We believe school gardens are living classrooms
Through our Growing Up Organic (GUO) program, COG partners with schools to support the establishment of school garden programs as the basis for experiential education at all grade levels. We provide educators with the essential tools to start these initiatives with confidence and ongoing support. Our garden-based workshops, delivered on-site at school gardens, provide teachers with building blocks and a model for integrating hands-on food literacy into their pedagogy.
How We Partner with Schools
COG partners with school boards to support the establishment of GUO school garden programs as the basis for experiential education at all grade levels. We provide educators with the essential support to start these initiatives with confidence. Our GUO program provides interactive, hands-on tools for meeting learning objectives in provincial curriculum, as well as additional environmental education goals set out by provincial Ministries of Education.
COG consults free of charge with school boards considering joining the GUO program and adding an organic vegetable garden to their schoolyard landscape. Consultations include a needs assessment, delivery plan and anticipated budget required. Upon a collective agreement our program can begin implementation with participating schools. These first meetings are important opportunities for GUO to share our expertise in answering any questions or concerns before enrolment.
Our program is delivered best with engaged school garden teams, this ideally includes principals, teachers, custodial staff, parent and/or community volunteers. Once such a team is formed, GUO can help set the stage for success by meeting with the team to discuss and implement the first steps. Important elements of this discussion can include everything from garden site selection, building schoolyard gardens, teacher roles and parent involvement, curriculum connections, summer maintenance, etc.
Program Schedule
GUO partners with schools to offer interactive, curriculum-linked gardening workshops that engage students in hands-on learning. These workshops, led by GUO-trained facilitators with expertise in organic gardening and environmental stewardship, span the school year and focus on practical gardening skills and environmental concepts. Each session builds on the last, helping students develop a deeper connection to nature and an understanding of how gardening principles tie into their classroom learning.
The workshops are specifically tailored to suit the learning objectives of three different classes per school, ensuring that each workshop is grade-appropriate and aligned with the curriculum. At new partner schools, GUO will collaborate with three classes per school.
The program begins by helping students build three raised garden beds—one for each class. Throughout the fall and spring, GUO will offer a series of hands-on workshops, guiding students through every step of the gardening process, from planning and planting to harvesting. Each class will take responsibility for one garden bed, managing its care and maintenance throughout the year. Workshops will be offered to one class at a time, ensuring that both students and their facilitator can fully engage with the experience and gain the most from each session. This approach not only teaches students valuable gardening skills but also emphasizes sustainability and environmental stewardship. Through experiential learning, students gain real-world insights into the environment while strengthening their classroom knowledge and fostering a sense of responsibility and collaboration for their school garden.
Please see below for more details on the workshop timelines and descriptions.
Starting in September, GUO will begin onboarding new schools approved by the school board. This process will include:
- Selecting garden sites,
- Finalizing a list of the three participating teachers/classes,
- Defining teacher roles and responsibilities.
October: We will host a Garden Build Workshop for where students build raised garden beds for their school.
November: We’ll offer a Garlic Workshop, where participants will learn how to plant and care for garlic, setting the stage for a successful spring and summer harvest.
December-February: Winter break!
After a refreshing winter break, GUO is excited to resume facilitator-led workshops from March through June. Here’s what participating classes can look forward to:
March: Planning the Garden – Students will kick off the season with the Planning the Garden workshop. In this hands-on session, they’ll collaborate to create a visual planting map for their class garden, considering ideal planting spaces and the principles of companion planting.
April: Planting the Garden – Once the ground is thawed, students will meet their GUO facilitator outdoors to plant seeds according to their class’s planting map. This will be an exciting opportunity for students to get their hands dirty and connect directly with the earth.
May: Transplanting Workshop – As the plants grow, students will return for the Transplanting workshop in May. Here, they’ll learn the critical skills of transplanting seedlings into their garden, ensuring healthy growth throughout the rest of the season.
June: Happy Harvest – Finally, in June, students will reap the rewards of their hard work with the Happy Harvest workshop. They’ll celebrate by harvesting fresh produce from their garden and enjoying a healthy, homemade organic salad made from the fruits of their labor!
Summer: With school out, your garden still needs care. Ensure daily watering, pest management, and harvesting continue through the summer. We invite you to check out our summer care resources for helpful tips.
What’s Next? After your school has completed the GUO workshop program, you will automatically become a GUO partner school. As a GUO partner school you will receive ongoing advice and support with access to our educator and student resources to help your garden thrive as an outdoor classroom. Your school may also qualify for GUO garden maintenance, including compost, seeds, and seedlings, based on yearly funding from your school board.
Program Workshops
GUO offers an annual workshop calendar in accordance with the school year. Our workshops offer students an opportunity to engage with their school garden and learn critical skills throughout the entire school year. Workshops are tailored to seasonal changes and provide plenty of hands-on experience and learning both in the garden and the classroom.
Workshop 1: Garden Builds
Timing: Fall
Using lumber and simple tools, we build one box per class, and fill the boxes with organic soil. Students work together to understand construction principles and the beginning steps of creating their own organic vegetable garden.
Workshop 2: Garlic Planting
Timing: Fall/Early Winter
Students will plant garlic cloves in their school garden as they learn about the basic survival needs of plants by examining the garlic plant life cycle, about garlic’s importance as a food and medicine in some cultures.
Workshop 3: Planning a Garden
Timing: Early Spring
Students work in groups to develop a plan for the school garden. They discuss what it means to grow organically, the vegetables they can plant, diversity, companion planting and the role of plant interactions to create a healthy garden ecosystem.
Workshop 4: Direct Seeding
Timing: Spring
Students learn about seed diversity and the parts of a seed as well as how to recognize common garden vegetables and their seeds. Using their garden plan students will sow seeds of cold-hardy plants directly into the garden and or start seedlings indoors to be transplanted.
Workshop 5: Healthy Soils
Timing: Spring
Students explore their natural surroundings by conducting a school yard soil study. Through observations, experiments, and analysis, students learn all about soil, its health, the different types, and the importance of environmental stewardship.
Workshop 6: Transplanting
Timing: Spring
Students learn to transplant seedlings in the school garden. Students learn about the stages in the plant life cycle, explore the relationship between seedlings they transplanted and the organisms in the garden ecosystem, plant care and garden ecosystems.
Workshop 7: Happy Harvest
Timing: Spring/Summer
Students survey their garden, learn how to maintain it, how to harvest and prepare a tasty meal with the produce they’ve grown. They discuss what influences their food choices and consider how these factors differ in different parts of the world.
Testimonials from Teachers
I can think of several students who are not particularly engaged academically, but who come to life when working in the garden, or helping out on a farm. I would say that all of my students enjoy their time working in the garden…and would do it more often if they could.
The result of our partnership with Growing Up Organic has been the creation of amazing school gardens that were student-led and student-maintained. We are working with urban students, many of whom are marginalized in our community, and who have very little knowledge of where their foods comes from and what the ecological impact of their food choices are. Working with Growing Up Organic has been an incredible opportunity to help them feel empowered about their food choices, help them make healthier choices, and help increase their ability to make positive environmental change through growing local and organic food.
Our school loves this program! So hands on! We seem to have gotten away from basic life skills over the years and focused on tech and new learning. This program teaches students the building blocks of life.
FAQs
GUO is primarily funded through school boards. COG works with school boards to determine an annual program budget that supports program activities in each school year. Needs of each school board are different and this is reflected in the cost for each school board.
No, our program is funded by school boards and outside funders. All garden build and workshop materials are provided by GUO.
Currently the GUO program is based in Ontario but COG is interested in expanding our program into more provinces and school boards across the country.
To ensure the long-term success of an educational garden program at your school, we want to confirm that your school is well-equipped and ready to take on the responsibilities involved. Please review the criteria below to help us determine if this program is a good fit for your school.
- One head teacher who acts as the liaison between GUO and your school: our main contact to schedule in workshops, deliveries and make decisions.
- Involvement of the custodian. You’ll want to have your custodian team on board as they will need to help with setting up your watering system and storing supplies.
- Involvement of administration and Principal OR VP.
- Maintenance plan for summer months. School is out for the summer – so it’s up to the garden team to find parents/grand-parents/students/volunteers/community members/neighbors… to help with the garden maintenance during July and August. Tasks will probably include wedding, watering and harvesting.
- 3 eager/motivated teachers and their classes. This helps to properly establish the program at your school and accounts for staff change and transitions.
- Self-sufficiency. Our main goal is to help set-up gardens and support teachers through our workshops until they have enough tools to be independent. Afterwards we would like to see the program grow, continue, change, adapt. Do you think your school is interested in maintaining gardens without GUO?
- Budget. This could require a small budget every year. Is this something you think your school can maintain?
After your school has completed the GUO workshop program, you will automatically become a GUO partner school. As a GUO partner school you will receive ongoing advice and support with access to our educator and student resources to help your garden thrive as an outdoor classroom. Your school may also qualify for GUO garden maintenance, including compost, seeds, and seedlings, based on yearly funding from the school boards.
We work with each school to create a plan for summer maintenance based on the resources available in their network. This could include partnering with an on-site camp or daycare program, linking
with a nearby community group, such as a food bank or senior’s residence or assembling a team of dedicated student and parent volunteers to steward the garden over the summer season.
Our team will provide ample technical resources to support schools in navigating summer maintenance.
Interested in Participating?
GUO welcomes new school boards, schools and individual teachers to connect with us. We will work with you to answer any questions about the program, eligibility and enrolment. Please complete the interest form via the button below and we will be in touch with next steps.
This program is possible thanks to the generous support of our Partners:
