Planning The Garden
Objectives:Regardless of the size of your project, it is worth involving the class in as much of the planning as possible. This will give them the sense of project ownership that will keep them motivated and will give them the valuable experience of project management.
Activities:
There are many aspects to think about with garden project planning and depending on the scale of your plans, here are some of the suggested areas of action that the children can help with.
- Decide on where the plot should be (considering sunlight, shelter,
soil type, etc). Use our vegetable fact sheets
to find out the likes and dislikes for the growing environment
of each vegetable you are growing.
- Sketching out the plot and deciding on the layout
of crops.
- Deciding the time frame. Using our vegetable
growing hints and tips, find out when your garden season is to
begin and end so that you know when to plant each variety and when
to harvest. Think about whether you want crops to harvest at the same
time or whether you want it staggered across a period of time.
- List all the jobs that will need doing and a weekly schedule
of who might be responsible i.e. preparing the ground, germinating
the seed, planting out, composting, crop protecting, weeding, watering,
pest control, harvesting, etc. Think about dividing tasks up into
class time, lunch times and after school and perhaps create a job
wheel to ensure that tasks are fairly distributed.
- List of essential equipment and supplies with estimated costs.
- Responsibilities for regular photography, maintaining the garden
log or diary.
- Holiday time. If your garden project starts at the beginning of each school year, you do not need to keep the garden going through the long summer holiday. If not, you will need to think about weeding well before going on holiday, mulch plants well to keep them moist, establish a roster of holiday teams ”with perhaps the help of the school caretaker for supervision and take security measures.
