School Gardens Project

Check out our School Gardens Project Blog!

The SPEC School Gardens Project has now started seven organic school gardens across Vancouver in the last four years!

These school gardens have educated school children, teachers, parents, administrators and the community about urban agriculture.

Through the program, school children learn about food security and how to grow their own organic fruits and veggies, while teachers learn to incorporate fun and thought provoking agricultural topics into their curriculum.

Discussing food issues has proven to be a powerful way to engage children in various science, social studies, math, and health and nutrition topics already written into the BC curriculum.

Perhaps most importantly, this project strengthens students' connections to the environment and can make their school experience both meaningful and memorable.

This project is primarily funded by SPEC members and donors as well as the Vancouver Foundation.
Please consider supporting this project by making a donation.

School Gardens Project Contact
Marnie Newell
marnie@spec.bc.ca
604 736 7732

The Schools

We have established organic food gardens at Bayview Community School, General Brock Elementary, Kitsilano Secondary School, L'Ecole Bilingue, Queen Elizabeth Elementary, Sir Wilfred Grenfell Community School and Thunderbird Elementary.

View SPEC School Gardens Projects in a larger map

Testimonials & Thank-You Letters

Media

School Gardens Project Blog (click to view)

Vancouver School Board news article "Creating a Buzz about School Gardens".
View our School Gardens video on our YouTube page

Starting a School Garden

Looking to start an organic school food garden or new ideas for your existing project?

SPEC's School Gardens Start Up Guide
NEW!! Consultations Available.
SPEC now offers consultations for existing or planned school food gardens and orchards. The consultation consists of an on-site visit to discuss and determine best garden locations, aspect, water sources, planting schedule, best suited fruit and vegetable varieties, composting systems, materials sourcing, maintenance planning and funding sources. For existing gardens recommendations will be made for improvements and possible expansion. A follow-up written report will also be included. The fee for this complete consultation is $150.00. Funding is available, though limited, to support lower income schools.
SPEC's School Gardens Curriculum Guide (coming soon)
As a sneak peek take a look at our Classroom Composter lesson
Other resources:
- Vancouver Board of Education School Food Garden Policy
- West Coast Seeds Planting Chart - find out what to plant when
- Environmental Youth Alliance - Seedlings and Workshops for School Communities
- Van Dusen Master Gardeners' Recommended Vegetable Varieties
- Garden Eats and Treats - over 60 recipes that take you from seeds of spring to squash and root vegetables of autumn harvest
- Site Assessment Guide by Melissa Iverson
Are you ready to start a School Garden? Apply to be a SPEC School Gardens Project School by filling out the Application Form and submitting it to marnie@spec.bc.ca. Current funding allows us provide the full program only to existing program schools but new Vancouver Foundation funding allows SPEC to conduct consultations and a limited number of lessons or activities to new qualifying schools. Facilitators may be able to provide advice and additional resources within Metro Vancouver upon request.