.

For many young people, creating art is a natural form of self-expression and is a central source of fulfillment, relaxation, and creativity in their lives. That is why encouraging children and youth to integrate endeavors in the arts with the outdoors is the central aim of Dig Art!

How:
Dig Art! activities are diverse and adaptable and thus can take place over a time-span of one hour, one week, or one month. There are short, small-scale activities and larger, long-term projects.

Where:
Dig Art! activities can take place indoors and outdoors, anywhere and everywhere! They can take place in a schoolyard or school garden, in a community garden, in a backyard garden, in a tiny flower patch, in the classroom, at day camps, summer camps, after-school programs, 4-H programs and more.

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Benefits

Speaks to a diversity of learners
Art activities create opportunities for different learners to approach subject matters in a variety of ways, thus providing avenues into the garden-based content for a diversity of young people.

Makes learning meaningful
Incorporating the arts into garden-based learning programs helps learning to become meaningful. Art enhances the learning process through hands-on experiences that foster critical thinking and creative expression.

Develops reflective learners
Gardens are living laboratories for environmental and scientific explorations. Art is an excellent means through which to explore and express ideas; it helps learners to engage with important ideas and questions and to be reflective learners.

Creates an interdisciplinary and holistic curriculum
The more an educational program can make linkages across disciplines, the more holistic the curriculum will be. The scientific inquiry generated from garden-based learning is consistent with arts education because it encourages students to question concepts and make connections.

Makes learning visible
Art makes the outcomes of garden-based learning content visible and thus can be an important tool used for program evaluation, assessment, and students sharing their learning with others.

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Eco Arts

See the following page, Safety Tips,  for more information on safety, materials to avoid and recipes for natural homemade dyes and paints.

Beautifying a garden space with mosaics, murals and sculptures are all great ways to create a connection between gardening and the arts, but as you create art for your garden it is important to make sure that it is made with non-toxic materials. You wouldn’t want the toxic elements from an art project to harm the natural environment in your garden that you worked so hard to make beautiful! After reading through this section, we hope that you’ll think twice about which paint you buy to make those beautiful signs in your vegetable garden.

Despite being wonderfully engaging and fulfilling, arts activities such as painting and sculpting can be hazardous for your health and the health of the natural environment. You might not have realized that many of the ingredients in paints, glues, glazes, and other arts and crafts materials are toxic. Exposure to these hazardous products by children and youth can occur through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through the skin.  The group Healthy Child, Healthy World reports that exposure to the toxic chemicals found in some art supplies can result in problems such as headaches, nausea, burns, breathing problems, lung and kidney damage, and even cancer.

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Activities

Adapt these activities to the age, interest, and skill levels of your group. All activities are in printable PDF format. Click on the topic heading for background information and connections to NYS Learning Standards.

Mosaic Making
Seed Mosaic Planter(pdf)
Stepping Stones(pdf)
Flower Mandala(pdf)

Printmaking
Leaf Print Casting(pdf)
Painted Leaf Prints(pdf)
Chlorophyll Prints(pdf)

Gourd Crafting
Grow a Gourd Birdhouse(pdf)
Shekere Shaker(pdf)
Gourd Painting(pdf)

Natural Fibers and Dyes
Basket Weaving(pdf)
Seed Jewelry Making(pdf)
Clothes Dyeing(pdf)

Photography in the Garden
Human Camera(pdf)
Time Lapse Video(pdf)
Grass Photographs(pdf)

Visual Art and Performance
Drawing in the Garden Part 1,Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 (pdf)
Garden Songs (pdf)
Painting in the Garden(pdf)
Public Art

Grow an Art Garden
Beginners Guide to Garden Art(pdf)
Plant a Rainbow(pdf)
Plants Used in Art Projects (pdf)

“Garden arts, theater, music, and dance are not merely interesting spectacles for entertaining community. They are the very stuff that a community’s culture is made of. The best children’s gardening programs don’t try to fit “the arts” into a pre-established agenda, but instead cultivate project ideas, garden designs, and horticultural activities based on the natural creative instincts and artistic passions of the children themselves, young and old.”~From Digging Deeper: Integrating Youth Gardens into Schools and Communities by Joseph Kiefer and Martin Kemple

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Resources

Visit the Dig Art! Resources Page for inspiration and additional information about:

-Additional Activities and Curricula
-Garden Arts Inspiration
-Curriculum Integration
-Gardens, Music, and Drama
-Environmentally-Friendly Art

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Gallery

See more photos on Flickr or the Art of Horticulture Gallery.

Fairy House

Rose Petal Art

Pressed Leaves

Photographed plant letters

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Toolkit

Our Dig Art! toolkits include a welcome letter, a full color poster, and eight beautifully illustrated activity cards. Specifically designed to inspire an interest in and enthusiasm for art projects in the garden, the toolkit offers a starting point for engaging in garden arts activities.

Feel free to download and print these materials on your own, and to share them with friends.

Welcome Letter
Poster

Activity Cards:
Leaf Print Casting front and back
Growing an Art Garden front and back
Basket Weaving front and back
Mosaic Making front and back
Gourd Band front and back
Jewelry Making front and back
Clothes Dyeing front and back
Painting and Photography front and back

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Project Acknowledgments

Dig Art! is a collaborative effort.  We are thankful for the support and expertise of many individuals and organizations.

Christine Hadekel, Project Creator
Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Project Advisor
Shira Golding, Poster Design & Illustration
Angela McGregor, Website

Activity Pilot Sites
Hort 1102: Hands-on Horticulture students and Professor Marvin Pritts  (2007 & 2008)
Hort 2010: Art of Horticulture students and Professor Marcia Eames-Sheavly (2007 & 2008)

Art Garden
Aurora Ulbing
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES New Visions (Board of Cooperative Educational Services)

Grass Photo Project
Howard Raskin
Frank Rossi
Craig Cramer
Sarah Richards-Desai
Cornell Council for the Arts

Gourd Crafting
Raylene Ludgate
Cornell Botanic Gardens

Mosaic Making
Students from STARR 07 (State Teen Action Rep Retreat, 4-H)
Joanne Baldini
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Back to the Curricula Page

About
Background
Delivery
Evaluation
Preparation

About

What?
Children’s Garden Consultants (CGC) is an innovative model for engaging youth to become experts in children’s garden design and educational programming through a meaningful learning process that gives voice and due recognition to their perspective.

How?
The CGC model provides the framework for youth participants to become experts in children’s garden design and educational programming by critically examining and comparing a wide variety of children’s gardens, and exploring ways in which children’s gardens can be improved.

Why?
By providing an experience for youth to engage in a genuine consulting experience, this model is an effective tool for hearing the voices of young people while inspiring the ways in which adults think about children’s garden design and programming.

About this webpage:
This webpage will help guide you through the process of creating your own Children’s Garden Consultants program. Every written piece on this site is as an example of how we carried out the event in our setting. You will find ideas for how you can create your own CGC program, including:
• Presentations to provide background into what it means to be a consultant, as well as information about children’s garden educational programs and design.
• Checklists for planning, contacts you may want to make to set up the program, elements you’ll want to include, and sample letters.
• PowerPoint templates for youth to use.
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Background

How Children’s Garden Consultants (CGC) Got Started:

The Children’s Garden Consultants project emerged from an event at Cornell University, which was organized for youth ages 15 to 17. During this three-day event, teens were divided into a design team and an educational program team.

With those lenses, the youth visited gardens, listened to presentations, explored children’s gardens from around the nation using the internet, tried garden-based learning activities, and had discussions on topics such as adult involvement in activities, and various approaches to design. They also learned what being a “consultant” meant and how to prepare for their final presentation.

At the end of the event, each team worked for an hour and a half to put together PowerPoint presentations on their findings. The presentations contained their definitions of children’s gardens, what they believe was working well, what they thought didn’t work, and what recommendations for improvement they had to offer — again, from the perspective of both design and education. They presented to a group of adults who asked numerous questions of them.

What We Found…

Feedback from surveys, observations, and discussions with youth, adults in attendance, and program organizers indicated that:

•    The event was highly valuable and worth repeating
•    The youth learned a lot about aspects of children’s garden settings
•    The program triggered interest in youth gardening
•    Youth talked about repeating elements of the program when they returned home
•    There’s a need to involve youth in roles beyond the usual garden-based learning activities
•    Youth appreciated being viewed as experts and as partners

Why Repeat this Model…

“As we continue to look for ways to involve young people in garden planning and design, beginning with ‘children’s garden consultants’ can teach us about how youth define gardens, what they view as essential elements, what they believe doesn’t work well in a garden setting, what is missing, and what should be improved. The Children’s Garden Consultants model is an effective way to engage [youth] in a process through which they can inform adults of their perspectives regarding garden-based learning programming, and children’s garden design.”
Lekies, Kristi S., Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Kimberly J. Wong, and Anne Ceccarini. 2006. Children’s Garden Consultants: A New Model of Engaging Youth to Inform Garden Design and Programming. HortTechnology 16(1): 139-142.
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Delivery

Over the course of the CGC program, participants will learn a lot about design and educational programming in children’s gardens. As they work together to synthesize their ideas, participants will transition from the familiar student role to the less familiar role of consultant. The delivery component of CGC climaxes with youth consultant presentations to an adult audience and concludes with a Q&A session.

Once you have put the pieces in place for your CGC event, you are ready to assemble speakers, youth and adult assistants, and get started! The program schedule below includes links to appropriate materials, such as sample PowerPoint presentations that can help you to execute your CGC event.

Downloadable PDFs:
Program Schedule
Touring Children’s Gardens Online
Questions to Ask Youth Participants
Adult Observations

PowerPoint Presentations for Adult Audience
What it Means to be a Consultant
Ways to Plan and Design a Children’s Garden
Educational Programming

PowerPoint Presentations for Student Use
Design and Planning Template
Educational Programming Team Template
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Evaluation

Evaluation is one of the most important steps in implementing your CGC program.

Here are some tips to help you plan your evaluation process:

• Provide an opportunity for student participants, adult attendees, and adult assistants to provide feedback about their CGC experience.
• Gather as much information as possible while every one is still assembled.
• Ask prompting questions of the group, such as:
  –    Did it turn out how you expected?
  –    What did you learn?
  –    What went well?
  –    What could have been better?
  –    What was missing?
• Listen to what participants say and provide quality opportunities for feedback.
• Offer more than one method for gathering feedback (i.e. a forum for dialogue and/or group discussion, in addition to anonymous written responses to survey questions).
• Consider holding a follow up focus group one week after the program concludes.
• Get the answers you need to gauge the effectiveness of your CGC program, and how it can be improved next time.

Here are examples of some helpful evaluation tools (pdf):

•    Youth Feedback Form
•    Focus Group Questions
•    Program Evaluation for CGC Coordinator

For more information on program evaluation, be sure to check out the Evaluation Toolkit.
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Preparation

The amount of advance preparation required will depend on the needs of your individual CGC program. However, the timeline provided below will outline what planning is needed when. The checklist will give you a more in-depth look at what to consider when planning, it includes links to sample planning materials.

Downloadable PDFs:
• Timeline
• Checklist
• Program Modifications
• Sample Youth Recruitment Flyer #1
• Sample Youth Recruitment Flyer #2
• Sample letter to youth participants
•Sample letter for presentation attendees
• Sample letter to adult participants
• Sample invitation letter for final presentation
• Sample Presentation Flyer
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Gardening…

• Helps individuals and families connect with others
• Can engage the whole family
• Strengthens youth and adult relationships
• Reduces stress
• Improves wellness through physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables
• Leads to reductions in family food expenses

For families:

So You Want to Start a Garden: Taking the First Step (pdf)

Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners (VVfG)

For educators/leaders:

Getting Started with GBL (pdf): Offers the basics to consider if you are starting a new program or wishing to enhance outcomes in an existing program.

Why Garden with Military Family Members? (pdf): A presentation to help rally others and build enthusiasm for a gardening program with military family members. Designed as a guided presentation, or a stand alone.

Why Garden with Military Family Members? (pdf): This poster is also available to download, print, distribute and display. While supplies last get a free glossy print copy of this poster. Email your name and mailing address as well a bit about your interest in gardening with family members to ljb7@cornell.edu.

Cultivating Community with Garden-Based Learning: An archive of the webinar series introducing the fundamentals of garden-based learning program development.

Download a pdf of the tri-fold: Homegrown: Community Gardening on Military Installations

Select activities:

Seed to Salad– Youth grow salad gardens, with emphasis on decision-making and a multidisciplinary approach, including nutrition, physical activity, math, and language arts. Seed to Salad – Spanish Version

Vegetable varieties investigation (Vvi) – Youth interview gardeners about their opinions on vegetable varieties, and submit their findings to an online database that serves as a national online library of vegetable variety data.

Our program’s work to offer garden-based learning resources and support to military helping professionals and military family members is part of the Military-Extension Partnership.

Military Families Learning Network also serve military family service professionals through engaged online communities.

Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.

 This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U. S. Department of Defense under Award No. 2009-48667-05833. Developed in partnership with Purdue University and Cornell University.

 Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Back to the Curricula Page

Introduction
About the NYS 2017 Seed to Salad Project
Overview
Site
Activities
Planting
Harvesting
Budget
Project Acknowledgments

Introduction

Spanish Translation:  De Semillas a Ensalada

Welcome to Seed to Salad, an adaptable project that genuinely engages young people in growing salad gardens of their own.

Seed to Salad is a program of the Ithaca Children’s Garden (ICG) in Ithaca, NY. Originally conceived as an after-school program, it has engaged over 300 youth ages 3 to 12 in growing salad gardens at the Ithaca Children’s Garden and Tompkins County Schools.

In 2007, in partnership with Northeast Elementary School and with the support of an Ithaca Public Education Initiative Grant, ICG expanded Seed to Salad to a February-June school based program.

We are excited to share these resources in partnership with ICG.

This model emphasizes:

• A high level of youth decision-making and a multidisciplinary approach
• Activities that involve nutrition, physical activity, art, democratic processes, planning and problem solving, math, science, developing horticulture skills, and language arts
• Harvest in June, before the end of the school year
• The use of minimum garden space
• Youth decision-making and a high level of youth participation, which keeps students interested and committed
• A range of activities that lets adult leaders adapt Seed to Salad to meet their goals

Like any program, Seed to Salad will benefit from the ideas and activities added by educators adapting the program to their audience and setting. We want to hear how you’ve adapted and used this resource.  Send an email and tell us about your Seed to Salad experiences.

Leigh MacDonald-Rizzo, ICG Education Director: leigh@ithacachildrensgarden.org
Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Cornell Garden-Based Learning:  ME14@cornell.edu
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About the NYS 2017 Seed to Salad Project

Cornell Cooperative Extension Offices from around NYS are participating in the 2017 Seed to Salad Project. We graciously thank Johnny’s Selected Seeds for their partnership with this project.

Registration for 2017 has closed, please consider participating in 2018. Contact Fiona Doherty, fcd9@cornell.edu, with questions.

Are you are participant that can’t access our shared Cornell Box folder? Look no further! Please see below for the helpful Seed to Salad documents. Feel free to email Fiona with your photos and progress reports instead of uploading them to Box.

2017 Seed to Salad Timeline and Checklist (pdf)
Seed to Salad Progress Report Template (doc)
2017 Seed to Salad Booklet (pdf)

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Overview

School-Based Seed-to-Salad (pdf) runs from February through June, combining classroom experiences with hands-on activities in the garden.

Seed-to-Salad After School (pdf) is an adaptable eight week program that incorporates garden design, planting, harvesting, and celebrating.

Ordering Seeds (pdf) offers up how-to tips for this aspect of the program.

Please note: This program was developed in Ithaca, NY.  The above schedules are applicable to most of the Northeast, but if you live in another region you may want to contact your local Master Gardeners to develop the best planting and harvesting schedule for your climate.
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Site

Printer-friendly PDF

Finding a Place to Garden
You don’t need much space for salad!  Look for an area where your group can create enough small plots (approximately 3’x3’) for each person (or pair) with at least 3’ paths between.

When space is difficult to find…
Some schools have little or no green space.  If this is your situation, consider large container gardens or building raised beds on top of a paved area.  This will add a bit to the cost of your project but consider the containers, raised beds, and soil an investment that can be used for several years.

• Reclaim neglected spaces. Some schools may have designated garden spaces that are currently in use or neglected.  This offers a compromise. Your administration may view it easier to extend an existing garden area than to create a new area.  Reclaiming an area that has been neglected provides your program with a space and the school grounds with a face-lift.
• Create new gardens. Some community organizations, such as schools, may welcome the idea of a temporary garden space.  If administrators are uneasy about making the commitment you may want to offer a trial to till a small area of lawn, plant as a garden, and then, reseed as lawn.  Others may welcome the idea of creating a permanent new gardening space.  Consider raised beds to help define an area and ease maintenance and weeding concerns.
• Communicate. Overall the most important step in determining a gardening space for your program is to communicate with administrators, custodial, and grounds staff. Be sure to have ongoing conversations with grounds and custodial staff during the planning and design phase.
• Plan. Come prepared with how much space you think you will need as well as other requirements such as light exposure and access to water. Get familiar with the grounds before meeting so that you are aware of what kinds of spaces are available. Be ready to answer questions about funding: “who will pay for this” may be one of the most frequently asked questions. Have a maintenance plan that includes “who, how, when.”

A little inspiration…
During the Ithaca Children’s Garden Seed to Salad pilot at Northeast Elementary School, we reclaimed three garden areas that were no longer actively managed.  Many hands made light work and during the pilot program we prepared three reclaimed areas for 11 new salad garden plots during one Saturday morning work party involving student and parent volunteers.
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Activities

The core activities of Seed to Salad (downloadable pdf documents):

Campaign for Salad

Gear up for Gardening Assembly

Designing Quilt Block Salad Gardens

Sample Quilt Block Images

Variety Taste Test

Planning a Salad Party

Nutrition Superheroes

• Nutrition Superheroes Veggie Cards
• Nutrition Superheroes Super Powers
• Nutrition Superheroes Veggie Cards for Younger Children
• Nutrition Superheroes Super Powers for Younger Children

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Planting

Planting Tips Printer-Friendly PDF

Many salad garden vegetable seeds are tiny.  They can be hard to handle and plant, and they easily blow out of a cupped hand with even a slight breeze.  To deal with this, reuse empty plastic spice containers.  If you put the word out early to parents and volunteers, you can often accumulate a good amount.

Step by step

• Label each spice container with the name of the seed and the number code you assigned it during the design phase.
• For seeds that will be used a lot, such as lettuces, consider having two or three shakers available.
• If you’re working with younger children, have an extra adult or older youth volunteer on the sidelines to help fill up shakers.  This way you can add just enough seed to each shaker for a single plot, avoiding spills or dumping too much seed in one place.

Other tricks of the trade

• If you have the space, consider having a “test plot” to demonstrate planting techniques before youth head off to plant their own plots.
• You can use a design everyone worked on together or make one up on the spot.
• Start by identifying the edges of the plot, and orienting the plan on the ground nearby.
• Along the way, give a demonstration and then have youth take turns outlining and planting different areas of the “test plot.”

Three ways to outline your design in the soil prior to planting:

• Use a twig, stick, or small branch to “draw” the design in the soil.
• Draw the design by sprinkling white play sand.
• Use carefully placed pebbles, gravel, or small stones to create the outlines of your shapes.

Demonstrate

• Show the angle to hold the shaker so that seeds come out easily.
• Demonstrate different kinds of shaking and have a conversation about what appears to be too light, too hard, and just right
• Show how to take handfuls of spare soil and sprinkle it over newly planted seeds.
• Some seeds need to be planted rather than sprinkled on top of the soil.  Show how to lay seed, such as nasturtiums, spaced on top of the soil, then push them gently into the soil.

Watering tips

• Watering a newly planted salad garden can be tricky.  Lots of tiny seeds are sitting on or just below the soil surface.  A gush of water will send them cascading far from where they were planted.  You may want to do a demo on a spare patch of bare soil.
• Avoid using watering cans until seedlings begin to emerge.
• Use an adjustable water wand on the gentlest setting.
• Demonstrate holding the wand high enough and slowly moving it back and forth to avoid “mudslides” and “puddles.”

Experiment

• Plant a few seeds in each area of two trial areas, water one gently and the other too vigorously.  How does it effect growth?

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Harvesting

Printer-Friendly PDF

When it’s time to make salad, here are harvesting tips that are simple and fun:

• Harvest with kid-size scissors.  It’s hard to pick lettuce and greens without tearing up the roots.  It also makes them easier to wash, since you’re not pulling out soil.  Using scissors, cut lettuces and greens just above the soil.
• Have plenty of bowls handy for harvested lettuce and greens.
• Large plastic storage tubs are ideal for washing lettuce and greens.  Fill about half way with water, add a little lettuce and greens at a time, swish around and remove. Place lettuce and greens in colanders and shake to get rid of excess water.  Refill with water as it becomes dirty.
• Become human salad spinners!  Gather a dozen or so clean pillowcases.  You may want to invest in some inexpensive ones reserved for your Seed to Salad project.  Add a couple handfuls of lettuce that has been washed and drained in colanders to the pillowcase.  Close, grip and start spinning.
• Keep salad bowls separate from harvest bowls.  Keep a couple large bowls reserved for clean, dry lettuce and greens.

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Budget

Sample Budgets for the after school program and school-based Seed to Salad pilot projects are available here in PDF.  While these projects have relatively low budgets, costs can be further curbed by seeking donations in advance from area businesses and other partners.

Sample Budgets PDF

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Project Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the following individuals and organizations:

Ithaca Children’s Garden:  support for program development and implementation

Cornell Garden Based Learning:  support for toolkit development, web design and hosting

Northeast Elementary School: location for Seed to Salad pilot program

Ithaca Public Education Initiative: grant funding for school-based pilot program

Kelly Craft, Pre-K Teacher, Northeast Elementary School: support of school-based Seed to Salad program

Students at Northeast Elementary School: development of school-based Seed to Salad program

Mary Alyce Kobler and Mya Thompson, Ithaca Children’s Garden Volunteers: development of original Seed to Salad after school program

Leigh MacDonald-Rizzo, Education Director, Ithaca Children’s Garden: program development and pilot testing, overall coordination of Seed to Salad Program, toolkit author
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Looking to master your gardening knowledge without a volunteer commitment?
Cornell Horticulture distance learning
Learning at Cornell Botanic Garden
Cornell Cooperative Extension county offices
State Extension garden program near you

Exploring Extension & Our Volunteer Opportunities

CCE Master Gardener Volunteer Network

Our Mission, Vision, Values (pdf)

Not from New York State? National Extension Master Gardener 

Interested in learning more about becoming a master gardener volunteer in NY? Contact your local county office.  Not every CCE county office in New York has the resources to support a program.

Why be a Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteer? Gardening is enjoying an expansion of interest. The documented benefits of gardening are numerous and include: lifelong learning, environmental/scientific literacy, a sense of accomplishment, physical exercise, improved health, stress relief, physical rehabilitation, psychological rehabilitation, economic success, enhanced social relationships, community building and direct access to nutritious fresh food. Garden-based learning can serve as a catalyst for addressing food security and hunger; climate change; sustainable energy; childhood obesity and nutrition; food safety; and youth, family and community development. The widespread appeal of gardening provides opportunity to use gardens to connect with diverse audiences. These and the other benefits of gardening are maximized when gardening success is achieved. Cornell Cooperative Extension is part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Cooperative Extension System, consequently CCE Master Gardener Volunteers are uniquely linked to Cornell University and positioned to provide best practices grounded in research-based knowledge. These practices foster the skills, knowledge and attitudes essential for creating successful gardening experiences among the 7 million New York State households engaging in garden-related activities as well as school and community organizations using gardening as a tool to achieve desired outcomes. Find more on the Benefits of Garden Based Learning and Research that Supports Our Work.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Core Preparation Curriculum

At a glance:

• 23 Sessions organized into 6 modules
• Facilitator toolkit
• Accessed online by staff members through the CCE MGV Core Preparation Learning Library
• CCE county educators pick and choose which sessions to facilitate in your community

Our big question:
What is the role of gardening as the tool for understanding and problem solving around climate change, food security, youth development, community and economic vitality and environment and sustainable energy? (These are all core initiatives of the CCE Statewide Plan of Work).

About the approach:

• The curriculum has a systems thinking approach that values the needs of adult learners and integrates experiential learning. It has been proven that a more hands-on and engaging core preparation will lead to more active MGVs.

• The core preparation prepares MGV as peer educators in their communities. Consider the core preparation to be a launching-off point rather than a comprehensive horticulture course.
• The core preparation includes both foundational horticulture knowledge and the skills needed for community engagement.
• The Action Project allows participants to apply skills and principles from the core preparation and practice sharing information with peers in a group setting.

What you’ll find in each session:

• Facilitator Guide
• Participant Guide including educational material links to learn more
• Presentation with facilitator speaker notes
• Hands-on activity directions and print materials
• PDF materials for participants
• Knowledge check and key
• FAQs sheets

Sample outline of a session:

• Welcome, review learning objectives and session flow.
• Reconnect by starting with what the group knows.
• Ground them in why the topic is important.
• Add fundamental knowledge through lecture, hands-on activities or discussions.
• Discuss key points from the session and lingering questions.
• Bring it all together to highlight: How does this tie into what we’ve been learning? How can you use this knowledge as a peer educator? What are some different settings where this knowledge can apply?
• Direct participants’ attention to resources where they can learn more.
• Provide participants with an avenue to give feedback and data for your program evaluation including reporting.
• Provide an avenue for participants to assess what they know.
• Post-module reflection and practice.

CCE MGV Core Preparation Session Learning Objectives

Intro: Welcome to Our Peer Learning Network

• Recognize Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) valuable impacts.
• Identify the connection of CCE to Cornell University.
• Articulate the mission, vision and values of CCE and the Master Gardener Volunteer program.
• Understand the role of volunteers in the CCE system.
• Explore how the CCE Master Gardener Volunteer experience fits into the larger organization as well as into the local plan of work.
• Recognize the importance of evaluating information and identifying reliable resources.
• Value the good work you will be doing as a peer educator.
• Recall where to find the core preparation materials including your pre and post session work and action project assignments.

Module 1: The Fundamentals

• Section 1.1 Plant Biology for Gardeners
  • Recognize the parts of a plant and their functions.
  • Discover the ways plants are classified into family groups and the value of scientific names.
  • Become familiar with the environmental factors that affect plant germination, growth and phenology (spacing, nutrients, light, day length, water, temperature)
  • Examine the three basic processes for plant growth and development: photosynthesis, respiration and transpiration.
  • Consider how plant characteristics are used in classification, identification and dichotomous keys.

• Section 1.2 Right Plant, Right Place (Soil and Site Assessment)
  • Describe the basic relationship of soil and other environmental factors to plant growth and development.
  • Understand the characteristics and basic properties of soil such as texture, pH and organic matter and their impact on nutrient availability.
  • Recognize that there is a right plant for the right soil and the right soil for the right plant.
  • Become familiar with the concept of systems thinking and explain how developing habits of systems thinking when practicing management tactics in homes, lawns, gardens and landscapes can support environmental stewardship and a sustainable community.
  • Apply the criteria for basic site assessment.

• Section 1.3 Beneficial Insects
  • Become familiar with beneficial insects, how to attract them to the garden and their value in the ecosystem and cultivated landscapes.
  • Learn about insect morphology and identify key morphological characteristics of insects;
    • Three major body parts: head, thorax, abdomen
    • Six legs
    • Exoskeleton
    • Antennae
  • Explain the two common life cycle types of insects – complete and incomplete metamorphosis
  • Become familiar with the characteristics of five orders of common garden insects:
    • Coleoptera (beetles)
    • Diptera (true flies)
    • Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
    • Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants)
    • Hemiptera (true bugs, hoppers, aphids)
  • Recognize the evidence insects leave behind on plants.

• Section 1.4 Basic Plant Pathology
  • Explain the difference between biotic and abiotic diseases.
  • Review the five types of biotic disease organisms and their life cycles (fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes and phytoplasmas).
  • Recognize the disease pyramid/triangle.
  • Be familiar with the five basic steps of the systemic approach to diagnosing plant problems (determine if problem exists, look for patterns, determine time of development, ask questions and synthesize the information). Use the systemic approach to determine if example plant problems are caused by abiotic or biotic factors.
  • Recognize the importance of accurate, early detection of introduced and invasive pathogens.

Module 2: Food Gardening

• Section 2.1 Nutrition, Food Safety After Harvest and Food Security
  • Recognize Eat Smart New York’s (ESNY) nutrition education activities and how garden programs link to their main messages.
  • Identify the ways in which MGVs can partner with ESNY.
  • Understand safe handling, preparation and preservation of food including important practices in preventing foodborne illnesses and avoiding cross contamination.
  • Examine aspects of food security including the availability and access to food, sufficiency of food, social and cultural acceptability of food, and nutritional quality and safety of food.
• Section 2.2a Vegetable Gardening I (part 1)
  • Recognize common vegetable families.
  • Identify common garden pests and diseases.
  • Examine methods to start vegetable seeds indoors and outdoors.
  • Describe best management practices for water, weed, pest prevention and nutrient management for maintaining vegetable and herb crop.
  • Become familiar with how and when to harvest and properly store vegetable and herbs crops.

• Section 2.2b Vegetable Gardening II (part 2)
  • Create a multi-year plan for a vegetable and herb garden including site selection and preparation, variety selection, season extension, container gardening, intensive gardening methods.
  • Practice answering vegetable garden-related questions.

• Section 2.3 Fruit Gardening
  • Describe the critical components of a suitable site for growing fruit and planning for minimizing pests.
  • Identify keys to success in a garden setting for:
    • Trees (apples, pears, peaches, cherry, plum)
    • Woody vines (grapes & kiwi)
    • Bushes/shrubs (elderberries, currants, gooseberries, blueberries)
    • Herbaceous perennials (raspberries & blackberries)
    • Groundcover (strawberries)
  • Recognize pruning strategies for fruit crops.

Module 3: Plant Ecosystems Services

• Section 3.1 Plant Ecosystems Services, Lawns and Herbaceous Plants
  • Understand the concept of ecosystems services and discuss
  • Describe ways to use lawns and herbaceous plants (perennials, bulbs, biennials and annuals) in the landscape that support ecosystem services.
  • Identify the factors that should be considered in site selection for herbaceous plants and lawns.
  • Become familiar with the cultural practices needed to successfully grow perennials, bulbs, biennials, annuals and lawns.

• Section 3.2 Woody Plants
  • Acknowledge the variability of urban and other growing conditions and how these various conditions might influence selecting site appropriate materials.
  • Discover Cornell University’s Woody Plant Database and other tools to help identify appropriate trees and shrubs for different landscape conditions. http://woodyplants.cals.cornell.edu
  • Become familiar with the basics of landscape tree or shrub care including soil preparation and remediation, mulching, establishment period, water needs, and pruning.
  • Recognize the three forms in which trees and shrubs can be purchased and the basic steps and considerations for planting.

Module 4: Problem Solving

• Section 4.1a Pest Management Strategies and IPM
  • Describe the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
  • Apply the ‘IPM Triangle’ to identify preventative measures and controls for plant diseases.
  • Use the five-step systemic approach to diagnosing problems to gather the necessary information for IPM.
  • Articulate options that reduce pesticide exposure to the environment.
• Section 4.1b Pesticide Use and Reading Labels
  • Be aware of different types of pesticides and how they work.
    • Insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, etc.
  • Read and follow a pesticide label; Recognize that the terms “natural”, “organic”, “biological”, “synthetic” do not imply how safe or toxic a product is.
  • Become familiar with the different pesticide formulations, and which formulations pose the least risk of exposure to the user.
  • Assess the risks vs. the benefits of pesticide use.

• Section 4.2 Troubleshooting Scenarios: Food Crops
  • Identify the signs and symptoms of at least one common disease of vegetable and fruit crops.
  • Recognize best practices in growing food crops in healthy soils and garden sites.
  • Practice how to package samples for shipment to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic and Cornell Insect Diagnostic Lab for diagnosis; and articulate what information is needed for diagnostics.
  • Develop confidence and skills in using the five-step systemic approach to diagnosing problems (determine if problem exists, look for patterns, determine time of development, ask questions and synthesize the information).

• Section 4.3 Troubleshooting Scenarios: Ornamental and Landscape Plants
  • Identify the signs and symptoms of at least one common diseases of ornamentals.
  • Practice how to package samples for shipment to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic and Cornell Insect Diagnostic Lab for diagnosis; and articulate what information is needed for diagnostics.
  • Develop confidence and skills in using the five-step systemic approach to diagnosing problems (determine if problem exists, look for patterns, determine time of development, ask questions and synthesize the information).

• Section 4.4 Troubleshooting Scenarios: Pests in the Garden
  • Identify nuisance wildlife, pests and weeds commonly found in the garden, and understand their lifecycles and attraction to ideal habitats.
  • Practice how to package samples for shipment to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic and Cornell Insect Diagnostic Lab for diagnosis; and articulate what information is needed for diagnostics.
  • Determine cultural control methods and steps to for exclusion of wildlife and garden pests.
  • Develop confidence and skills in using the five-step systemic approach to diagnosing problems (determine if problem exists, look for patterns, determine time of development, ask questions and synthesize the information).

Module 5: Management Strategies/Issues

• Section 5.1 Organic Waste Management: Composting
  • Understand that composting is managed decomposition and that there is a link between compost and soil health.
  • Articulate the proper management of compost including acceptable inputs and the balance of browns and greens.
  • Demonstrate the proper technique of lasagna layering.
  • Assess various composting systems (i.e. wire bin, tumblers, worm bin) and be able to assist the public in selecting the type that best suits them.
  • Understand the process of how composting works and be familiar with the factors that facilitate or slow the process.
  • Determine if compost is finished (mature) and be versed in how to harvest and use the compost.
  • Recognize the current statistics regarding food waste and steps that can be taken individually and statewide to minimize the food waste stream.
  • Identify common composting troubleshooting and problems and become familiar with composting FAQs.

• Section 5.2 Soil Amendments and Fertilizers
  • Understand how to read a soil test report to gather information about soil nutrient status of a site.
  • Explain management practices that help individuals enhance soil to optimize plant success.
  • Identify when and how to use compost and other soil amendments.
  • Practice using Cornell’s Cover Crop Guide: http://covercrops.cals.cornell.edu/ and become familiar with the use of cover crops.
  • Recognize that soils can be impacted by lead and other contaminants and it’s important to consider the quality of any material that you add to your garden in order to avoid unknowingly spreading contamination.
  • Read and understand fertilizer labels to be able to identify appropriate fertilizers to meet plant needs and personal goals.

• Section 5.3 Invasive Species for Gardeners
  • Consider definitions of what’s ‘non-native’ and what’s ‘invasive’, and discuss some of the controversy around these definitions.
  • Recognize the impacts invasive species have on our ecosystems and human quality of life.
  • Understand the invasion curve and what actions are appropriate at each stage of invasion.
  • Learn the profile of an invasive weed, and the red flags for invasiveness
  • Discuss the regional nature of invasiveness, and what that might mean in the face of climate change.
  • Become familiar with resources that will assist in identification characteristics, lifecycles, signs and symptoms for current top invasive species in your region
  • Explore the prohibited and regulated species regulations in New York and how to report suspect invasions to state and local agencies.
  • Consider and discuss invasive species in our landscapes, and how to manage them.

• Section 5.4 Gardening in a Warming World
  • Understand systems thinking as it applies to your garden system.
  • Become familiar with the basics of climate change.
  • List current and future possible impacts of climate change on New York State.
  • Identify ways to manage gardens to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts.
  • Feel prepared to encourage dialogue around Gardening in A Warming World and appreciate the principles of climate change communication.

Module 6: Facilitating Learning

• Section 6.1 Adult Learning and Community Engagement
  • Reflect on your identity along with how you best learn.
  • Understand the basic principles of adult learning, apply them to garden-based learning outreach and create lessons that include numerous teaching methods and encourage participation.
  • Recognize that CCE MGV programs are peer learning networks and a critical component in the exchange of information between research practices and local knowledge and appreciate the characteristics of an effective member of peer learning network.
  • Acknowledge that community engagement is essential to identifying collaborative solutions.

• Section 6.2 Youth Development and School Gardens
  • Recognize the benefits of positive youth development and identify how to incorporate meaningful opportunities for youth engagement in garden-based learning (gbl) settings.
  • Discuss some challenges, fears and expectations regarding youth engagement in the garden setting.
  • Understand the steps to planning a successful garden project.
  • Practice innovative garden-based activities and discuss how they could be adapted to fit various settings.
  • Research school and youth garden projects in your community.

Action Project

• Apply skills and principles from the Core Preparation including program planning and horticultural knowledge.
• Create educational materials that are significant to your community’s needs.
• Practice sharing information with peers in a group format.
• Provide key feedback to your peers to move them forward in their action project efforts.

Back to the Main CCE MGV Core Preparation Materials

This page will be updated soon.

Systems Thinking Activity (pdf)
Consider Your Learning Style and It’s Impact on Your Role as a Peer Educator Activity (pdf)
Effective Community Engagement Discussion (pdf)
Garden-Based Learning Outreach Scenarios (pdf)

Back to Planning & Organizing

What is Your Vision?
Criteria for a Good Garden Site
Creating a Welcoming Space
Designing For Children

A garden program has several phases. After you garner support, get people excited about the prospects, and gather a planning committee of ardent volunteers, it will be time to begin the planning and design portion of the project. This is the fun part; the possibilities are truly endless. During this process, the planning committee will be constantly looking to the future, and assessing your group’s commitment to the project, as well as the realistic expectations of implementation and maintenance.

Some garden projects are very small in size and scope. These can be compact, attractive, well-maintained gardens that serve a need. Although all the school curricula may not directly relate to the garden, a garden still can enrich a curriculum within a grade level, and can offer several concrete activities for the students.

Other gardens are large in size and overall scope. One school in upstate New York restructured the K-6 curriculum around the school’s garden program, and received major funding from a national corporation to overhaul its approach to computer technology, based on a garden-technology vision, which was conceptualized by the school’s “dream team.”
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What is Your Vision?

Including the community is the best way to ensure a successful and long-lasting garden project. Hosting a garden design charette is a fun way to learn what others’ hope to get from the garden project and what their visions may be. Learn about Hosting a Garden Design Charette (pdf).

Whether your dreams are small or large, it pays to start off small the first year. Examine the overall vision of the gardening project, and choose one aspect that the planning committee can reasonably attain. It is much better to be wildly successful with a postage-stamp garden than to fail at a project so enormous in scope that it overwhelms everyone during the first go-round.

• What is the overall theme of the garden?
• If the gardening program flourishes, might there be opportunities for, and interest in, expansion?
• Try to paint a larger vision for the program, even if the garden itself will be diminutive.
  • For example, a community group may plan a tiny garden outside the library, focused on a theme from a children’s book. How might this theme change next year? If it works well, can more themes be added? Can a portion of the garden that is geared more for adults be incorporated, as well? Even if the group is reticent about tackling too much, it is healthy to explore long-term possibilities.

Be sure to set up a meeting with the groundskeeper, custodian, and other individual who oversees the grounds. Gaining their trust, and opening lines of communication, should occur as soon as the committee can articulate what the garden might look like. Invite this person to comment on the design, and ask if mowing the areas adjacent to the garden will be affected by the plan. Is there a better location, or slight adjustment that needs to be made? Find out in advance.
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Criteria for a Good Garden Site

Visit our downloadable checklist, Criteria for a Garden Site (pdf).
Learn about your soil type with this Soil Assessment Activity (pdf).

Criteria includes:

• Well-drained soil, free of heavy metals such as lead
• Full sun and protection from wind
• Proximity to a water source
• Nearness to classrooms or meeting place with seating and shade
• Storage space for tools and equipment
• Availability of additional space for composting, pathways, improvements, expansion

Other things to consider:

• Are there on-site materials that need to be removed, such as blacktop or debris?
• Should you perform a soil test before planning? If so, contact your local Cooperative Extension Office.
• Is the site location safe for participants? (Will motion-sensor lights be needed, and can they be installed?)
• Will you need a fence to prevent unwanted wildlife from entering?
• Is there a “garden guardian” who lives nearby who can watch over the site to help prevent theft or vandalism?
• Will you have a garden sign (or numerous signs) to educate visitors when no one is available to answer questions?
• How can you ensure the site is accessible to all?
• Are there public restrooms nearby?
• Is the site easy to get to? Accessible by public transportation? Is parking available? Does it have a bike rack?
• Have you communicated with the groundskeeper of the site?

Visit the Sustaining the Garden page for information about garden maintenance and summer care.

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Creating a Welcoming Space

“I’ve been thinking a lot about equity and how to allow everyone to feel welcome in a garden-based learning program. I think that needs to be in the design process of any garden.” –Myra Manning, Maine School Garden Network Coordinator

Gardens should be designed so that they are accessible. “Accessible” has come to be synonymous with “accessible to wheelchairs,” but it may also mean a garden designed with sensitivity to visual impairment, varying degrees of manual dexterity, or varying levels of emotional/mental functionality. Accessibility may require having wide, uncluttered paths with beds that are easy for everyone to reach, or it may suggest that plants are accessible—again, having no “no” signs. It can also mean accessible to strollers. A garden that is too complicated, with plant species that are difficult to distinguish from one another, or cluttered with Latin names, may be inaccessible to children who are having a first experience with a garden. Often, accessibility boils down to “making everyone welcome.” Consider the abilities of volunteers as well as participants, particularly if the volunteers include older adults.

“Inclusivity is a critical practice in garden design and activity in that it ensures that all children irrespective of ability (cognitive or physical), age, gender, culture, language or economic status are provided equal access and are able to experience the garden as independently as possible, without stigma and with equal enjoyment and achieved success.” –Kaifa Anderson-Hall, former Program Director of the Washington Youth Garden at the US National Arboretum

Elements to consider for inclusivity:

• Incorporate multi-sensory plant materials.
• Use adaptive tools.
• Include shaded areas and places of respite- everyone appreciates an opportunity to sit on occasion.
• For signage, consider child-friendly images and multiple languages specific to the composition of users.
• Integrate culturally specific or diverse plantings for production gardens that match the cultural composition of the users.
• The entrance should be seamless to accommodate all abilities and sizes (no separate entrances).
• Integrate true raised garden beds – those elevated from the ground, accessible for seated, independent and supported standing individuals facilitates the engagement of different physical abilities.
• Consider including ADA compliant pathways or pathways wide enough for side-by-side movement and socialization for various degrees of aided (canes, walkers, wheelchairs) and non-aided (ambulatory) movement.

–Adapted from Kaifa Anderson-Hall, former Program Director of the Washington Youth Garden at the US National Arboretum

Expert Advice, A Word About Raised Beds

Raised beds are neat, clean, easy to maintain, and if they are of an appropriate width (not more than 3 feet) they can be easy for children to work in. However, a word of caution is necessary. Jane Taylor, founder of the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden, warns that, “Most folks tend to slam-dunk rectangular raised beds in row by dull row.” She suggests a wheel-shaped arrangement, so that the center can become a location for a gazebo, or a few tables and benches for community sharing. This type of design is more friendly, and encourages the camaraderie desired for gardeners of all ages. She suggests that the ends of the beds be blunt, for safety reasons. Ms. Taylor also urges people to find ways to get kids inside the beds, by cutting small holes in the timbers and using stepping stones, chunks of concrete, old boards, or bricks for paths.

Cedar is an alternative for those with concerns about using pressure-treated lumber in raised beds. It is slightly more expensive but will be long-lasting.

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Designing For Children

Find out what national youth garden experts have to say about their Favorite Elements of Design (pdf).

A children’s garden should be designed for children. In the most practical way, it should suit their smaller stature.

• Raised beds should be no more than 3 feet wide
• Benches and other seating should be sized appropriately
• Garden maintenance should employ youth-sized tools.
• Themes that pique the interest of children, preferably suited to their penchant for fantasy, or adapted to familiar themes, such as a Peter Rabbit or an alphabet garden.
• Stepping stones that lead them into areas of the garden work well
• Incorporate clearly defined areas where they can get close to plants. Do no assume they will “stay out of the garden”—they will not, and you should not want them to.
• Avoid “no’s”; (no picking flowers, no walking on the mulch, no picking up stones, no playing in the water).
• Key words related to planning for kids: multi-sensory; gross motor activity; vivid color; safety; eating and tasting opportunities; interactive; interesting surfaces, such as sand and water; and attention grabbers.

Young children enjoy vibrant color, like to be immersed in flowers, and enjoy having suitable places to hide, such as beanpole teepees. There are endless numbers of fun elements to add:

• Brightly colored structures; scarecrows; interesting seating elements; painted stumps; sculptures made by the children; and brightly colored tiles.
• Height can be added with beanpole teepees, arches, pergolas, and even treehouses or gazebos.

Themes with child appeal:

• Pizza garden
• Teeny-tiny and giant garden
• A to Z flower garden
• Children’s literature themes (For example, Beatrix Potter garden)
• House of sunflowers
• Sundial garden
• Pond garden
• Butterfly garden
• Garden of primary colors
• Fairy Garden
• Three Sisters Garden
• Salsa Garden
• Art Garden
• Moon Garden (Include plants that bloom at night such as moonflower vine and flowering tobacco, Nicotiana)
• Visit Kidsgardening.org for even more youth-focused garden theme ideas

“I have found “thematic gardens” to be great sources of inspiration for designing educational gardens. For example, a rainbow-themed garden gives you an opportunity to integrate nutrition education by learning about the nutrient profiles of differently colored vegetables and fruits. A rainbow garden could also focus on flowers and weave in lessons on pollinators and beneficial insects that are each attracted to different flower colors and shapes. A second favorite thematic garden is a first aid garden to grow herbs and flowers that can be used as child-friendly medicine – calendula for making a healing salve, peppermint for brewing an iced tea, lavender for sewing a dream pouch… the list goes on!”— Carolina Lukac, Garden Education Manager for the Vermont Community Garden Network in Burlington, VT

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Top Ten Things Every CCE Staff Member Should Know About the Library

The primary audience for our Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program is our network of CCE educators. This page highlights established avenues for us to connect and collaborate with you on a regular basis. Check out the About tab for an additional overview of our mission, resources and team members.

National Resources for Coordinators

Social Media
Email Lists
Program Work Teams
Regional Master Gardener Volunteer Programming
Emerging Statewide Projects
About the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Team
Explore additional programs via Garden Education at Cornell

Looking for specific expertise?
Cornell SIPS – Faculty Extension and Outreach Directory
Cornell search
Research on gardening

Social Media

LibGuide: Find digital images

See the footer links to our Flickr page, Facebook and YouTube playlist.
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Email Lists

There are hundreds of Cornell e-lists.  Learn more about Cornell e-lists.

The main one we administer is CCE-HORTDIAGNOSTIC-L <CCE-HORTDIAGNOSTIC-L@list.cornell.edu> (JOIN or LEAVE)

Cornell Cooperative Extension staff and Cornell University campus faculty and staff are invited to join the Horticulture Diagnostic listserv. We can only accommodate paid staff. Volunteers who are active in diagnosing must work through the supervising staff member. This list has been active for many years, using the experiences of many to try to efficiently identify puzzling plant material, insects and pests that come into their offices. This effort compliments that of the Cornell Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic, the Cornell Insect Diagnostic Lab and the Bailey Hortorium.  We encourage you to send digital photos and detailed description. For example, include information about where the plant or insect was found, its size, key features such as leaf and bud arrangements, for plants, or mouth-part types, for insects. Clarify the symptoms, type and extent of damage suffered as well as a brief list of what resources you have been scouring to make your diagnosis. We encourage you to respond to postings if you can help with an answer or even supply another resource the person might check into. We are strict about keeping the e-list relevant.

If you have comments or question about volunteer program management use  Volunteer Matters .

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Program Work Teams

PWT’s are groups of faculty and staff, extension educators, and external stakeholders who collaborate to identify issues, study needs, and create educational materials. Team members design learning experiences that address issues and needs within specific content areas. There are many program work teams. Cornell Garden-Based Learning is the campus co-chair for the Sustainable Landscape – Horticulture Program Work Team.

Sustainable Landscape – Horticulture PWT  fosters collaboration and communication among the CCE county and campus network of educators and program leaders to promote research-based educational approaches and environmental stewardship when creating, preserving and/or enhancing lawns, gardens and landscapes. This PWT hosts a number of activities for CCE county and campus educators and program leaders including the following:

• email news updates
• webinar recordings are available they are posted on our YouTube playlist
• a CCE Horticulture Resource Sharing Library in Cornell Box (CCE staff contact Lori for your access)
• additional campus events focused on linking county educators and campus experts from across the University around emerging issues related to horticulture, program planning and community engagement including Floriculture Field Days and fall campus in-service.

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Regional Master Gardener Volunteer Programming

See CCE MGV icon in side bar. That page links to preparation resources like Our CCE MGV Mission, Vision, Values (pdf).

Regional CCE educator work groups are meeting face-to-face regularly to discuss and coordinate programming with each other while also gaining a statewide/campus perspective. Get in touch to if you want us to become a part of a group you have established or if you want to work with us to create a group.

National Resources for Coordinators (pdf)

General Volunteer Program Resources:
CCE Volunteer Matters
National Resources for Coordinators
Certification in Volunteer Administration
Energize Inc

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Statewide Project Highlights

Seed to Supper (S2S)- Currently piloting curriculum and implementing Engaged Cornell Grant.

Vegetable Variety Trial Gardens

A Low-Literacy Needs Assessment & Guidelines for Best Practices: How Do We Best Reach This Audience? Implemented through a 2018-2019 NYS IPM Grant. Learn more in the Guidelines for Best Practices (PDF).

About the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Team

• Marcia Eames-Sheavly is the Children and Youth Program Leader for Cornell Garden-Based Learning. 
• Lori Brewer is the Adult and Peer Education Program Leader for Cornell Garden-Based Learning.
• Fiona Doherty is the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Educator Enrichment Specialist. Fiona’s background is in both nutrition and garden-based education, and she brings a passion for food gardening in particular to educator enrichment.  Her focus is on youth and community development in the garden setting. Please contact Fiona with general garden-based learning questions including curriculum and program development, program organization, and how to integrate our numerous resources into programs. Fiona is also the contact for educator enrichment opportunities focused on youth programming for Extension Educators and Master Gardener Volunteers throughout New York State.

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