The Legacy Garden Lessons
These are the Atkinson Legacy Gardens – Watch Them Grow!
Gardens grow most vigorously in July and August, while kids are on summer break. This is an inherent problem for a school based growing cycle. One solution to this problem we’ve tried at our school is the “Legacy Garden.”
In this model, kids plant crops in the spring, before school ends; those spring plantings then become a harvest project for the incoming fall classes. We’ve done this at Atkinson for a few seasons. We’re still working out the kinks, but we do like how this cycle allows us to have mature vegetables and flowers ready to greet the kids when they return to school in September.
We’ve installed a timed watering system but the plantings still need care over the summer. Families and camp groups have participated in summer care – weeding, monitoring for pests, harvesting and replanting as needed. When classes return in the fall, there is a short harvest window, but we’ve found if the teachers and parent volunteers are ready with plans and lessons, there is time to learn about the harvest, pick the bounty, and prepare delicious foods before the rain begins.
Some garden themes we’ve tried at Atkinson: Seeds We Eat, Three Sisters Garden, Stone Soup Garden, Peter Rabbit Garden, Roots Garden, Pizza Garden, Salsa Garden, Asian Garden, Sunflowers, Lots of Parsley, Early Spring.
To see the lesson plans for “the Legacy Garden” and “Patterns in Nature” go to: Atkinson Legacy Gardens