School garden

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Sustainable Teaching Garden at Tarleton State University Tarleton State University August 2017 10 (Sustainable Teaching Garden).jpg
Sustainable Teaching Garden at Tarleton State University

A school garden is an area designated for students to learn how to cultivate flowers and vegetable gardens in their school. They are commonly established to improve students' health, social development, and academic achievement [1] .

Contents

History

The value of school gardens in education has long been recognized in Europe. They were started as early as 1819 in Schleswig-Holstein. In 1869 they were prescribed by law in Austria and Sweden, in Belgium since 1873 and in France since 1880. In the early 20th century, there were 20,000 schools in Austria with gardens, 45,000 in France, 8,000 in Russia, and 2,500 in Sweden. The number in the latter country once was double the present number, but has decreased since the introduction of manual training. School gardening was practically obligatory for the children of the common schools of Belgium, Netherlands, British West Indies, and Ceylon. Many of the foreign governments subsidized the school gardens, offered prizes, and made training in agriculture obligatory for normal school graduates.

Some universities in the United States, like Cornell, the University of Illinois, Ohio State University, and Louisiana State University, have taken up the problem of school agriculture, country life, and scientific farming in earnest. Pamphlets are published by experts of agriculture dealing with important phases of school agriculture and school gardens, in particular Jewell's Agricultural Education (Bulletin 368, U. S. Bureau of Education). Present-day school gardening initiatives have also been started to

Curriculum role

The school-garden has an important relation to several curriculum areas. The first of these is nature study. There is no better way of bringing children into contact with plant life than by raising flowers and vegetables in the garden. The children get out of doors, prepare the soil, plant the seed, observe the growth of plants, cultivate them through the season, and finally observe the growth and ripening of the fruit. This whole cycle of growth and change is the most fundamental thing in plant study.

Secondly, the garden has a very important place in the study of geography. In the home geography in the early grades classes of children are required to visit the gardens and study the processes of cultivation and marketing the products. In this way, the principles of gardening lead to learning about agriculture, scientific farming, and fruit raising. Children can be taught about the principles involved in farming, the raising of corn and other grains, the feeding of cattle, dairying and butter-making, fruit-culture, as of berries, stone-fruits, apples, and pears. Scientific agriculture and fruit-raising are based on principles of careful selection of seed and of wise cultivation, of fertilizing and preserving soils, of grafting, pruning and caring for fruit trees, and dealing with insect pests.

The school garden has an important relation to esthetics and design. Floriculture, landscape gardening, tree-planting and fruit-culture appeal to the sense of beauty. The whole yard and garden together need to be planted and laid out on principles of taste and attractiveness.

Many progressive normal schools in all parts of the world are taking up the initiative of school-gardens, both for the teachers and for the children.

School gardens can also be linked to the curriculum in any grade through science, social studies, math, arts, language arts and more. It helps students feel connected to place and is a great example of place-based learning. Having students garden is experiential learning which can involve the whole school and larger community, through involving parents, community partners, and elders from the community. It creates an opportunity for intergenerational learning, where people of different ages can come together to grow food and work towards a sustainable environment and community.

Through school gardens, students learn to work the land and create a food garden in which they can grow food such as lettuce, potatoes, kale, and peas. Students learn about local food and what grows in their environment. It helps to create a connection to food and get students thinking about where their food comes from and what it takes to grow it. It supports better nutrition in students and can incorporate lessons on healthy eating. This real-world, hands-on learning has proven to be very popular with students and schools. The schoolyard can be an extension of the classroom. It connects students to the natural world and helps create responsible caretakers of the planet. School gardens ultimately contribute to connections between students, teachers, community, food, nature, and sustainability.

STEM education

School gardens can extend far beyond the growing of vegetables and produce to incorporate more complex ecological STEM systems. By adding rainwater collection systems, photovoltaic panels, composting systems, methane digesters, tiny houses, and other circular systems, a school garden can begin to function as a robust educational land lab. Food, energy, shelter, sanitation, and water can all be provisioned in a school garden that has the right circular systems in operation.

A school garden can be a powerful STEM instructional component within a larger educational land lab. Ecology, biology, agriculture, energy systems, culinary arts, climate science, soil science, and animal husbandry can all function as cross-curricular topics within a school garden land lab.

Effects

Some studies suggest that school gardening programs benefit children's dietary behavior. The experiential nature of cultivating school gardens has allowed it to be effective in increasing their preference and consumption of fruits and vegetables [2] [3] . Hence, they are possible initiatives to combat modern health problems, such as food insecurity and childhood obesity [4] . However, more quantitative research is needed to prove school gardens' beneficial effects on health and well-being [1] .

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardening</span> Practice of growing and cultivating plants

Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of aesthetically pleasing areas, medicines, cosmetics, dyes, foods, poisons, wildlife habitats, and saleable goods. People often partake in gardening for its therapeutic, health, educational, cultural, philosophical, environmental, and religious benefits.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to agriculture:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land lab</span> Outdoor laboratory for biological study

A land lab is an area of land that has been set aside for use in biological studies. Thus, it is literally an outdoor laboratory based on an area of land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest gardening</span> Agroforestry food production system modeled on woodland ecosystems

Forest gardening is a low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers to build a woodland habitat. Forest gardening is a prehistoric method of securing food in tropical areas. In the 1980s, Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" after adapting the principles and applying them to temperate climates.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sustainable agriculture:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable agriculture</span> Farming approach that balances environmental, economic and social factors in the long term

Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem services. There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop flexible business process and farming practices. Agriculture has an enormous environmental footprint, playing a significant role in causing climate change, water scarcity, water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and other processes; it is simultaneously causing environmental changes and being impacted by these changes. Sustainable agriculture consists of environment friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without damage to human or natural systems. It involves preventing adverse effects to soil, water, biodiversity, surrounding or downstream resources—as well as to those working or living on the farm or in neighboring areas. Elements of sustainable agriculture can include permaculture, agroforestry, mixed farming, multiple cropping, and crop rotation.

Vegan organicagriculture is the organic production of food and other crops with minimal animal inputs. Vegan organic agriculture is the organic form of animal-free agriculture.

Eliot Coleman is an American farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming. He wrote The New Organic Grower. He served for two years as Executive Director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), and was an advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture during its 1979–80 study, Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming, a document that formed the basis for today's legislated National Organic Program (2002) in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban agriculture</span> Farming in cities and urban areas

Urban agriculture refers to various practices of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in urban areas. The term also applies to the area activities of animal husbandry, aquaculture, beekeeping, and horticulture in an urban context. Urban agriculture is distinguished from peri-urban agriculture, which takes place in rural areas at the edge of suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victory garden</span> Private food supply gardens in the World Wars

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II. In wartime, governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale. They were used along with rationing stamps and cards to reduce pressure on the food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic horticulture</span> Organic cultivation of fruit, vegetables, flowers or ornamental plants

Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening</span> Type of horticulture and food production

A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot and the yielding or the production of which belongs to the individual. In collective gardens the piece of land is not divided. A group of people cultivate it together and the harvest belongs to all participants. Around the world, community gardens exist in various forms, it can be located in the proximity of neighborhoods or on balconies and rooftops. Its size can vary greatly from one to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban horticulture</span> Science of growing plants in urban environments

Urban horticulture is the science and study of the growing plants in an urban environment. It focuses on the functional use of horticulture so as to maintain and improve the surrounding urban area. Urban horticulture has seen an increase in attention with the global trend of urbanization and works to study the harvest, aesthetic, architectural, recreational and psychological purposes and effects of plants in urban environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olericulture</span> Study of cultivation of vegetables

Olericulture is the science of vegetable growing, dealing with the culture of non-woody (herbaceous) plants for food.

Forest farming is the cultivation of high-value specialty crops under a forest canopy that is intentionally modified or maintained to provide shade levels and habitat that favor growth and enhance production levels. Forest farming encompasses a range of cultivated systems from introducing plants into the understory of a timber stand to modifying forest stands to enhance the marketability and sustainable production of existing plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greening</span> Process of incorporating more environmentally friendly behaviors or systems

Greening is the process of transforming living environments, and also artifacts such as a space, a lifestyle or a brand image, into a more environmentally friendly version. The act of greening generally involves incorporating more environmentally friendly systems into one's environment, such as the home, work place, and general lifestyle.

Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) is a non-profit organization that supports community gardens in Denver, Colorado in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden-based learning</span>

Garden-based learning (GBL) encompasses programs, activities and projects in which the garden is the foundation for integrated learning, in and across disciplines, through active, engaging, real-world experiences that have personal meaning for children, youth, adults and communities in an informal outside learning setting. Garden-based learning is an instructional strategy that utilizes the garden as a teaching tool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community gardening in the United States</span>

Community gardens in the United States benefit both gardeners and society at large. Community gardens provide fresh produce to gardeners and their friends and neighbors. They provide a place of connection to nature and to other people. In a wider sense, community gardens provide green space, a habitat for insects and animals, sites for gardening education, and beautification of the local area. Community gardens provide access to land to those who otherwise could not have a garden, such as apartment-dwellers, the elderly, and the homeless. Many gardens resemble European allotment gardens, with plots or boxes where individuals and families can grow vegetables and flowers, including a number which began as victory gardens during World War II. Other gardens are worked as community farms with no individual plots at all, similar to urban farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foodscaping</span> Ornamental landscaping with edible plants

Foodscaping is a modern term for the practice of integrating edible plants into ornamental landscapes. It is also referred to as edible landscaping and has been described as a crossbreed between landscaping and farming. As an ideology, foodscaping aims to show that edible plants are not only consumable but can also be appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. Foodscaping spaces are seen as multi-functional landscapes which are visually attractive and also provide edible returns. Foodscaping is a great way to provide fresh food in an affordable way.

References

  1. 1 2 Ohly, Heather; Gentry, Sarah; Wigglesworth, Rachel; Bethel, Alison; Lovell, Rebecca; Garside, Ruth (2016-03-25). "A systematic review of the health and well-being impacts of school gardening: synthesis of quantitative and qualitative evidence". BMC Public Health. 16 (1): 286. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-2941-0 . ISSN   1471-2458. PMC   4807565 . PMID   27015672.
  2. Varman, Sumantla D.; Cliff, Dylan P.; Jones, Rachel A.; Hammersley, Megan L.; Zhang, Zhiguang; Charlton, Karen; Kelly, Bridget (2021-10-15). "Experiential Learning Interventions and Healthy Eating Outcomes in Children: A Systematic Literature Review". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 18 (20): 10824. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182010824 . ISSN   1661-7827. PMC   8535521 . PMID   34682570.
  3. Davis, Jaimie N; Spaniol, Mackenzie R; Somerset, Shawn (2015). "Sustenance and sustainability: maximizing the impact of school gardens on health outcomes". Public Health Nutrition. 18 (13): 2358–2367. doi:10.1017/S1368980015000221. ISSN   1368-9800. PMC   10271796 . PMID   25704784.
  4. Holloway, Timothy P.; Dalton, Lisa; Hughes, Roger; Jayasinghe, Sisitha; Patterson, Kira A. E.; Murray, Sandra; Soward, Robert; Byrne, Nuala M.; Hills, Andrew P.; Ahuja, Kiran D. K. (2023-02-27). "School Gardening and Health and Well-Being of School-Aged Children: A Realist Synthesis". Nutrients. 15 (5): 1190. doi: 10.3390/nu15051190 . ISSN   2072-6643. PMC   10005652 . PMID   36904189.