There is no one place to start or one route to accomplishing your goal.  Where you start depends on a variety of factors, including: 

• Who are you: teacher, administrator, parent, or community member?

• Is your school in the suburbs, inner city or rural area? What land resources do you have?

• What time of year will you start?  Nature education is year-round but the season will make a difference in where you start.

• Are you planning a garden for one classroom or will other classrooms going to be involved?

• What is the skill set of the people behind the plan?  You will need a variety of skills including: gardeners, writers, business people, photographers and ones who are willing to take on whatever needs to be done.

• The interest in creating school gardens has skyrocketed in the last two years.  Though there is talk of funding from government resources for funds for such programs, competition for all grants is fierce.  Most grants are targeted to populations that are designated low-income or under-served and are targeted to inner city schools.  Your time may be better spent approaching the PTA, local businesses or having a bake/rummage sale to raise the initial funds.

• The less complicated you plan, the less financing you will need.

• You can get almost all of the stuff you needed donated.

• Large companies i.e. Home Depot and Lowes are inundated with requests for donations.  Look to the parents of your students; where do they work? You are much more likely to get a "Yes." if there is some kind of prior connection with a company.  

•  Design your programs and activities around whatever you can get donated.

•  Do not get caught up in all of the possibilities, they are endless.  Pick two or three activities and focus your energy and resources on them.

•  Do not plan too far ahead and be flexible in your plans so you can be open to opportunities as they present themselves.

•  You can use a weed pulled from a crack in the pavement to teach about roots and a dandelion to teach seed dispersal.

•  You have most of what you need right outside your window.  Soil, air, water and sun are the main ingredients.   

• There is no need to pay for lesson plans or special programs for teaching about nature or gardening.  There is an abundance of high quality, free, information.

• Being a Master Gardener does not mean one knows how to create, manage or use a school garden.

• Be a wise consumer. New companies are popping up every day with just the right tools, curriculum and other "stuff" you "need" for your garden program.