Garden clubs
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Beginning in April 2012, the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy teamed up with Grandin Court Elementary School to begin an after-school Garden Club for students interested in learning about gardening and growing food. At first, we were worried there might be limited student interest in such an “uncool” activity like gardening. However, the demand for the program was so great we needed to actually cap the number of students! We have 52 students, grades kindergarten through fifth, along with parent volunteers that join once a week to develop gardening knowledge and skills.
Update: The brand new garden beds have been constructed at Westside Elementary and the lessons have been completed! The students are always excited to dig in the dirt and their faces always light up when they learn something new. Check out our photo gallery to view pictures of volunteers who made the beds at Westside Elementary in 2014 as well as students learning! Press Coverage: Roanoke Star What's Involved in a Garden Club?
Download the Garden Club Curriculum
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Thank you to our generous donors | ||||||
Each student keeps a Garden Club Activity Book that includes information covered in our talks and various learning activities that relate to gardening. At the end of the school year they will be able to take their Activity Book home to share with their family!
Week 1: Weeding
Each week, we focus on an aspect of plant life and a gardening topic. In our first week, the students learned all about weeds – what they are, why they are bad, and what we can do about them. Then, we got our hands dirty and began weeding the four raised beds located within the Grandin Court Elementary School playground.
Week 2: Weeding and What a Plant Needs
With a lot more weeding to be done, the kids spent most of the time learning how to use implements to dig up the soil. We also talked about the parts of plants and what a plant needs to grow. Each student got to plant a few bean or pea seeds to take home and care for.
Week 3: Soil and Water
With the weeding almost done, our focus turned to the soil. Each student has an activity book where they collect information and activities that relate to each week’s lesson. This week they received a whole packet on soil!
Each student also got to decorate their own “watering can” – a simple milk jug with holes drilled through the cap! They got to work watering and working up the soil. We finished by planting some wildflower seeds in front of the sign within the playground.
Week 4: Rain, Rain Go Away
This week we had every intention of planting our donated seedlings, but the icky weather kept us out of the garden. Instead, we spent time under the pavilion learning about how “milkweed” gets its name, what basil tastes like, and that we eat all different parts of plants – from the root to seed. The students really impress me each week with their plant knowledge, they’re smart cookies! We were excited to see that some of our wildflowers have already sprouted!
Week 5: Planting Day!
Finally, we have plants in the ground! We could not have asked for better weather for planting. The sun was shining and the kids were ready to plant this week. We used three of the four beds to create loosely themed gardens: Vegetable Garden 1, Vegetable Garden 2, and a Flower Garden. Click on the name of each garden to see a rough outline of what and where the children planted!
Week 6: Last Day of Garden Club!
Today was the last official meeting of the spring 2012 Grandin Court Elementary School Garden Club! We finished the year strong with spreading more soil and organic fertilizer on our beds, planting, weeding, and watering. We hope the kids had a great time learning all about gardening and getting their hands a little dirty each week. All of the students are encouraged to come by the gardens during the summer to help care for the raised beds and eventually harvest the vegetables! I will be planning a meeting soon for families interested in helping with the garden over the summer to go into more details about summer care.
At the beginning of the meeting, I asked the children to write one thing they either learned through or liked about garden club. Here are some of the responses (interpreted from what the kids wrote):
*Planting in the flowers bed*
*I like gardening because I like planting a lot*
*Planting*
*I like to let things grow*
*I liked to learn how to plant plants*
*Planting all of the plants*
*I learned how to plant*
*What I liked in gardening club: I liked planting and producing flowers*
*I liked garden flowers*
*I learned how to plant*
*I learned about plants*
*Gardening* also *Garding* and *Gardining*
*I liked it when we planted plants*
Week 1: Weeding
Each week, we focus on an aspect of plant life and a gardening topic. In our first week, the students learned all about weeds – what they are, why they are bad, and what we can do about them. Then, we got our hands dirty and began weeding the four raised beds located within the Grandin Court Elementary School playground.
Week 2: Weeding and What a Plant Needs
With a lot more weeding to be done, the kids spent most of the time learning how to use implements to dig up the soil. We also talked about the parts of plants and what a plant needs to grow. Each student got to plant a few bean or pea seeds to take home and care for.
Week 3: Soil and Water
With the weeding almost done, our focus turned to the soil. Each student has an activity book where they collect information and activities that relate to each week’s lesson. This week they received a whole packet on soil!
Each student also got to decorate their own “watering can” – a simple milk jug with holes drilled through the cap! They got to work watering and working up the soil. We finished by planting some wildflower seeds in front of the sign within the playground.
Week 4: Rain, Rain Go Away
This week we had every intention of planting our donated seedlings, but the icky weather kept us out of the garden. Instead, we spent time under the pavilion learning about how “milkweed” gets its name, what basil tastes like, and that we eat all different parts of plants – from the root to seed. The students really impress me each week with their plant knowledge, they’re smart cookies! We were excited to see that some of our wildflowers have already sprouted!
Week 5: Planting Day!
Finally, we have plants in the ground! We could not have asked for better weather for planting. The sun was shining and the kids were ready to plant this week. We used three of the four beds to create loosely themed gardens: Vegetable Garden 1, Vegetable Garden 2, and a Flower Garden. Click on the name of each garden to see a rough outline of what and where the children planted!
Week 6: Last Day of Garden Club!
Today was the last official meeting of the spring 2012 Grandin Court Elementary School Garden Club! We finished the year strong with spreading more soil and organic fertilizer on our beds, planting, weeding, and watering. We hope the kids had a great time learning all about gardening and getting their hands a little dirty each week. All of the students are encouraged to come by the gardens during the summer to help care for the raised beds and eventually harvest the vegetables! I will be planning a meeting soon for families interested in helping with the garden over the summer to go into more details about summer care.
At the beginning of the meeting, I asked the children to write one thing they either learned through or liked about garden club. Here are some of the responses (interpreted from what the kids wrote):
*Planting in the flowers bed*
*I like gardening because I like planting a lot*
*Planting*
*I like to let things grow*
*I liked to learn how to plant plants*
*Planting all of the plants*
*I learned how to plant*
*What I liked in gardening club: I liked planting and producing flowers*
*I liked garden flowers*
*I learned how to plant*
*I learned about plants*
*Gardening* also *Garding* and *Gardining*
*I liked it when we planted plants*
