CT NOFA Winter Conference March 2, 2013 Jim Hunter

How to Start a (School) Garden

WHS Starting a Garden

The organic garden has added depth to many different programs including science, accounting 2, and the Special Education Program. This program has assisted AP Environmental Science especially the unit on Agriculture. It has provided any opportunity for course in any subject that would like a short term project in the garden ex. Math, Art, Culinary etc. An Outdoor Classroom

Location, Location, Location!!

Need a spot with lots of sun!! 8-12 hours a day Near where you want to wash and pack produce

Near water source for irrigation, or rain barrels

Location & Aesthetics

The organic garden improved the aesthetics of the south end of the high school. It provided a meaningful context to the greenhouse. It is highly visible to Board of Ed., parents, community, students and staff In the case of Wilton HS, we had an existing greenhouse ,access, electricity and water already there, so the choice was easy

Planning, Funding, Administrative and legal issues

There are always hurdles to overcome. Dont give up The site had construction happening which delayed starting the garden Worked within the school system and the town to get all permissions to build
Funding for Wilton HS was provided by the Betsy & Jesse Fink Foundation, Newmans Own Foundation with advisory support by Annie Farrell, from Millstone Farm, the Finks farm here in Wilton All legal issues were worked out within the school administration by Jim Hunter and HS staff. Kate Eckenrode was the other teacher who provided fantastic help, support and knowledge

The school lunch service, in this school, was eager and easy to work with We decided to work with a group that had built many school gardens, and they customized based on what we wanted (oak, not pressure treated wood, no toxic paint or stains, etc) It took from early planning in 2008 until June 2010 to start gardening. There was a crop the first year.

Who does what, when, timelines, etc

Kate Eckenrodes Drawing of the Garden

First drafts
Teich Garden Systems used the existing space to design the layout of the garden, based on what was wanted by the school. As much space as possible is devoted to growing beds.

We planned the crops, based on the School lunch staff, and what the kids would like, assigned locations, and ordered seed based on the square we wanted to plant, companion planting, sun, space, climbing possibilities. By careful planning you can order only what you need of seeds and materials. Succession crops make the space more efficient, you can use the same space several times each season, and into the cold weather.

Good records make each year easier, especially with new students each year. Tracking costs helps the planning for following years.
Seed order, variety, source, location, cat #, price, start & harvest dates, successions, notes, yields etc

Keeping track of harvests

Close to building with water!

Photo by Jim Hunter

Soil
WANT
Good Drainage Organic matter Few rocks( or pick out large rocks) Good subsoil

DONT WANT
Flooding / Drought Lack of nutrients Lots of rock Hardpan / rock / ledge

Soil Quality
You will need about 8-12 of good soil Raised beds are good to loosen hard packed soil (also warms up faster in spring and has better drainage) TEST SOIL U Conn or CT Agricultural Experiment Station, any good soil lab If poor purchase better soil (Snows Farm, etc, Brookside Nurseries, McEnroe Organic.) Add finished Compost if you can, know the source of the compost, should be free of toxins, that might kill good bacteria in the soil

Watering
Drip irrigation using soaker hoses, drip lines Can be connected to rain barrel Can be set to timers Environmentally friendly, healthier plants

Protection from mammals

Fencing needs to be at LEAST 6-8 high to stop deer. You can also have some fencing 18 underground hardware cloth, if possible Plants that critters dont like along edges of garden, hot peppers, garlic, alliums, mole plant, etc. Natural repellants, ( Johnnys Selected Seeds, & other sources) Traps good critter dogs

Rows vs. Raised beds?

Raised Soil Beds increase productivity, warm up faster, drain better, much easier to plant, weed and harvest, etc.

Raised wooden beds can be build on top of existing with no digging, but more expensive!! (White Oak or Locust wood. NO PRESSURE TREATED!!) You can also use cement blocks, logs, rocks, etc.

Raised Beds

Wooden raised beds, Wilton HS Garden

Wooden beds

Type of Garden
Small veggies Greens, Radish, Carrots, etc.
Can be planted close and needs less space Quick growing Can get multiple crops through out the year, Johnnys Selected seeds offers a wealth of information about spacing succession planting, seed starting dates, almost everything you need to get started. They have an amazing website with all these resources. There are many other garden planning programs now available, Territorial Seeds has a great one.

Large Veggies Tomato's, Squash, Melons

Need LOTS of space, you may get more than one crop with careful succession.

Garden Pots
Many plants can be grown in pots on your deck!! Be careful as some plants need trellis and that is difficult on the deck, you will need a large pot. This is a great way to grow invasive plants too, so they stay where you want them. Potatoes and other tubers do well in pots.

Seeding

mulching

diseases insects

Ongoing Fundraising

Wilton HS Garden Annual Plant SaleWilton Go Green Day May 5th, 2013

resources

Snows Farm-Soil, compost:www.snowsfarm.com/ Brookside Nurseries-organic soil, compost, 203-853-2076 McEnroe Organic-518-789-3252 Soil TestingNOFA Ct, ( Bulk Orders, much more) 203-888-5146 Johnnys Selected Seeds, seeds supplies, advice, tubers, equipment-1-877-564-6697 Fedco, seed supplies tubers, equipment-207-873-7333 Griffin Greenhouse-800-888-0054, all planting supplies, greenhouse supply Millstone Farm Garden Workshop, April 27th, 1P-Other workshops WHS Organic Garden http://whsorganicgarden.weebly.com/
Millstonefarm.org https://www.facebook.com/millstonefarmwilton