Garden Tips

Resources for Planting and Maintaining Your School Garden

Choosing Plants and Planting Dates
Deciding what and when to plant in your school garden is often challenge for new gardeners. Here are a few resources from the CSGN's Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden Workshop that will help you make a successful plan.
Planning an Annual Vegetable Harvest
Planting Perennial Plants

Edible Theme Garden Planting Guide Life Lab has created a theme garden planting calendar to help schools plan an edible harvest. This document has suggested planting dates and days to harvest for the following edible theme beds:

Spring Planted: Pizza Bed, Three Sisters Garden, Salsa Garden, Stir Fry Garden, Grazers Garden, Salad Garden
Fall Planted: Sitr Fry Garden, Salad Garden

We know these suggested planting schedules will work in our California Coastal climate, but they may need to be modifed for your climatic zone. The file is an Excel file so you should be able to modify this chart for you needs. If you do modify the chart for your region send us a copy and we will post it on our site. Thanks.

CSGN's Gardens for Learing: Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden Chapter 7 - Planting Your School Garden, Chapter 8 - Maintaining Your School Garden

CSGN's School Garden Planting Guide, pages 63-68, in Chapter 7 - Planting Your School Garden
This comprehensive guide includes suggested vegetables, herbs and flowers to plant in the fall and the spring. In addition the guide includes the following information: when to plant seeds indoors, when to plant outdoors (based on frost dates), depth to plant seed, spacing of plants, days to germination, days to harvest and nutrients content of vegetables. Find your frost dates at the Victory Seeds Web site or contact your local Master Gardener.

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Catalog
Search the ANR Catalog for hundreds of resources for purchase and free downloads. Many publications are relevant to sustaining and instructing in school gardens. including:: California Master Gardener Handbook, Honey Bee Education Posters, Soil Map of California, Natural Enemies Are Your Allies (beneficail insect ID poster), Home Canning Guides, Home Vegetable Gardening, and slide show on How to Begin A School Garden and A School Garden Curriculum.
Click on the "Free Publications" link to download information on growing vegetables, trees, pest control and more.

Information on vegetable, flower and herb planting, care, and harvest can be found at:

Organic Gardening.com: Get gardening tips, sign up for monthly garden reports for your area, and simplified information on the care and harvest of garden plants.
National Gardening Association's Food Garden Guide: Detailed information on planting, care and harvesting of garden plants.
National Gardening Association's Regional Reports: Get gardening information for your region, sign up for bimonthly gardening tips.
Burpee.com: Great information on gardening and seed catalog, sign up for regional garden reports, visit their "library" for plant care and harvest information. visit their "nutrition guide" for vegetable nutrient content and garden kitchen tips.
Bonnie Plants: Simple and concise information on growing common vegetables and herbs. This site also has tips for harvesting vegetables.

UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems
"For the Gardener - Downloadable Organic Gardening Tip Sheets"
Browse tip sheets on growing garlic, potatoes, peas, greens, onions and garlic. Learn about water conservation, cover cropping, building healthy soil, controlling slugs and snails

Growing A Healthy Garden is a great primer on how to maintain a healthy garden ecosystem.

Savingwater.org has handouts on maintainting healthy garden, a compost calculator, directions on installing a drip irrigation system, and much more.

Plant a Seed, Watch it Grow
Great web based guide to starting, caring for, and teaching in a school garden created by the Master Gardener Association of San Diego.

10 Terrific Vegetables and Everything You Need to Grow Them. Richardson, Barbara, Amy Gifford, Charlie Nardozzi and Eve Pranis South Burlington, VT: National Gardening Association, 2002.

Sunset Western Garden Book Kathleen Norris Brenzel (Editor) A great garden resource with thousands of plant descriptions and growing tips. Includes hundreds of how to gardening tips.


	Garden Tips Resources for Planting and Maintaining Your School Garden Choosing Plants and Planting Dates Deciding what and when to plant in your school garden is often challenge for new gardeners. Here are a few resources from the CSGN's Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden Workshop that will help you make a successful plan. Planning an Annual Vegetable Harvest Planting Perennial Plants Edible Theme Garden Planting Guide Life Lab has created a theme garden planting calendar to help schools plan an edible harvest. This document has suggested planting dates and days to harvest for the following edible theme beds: Spring Planted: Pizza Bed, Three Sisters Garden, Salsa Garden, Stir Fry Garden, Grazers Garden, Salad Garden Fall Planted: Sitr Fry Garden, Salad Garden We know these suggested planting schedules will work in our California Coastal climate, but they may need to be modifed for your climatic zone. The file is an Excel file so you should be able to modify this chart for you needs. If you do modify the chart for your region send us a copy and we will post it on our site. Thanks. CSGN's Gardens for Learing: Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden Chapter 7 - Planting Your School Garden, Chapter 8 - Maintaining Your School Garden CSGN's School Garden Planting Guide, pages 63-68, in Chapter 7 - Planting Your School Garden This comprehensive guide includes suggested vegetables, herbs and flowers to plant in the fall and the spring. In addition the guide includes the following information: when to plant seeds indoors, when to plant outdoors (based on frost dates), depth to plant seed, spacing of plants, days to germination, days to harvest and nutrients content of vegetables. Find your frost dates at the Victory Seeds Web site or contact your local Master Gardener. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Catalog Search the ANR Catalog for hundreds of resources for purchase and free downloads. Many publications are relevant to sustaining and instructing in school gardens. including:: California Master Gardener Handbook, Honey Bee Education Posters, Soil Map of California, Natural Enemies Are Your Allies (beneficail insect ID poster), Home Canning Guides, Home Vegetable Gardening, and slide show on How to Begin A School Garden and A School Garden Curriculum. Click on the "Free Publications" link to download information on growing vegetables, trees, pest control and more. Information on vegetable, flower and herb planting, care, and harvest can be found at: Organic Gardening.com: Get gardening tips, sign up for monthly garden reports for your area, and simplified information on the care and harvest of garden plants. National Gardening Association's Food Garden Guide: Detailed information on planting, care and harvesting of garden plants. National Gardening Association's Regional Reports: Get gardening information for your region, sign up for bimonthly gardening tips. Burpee.com: Great information on gardening and seed catalog, sign up for regional garden reports, visit their "library" for plant care and harvest information. visit their "nutrition guide" for vegetable nutrient content and garden kitchen tips. Bonnie Plants: Simple and concise information on growing common vegetables and herbs. This site also has tips for harvesting vegetables. UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems "For the Gardener - Downloadable Organic Gardening Tip Sheets" Browse tip sheets on growing garlic, potatoes, peas, greens, onions and garlic. Learn about water conservation, cover cropping, building healthy soil, controlling slugs and snails Growing A Healthy Garden is a great primer on how to maintain a healthy garden ecosystem. Savingwater.org has handouts on maintainting healthy garden, a compost calculator, directions on installing a drip irrigation system, and much more. Plant a Seed, Watch it Grow Great web based guide to starting, caring for, and teaching in a school garden created by the Master Gardener Association of San Diego. 10 Terrific Vegetables and Everything You Need to Grow Them. Richardson, Barbara, Amy Gifford, Charlie Nardozzi and Eve Pranis South Burlington, VT: National Gardening Association, 2002. Sunset Western Garden Book Kathleen Norris Brenzel (Editor) A great garden resource with thousands of plant descriptions and growing tips. Includes hundreds of how to gardening tips. © Life Lab Science Program