Tools for Teaching in the Gardens

• Garden time is class time.  Many of the rules are the same as classroom rules - no running, take care of supplies, use inside voices since many garden areas are near classroom windows.

• Ears are one of the most important tools in the garden.  Remind students to listen for instructions and ask questions if they don't understand. 

• Walk only on wood chip paths, grass, or blacktop, and never in a garden bed.  Students and adults often assume that it is okay to walk in a garden where there are no plants.  We never walk in a garden, even when it does not contain plants, because it compacts the soil.  If an area is not covered with wood chip mulch, grass, or blacktop, it should be considered a garden.

• Don't stand or sit on the raised bed framing.  Students are often tempted to stand or sit on the boards that form the raised beds of the class gardens.  To avoid damage to these structures, please ask students not to sit or stand on the beds.

• Handle tools safely.  Please instruct students that trowels and spades are carried with the sharp parts and blades pointed down.  Tools are never to be swung or carried on a student’s shoulder.  When not in use, spades and trowels are inserted into the soil with the handles standing vertically so no accidents are caused by stepping on or tripping over the tools, or they are returned to the tool's storage container.  The magnifying lenses in the barn are fun to use in the gardens or on the trail to take a closer look at organisms and plants.  The lenses hang from a lanyard around a student’s neck.  Please instruct students to keep the magnifying lens around their neck until the lenses are gathered at the end of the class.  The lenses should not be swung or carried by hand to avoid injury to others or loss of the lens.  Students are not to use the lenses to try to burn plant material or organisms. 

• Pick flowers only if the coordinator says it's OK.  You may decide to pick flowers at the end of a class.  This works best if the coordinator cuts the flowers for the students as they head back to the classroom.  Teachers are also welcome to bring the class on a non-gardening day to have students cut a bouquet for a special event.  Any flower, except sunflowers, may be cut.

• Harvest food if the coordinator says it's OK.  We do not use chemicals, so we encourage student samplings of produce right out of the gardens.  Gardens are replanted during the summer so they are producing when the students are in school in the fall.  In the fall term, we ask you not to do any large scale harvesting from your garden until all gardens harvest for Harvest Soup Day in the cafeteria.  Prior to that date, you are encouraged to harvest ripe produce for the students to sample at school.  Plan ahead by checking your garden in advance and taking clean, fresh water, a paring knife, a plate, and toothpicks for a quick sampling at the end of your class.  Students should not sample with unwashed fingers.  Always use toothpicks, which are stored in the barn for you to use.  Please harvest from your garden beds only.  Coordinators guide the harvesting process to insure that only ripe plants are harvested and that the food is harvested with the best method.  Please do not send food home with students.  Only harvest what you plan to sample with the entire class.

• Treat garden animals with respect.  Pick up garden bugs only if the coordinator says it's safe and always return them to their garden home.  Some examples of animals to avoid are caterpillars that have small hairs which can be irritating to human skin and centipedes which have claws behind their head that inject venom similar to a bee sting.

• Work at the bottom of compost or wood chip piles and never climb them.  This keeps students safe and prevents the piles from spreading.