School Garden

Mar 6, 2020

A Trio of Literary Connections

Making garden connections to subjects outside science and math is a big part of using the garden to its optimal potential. Here are three ideas that hone in on literature. 1. You may be familiar with Jan Brett’s book,The Turnip, a folktale that is also the basis for Irene Yates’ book, The Enormous Turnip, and… 

Feb 6, 2020

Sowing Parties

All six Kannapolis City Schools elementary schools recently had a seeding party at the NC State Plants for Human Health Institute (PHHI) greenhouses. Doug asked the KCS garden leaders to submit their spring garden plans in mid-December to earn an invite to the party. Plans included diagrams from Kitchen Garden planner (or another program) and a… 

Jan 6, 2020

Planting papertowels?

Pre-plant your garden squares with the Square Foot Seeds lesson. Glueing root crop seeds (turnip, radish, carrot, beet, etc) to a paper towel at teacher-directed spacing (depending on your folding, or your “more than/less than” objective) will make “planting” the first garden crop a breeze. The seeds won’t germinate until they are watered, so let… 

Nov 4, 2019

Blue Ribbon Harvest

Our inaugural Sweet Potato Competition had some great entries, but above all, we hope everyone enjoyed growing, harvesting, tasting and learning about sweet potatoes. (Side note: They worked great as a summer cover crop to suppress weeds; mark the calendar for May planting.) Ultimately, the PHHI contest pitted two local schools in a neck-and-neck competition.… 

Sep 11, 2019

Sweet Potato Competition

Kids love a healthy competition. We were so inspired by the blue ribbon-winning State Fair entry from Dixon Road Elementary last year, we thought we’d host our own sweet potato competition. Entry details are below. All entries must be received by Wednesday, October 4. Ribbons will be awarded to 1st and 2nd place for each category.… 

Sep 10, 2019

School Garden Regional Training Announced

The PHHI STEM team of Amy Bowman and Doug Vernon will deliver a 1-day professional development workshop on October 9, 8:00am-3:30pm, at the Union County Cooperative Extension Office in Monroe. Online registration is required by September 30. This workshop will cover 1) how to start and maintain a school garden, 2) how to utilize a… 

Mar 27, 2019

Friends of Education Award

Congratulations to Amy Bowman and Doug Vernon, who forged the relationships with Kannapolis City Schools that led to Plants for Human Health Institute being selected as the 2019 recipients of the Kannapolis Education Foundation’s Friend of Education Award. Dr. Chip Buckwell, superintendent of KCS, presented the award at the KEF Breakfast on March 22, at… 

Mar 20, 2019

Last Call for Sweet Potato Slips

Not sure what to do with your garden beds this summer? We’ve got an easy, fun (and delicious) crop to grow: Sweet potatoes! 

Mar 15, 2019

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Looking for freebies, networking events, professional development opportunities, grants, or just advice on what to do in the garden each month? Subscribe to FRESH Garden eNews, a monthly resource from Plants for Human Health Institute to support your school gardening efforts. Subscribe here.