School gardens provide a dynamic environment to bring classroom lessons to life. Gardens allow students to apply what they learn and see the results. Urban Harvest’s Youth Education After School Initiative includes 19 schools, where our staff lead hands-on lessons in science, math and other subjects.

School gardens may include vegetable, herb or fruit gardens, habitat gardens, and/or ponds. We invite schools that currently have gardens as well as those who wish to plant new gardens to join us. When you join the Youth Education After School Initiative, we will work with your school to build or renovate a school garden. The garden can be used throughout the school day by teachers as well as with the Youth Education After School Initiative. Youth Education After School Initiative features organic methods that are effective and safe for use around children.

Before we start a new garden at your school, form a garden team of 4 or 5 teachers, administrators, parents and/or volunteers motivated to be involved with creating the garden, teaching in the garden, and tending to its maintenance. For schools with existing gardens, a team of 4 or 5 individuals will work with us to determine outdoor growing projects for the school year. The garden team and Urban Harvest will support the garden and help with community workdays to build, maintain and water the garden.

Urban Harvest is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening communities through gardening education. We help build gardens at schools for education, in neighborhoods for community growth, and at places of worship for donation to feed the hungry. We offer free vegetable, fruit and gardening basics classes.

For more information, contact Carol Burton, School and Youth Gardening Coordinator. You are invited to visit the outdoor classrooms at the schools where we currently have programs.