Growing More Than Gardens

What does it take to grow a school garden?

You might think the answer is soil, seeds, water, and sunshine. Those things certainly matter. But thriving school gardens also require something less visible: a community of people who believe that children deserve joyful, hands-on learning experiences that connect them to food, nature, and one another.

That kind of community doesn’t happen by chance. It grows through relationships.

Potawatomi botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer has shared a saying we’ve come to love: all flourishing is mutual. It’s a simple idea with profound implications. Gardens flourish because of countless interconnected relationships, between soil, insects, plants, water, and people. The same is true of movements. They grow when people invest in one another, share what they’re learning, and work toward a common purpose.

For many years, one of Life Lab’s most valued relationships has been with Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. Together, we’ve worked toward a shared vision: ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn and grow through a school garden.

2024 Growing School Gardens Summit

What makes this partnership so meaningful isn’t simply the funding. It’s the shared commitment to strengthening the people and connections that make school gardens possible.

One of the most visible examples is the Growing School Gardens Summit, which Life Lab co-hosts with Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. Every two years, hundreds of educators, school garden leaders, researchers, administrators, and advocates come together from across the country to learn from one another, exchange ideas, and imagine what’s possible for the future of education.

The Summit is a living expression of the idea that all flourishing is mutual. Educators return home with practical strategies, renewed inspiration, and a network of colleagues they can lean on long after the conference ends. New collaborations emerge. Innovative ideas spread from one community to another. As each participant grows, so does the collective impact of the movement.

Sprouts also makes possible Life Lab’s School Garden Educator Certification Course, helping educators deepen their practice and build the confidence to lead meaningful garden-based learning in their own communities. Through the course, participants become part of a growing national network of educators who are transforming learning, one garden, one lesson, and one student at a time.

Beyond these programs, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation has embraced a broader vision alongside Life Lab: strengthening the national school garden movement itself. By investing in leadership, collaboration, and opportunities for organizations to learn from one another, we’re helping build the relationships that allow this work to grow stronger year after year.

Perhaps that’s what “all flourishing is mutual” really means. When educators are supported, students thrive. When organizations collaborate, communities benefit. When funders invest not only in programs but in relationships, an entire movement becomes more resilient.

We’re deeply grateful to Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation for believing, alongside us, that every child deserves the chance to experience the wonder of learning in a garden. Together, we’re growing more than gardens. We’re growing the people, partnerships, and possibilities that will help school gardens flourish for generations to come.

Learn more about our work, powered by Sprouts:

Leadership Team Member California School Garden Coalition

Kelsey Cerdas