School Gardens with Ease

Send us Fan Mail

In Episode 13 of the School Gardens with Ease podcast, host Leila Mireskandari continues her insightful series on how to pitch and plan your annual vegetable school garden project. This episode focuses on one of the most crucial aspects of your proposal: the integration of lesson plans that turn your garden into a powerful educational tool.

Key Takeaways:

• The Core of School Gardens: Discover why lesson plans are essential for transforming a school garden into an educational experience and how they differentiate school gardens from any other garden.
• Budgeting for Educational Success: Understand the often-overlooked cost of developing lesson plans and why it's critical to include these in your garden proposal's budget.
• Strategic Lesson Planning: Leila shares her secret to writing effective garden-related lesson plans—starting with the garden tasks and integrating them with your existing curriculum. Learn how to create a series of lessons that align with the natural schedule of gardening while covering key subjects like science, math, language, arts, and social studies.
• Avoiding Common Pitfalls: Learn why one-off gardening lessons aren't enough and how a well-structured, integrated approach can ensure that your students not only grow a garden but also gain meaningful, curriculum-aligned learning experiences.
• Preparing for Your Pitch: Get tips on how to communicate the importance of lesson plans in your pitch or proposal, setting the stage for a well-rounded, funded, and educationally impactful garden project.

If you're preparing to propose a school garden or looking to enhance your current project with structured educational content, this episode is a must-listen. Stay tuned for the next episode, where Leila will discuss the timing and location of your garden, crucial factors that influence your project’s budget and success.

My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers

Indoor Seed Starting in Schools guide:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/pZ2cNrYj/checkout

To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

To figure out the timing of seeds for your growing zone:
Growveg.com

Send us Fan Mail

In Episode 12 of the School Gardens with Ease podcast, your host Leila Mireskandari continues the essential discussion on creating a compelling proposal for your annual vegetable school garden project. This episode is part 2 of the series and dives deep into the heart of your proposal: the detailed plan.

Leila explains the critical elements your plan should cover, including the "who," "what," "when," and "where" of your garden project. She emphasizes the importance of ensuring that students, not adults, are at the center of all garden activities, from building to growing. This hands-on involvement is crucial for making your school garden a true educational tool.

In this episode, Leila also breaks down what types of plants to include and avoid in your garden. She provides insights into choosing the right plants that align with the school schedule and growing season, ensuring that your students can enjoy the fruits of their labor before the school year ends or return to a bountiful harvest in the fall.

Whether you're planning an outdoor garden or a classroom garden, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you build a garden that thrives with minimal maintenance over the summer. Leila also highlights her Oasis Classroom program, perfect for those interested in creating a robust indoor garden experience.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The essential components of a detailed school garden plan
• Why students should be the ones doing all the garden work
• How to select plants that are easy to grow and fit the school calendar
• Tips for minimizing summer maintenance with smart plant choices
• The benefits of classroom gardens and how they can be a great alternative to outdoor gardens

Links Mentioned:

• Episode 6: The Unsung Heroes of School Gardening – Classroom Gardens
• Oasis Classroom Program
• Free Recommended List of Seeds for School Gardens
• GrowVeg.com Garden Planner (7-Day Free Trial)

Tune in to ensure your school garden proposal is complete, compelling, and sets you up for a successful growing season. And don’t forget to join us in the next episode, where we’ll explore the “what to teach” component of your garden plan.

Send us Fan Mail

n this episode of the "School Gardens with Ease" podcast, host Leila Mireskandari dives into the first part of a crucial topic: how to create a compelling proposal for an educational food garden at your school. This episode, the first in a multi-part series, focuses on the foundational elements you need to make your pitch irresistible to school decision-makers like principals, directors, school board committees, and parent councils.

Episode Highlights:

• Introduction to School Garden Proposals: Learn why it’s important to craft a solid proposal or presentation, especially if you need approvals, funding, or other forms of support.
• Key Elements of Your Proposal:
  1. Type of Garden: Why an annual vegetable garden is the best choice for educational purposes, and how it stands out from other garden types like pollinator gardens or fruit orchards.
  2. The "Why" of Your Garden: Detailed benefits of a school garden, including its role as a versatile educational tool, its hands-on experiential learning opportunities, and its potential for fostering teamwork, empathy, and environmental stewardship.

Leila also emphasizes the empowering nature of food gardening, offering students a tangible way to contribute to environmental solutions. By the end of this episode, you'll be equipped to start building a proposal that not only secures support but also turns stakeholders into enthusiastic advocates for your school garden project.

Tune in next week as Leila continues with the detailed plan and budget components of your school garden proposal.

Resources Mentioned:

• My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
  https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers
• Indoor Seed Starting in Schools guide:
  https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/pZ2cNrYj/checkout
• To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
  https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

Don’t miss this insightful guide to making your school garden dreams a reality!

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we will talk about how not to engage your community in your school garden project and how to do it properly and at the right time.
This goes against the grain but is something we should talk about.

My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers

Indoor Seed Starting in Schools guide:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/pZ2cNrYj/checkout

To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we will talk about what to do if you were given an old garden and was told to take over, revive and use it. Or if you discovered an old garden and decided to take over, revive and use it.

My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers

Indoor Seed Starting in Schools guide:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/pZ2cNrYj/checkout

To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we answer the question, who should grow the school garden.
Cause it seems like a lot of work and those who do it seem to struggle a lot. Should it be the teachers? The parents? Vendors and Community Partners?

My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers

To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

Send us Fan Mail

Classroom gardens are underrated.
More teachers should grow them and more people should talk about them. So let's talk about them in this episode:

Here are the links I mentioned in this episode:

My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers

The Sub-irrigated Indoor seed Starting Guide:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/pZ2cNrYj/checkout

To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

Growveg.com garden planner:
https://www.growveg.com/

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode let's talk about how overrated outdoor school gardens and those expensive equipment indoor gardens are!
How inaccessible and out of reach they are to most teachers and how unfair it is that majority of students don't have the chance to learn how to grow their own veggies because of that.

To learn more about my Oasis Suite of programs you can visit the following link:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/links-oasis-programs

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we focus on the most important summer maintenance chore, watering.

Here are the links and downloads I promise you in the episode:

Watering Chest Guide:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/c5FtFUCe/checkout
Hugelkultur Guide:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/offers/8WLA6Gpd/checkout
Caja Planters:
https://www.thegrowingconnection.com/
Caja Oasis School Gardening Program:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/cajaoasis2025
Amazon finds:
Watering clay spikes
Olla Pots

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of School Gardens with Ease podcast we focus on the topic of summer maintenance.
Here are the two downloads that I promise you in this episode.
Guide to a School Garden with Almost No Summer Maintenance:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/school-gardens-with-almost-no-summer-maintenance-free-guide
My Recommended List of Seeds for Schools:
https://www.kidsgrowingcity.ca/get-seed-list-gift-for-teachers