School Garden Websites

Jump to links specific to composting or vermicomposting!

California Heartland (www.californiaheartland.org/archive/hl_451/compost.htm)
Review California Heartland episode #451, which features the composting efforts of Forestville Union School District.

California School Garden Network (www.csgn.org/)
This site provided by a network of educational institutions and corporate partners contains a curriculum section with garden-based lessons, links to grant and fundraising opportunities, resources, and an events calendar.

CIWMB's School Garden Page (www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Education/Gardens/)
Encouraging and supporting school gardens provides children with opportunities to make healthier food choices, participate more successfully in their educational experiences, learn about nutrient cycles, and develop a deeper appreciation for the environment, community, and each other. To learn more about school gardens and the efficient use of school resources, refer to the CIWMB's helpful school garden information. These pages provide access to the benefits of school gardens, steps to getting started, resource conservation ideas for the garden, funding sources, and where to find more information.

Elementary School Gardens (commserv.ucdavis.edu/CESanDeigo/Schlgrdn/SchoolGardens.html)
The University of California Cooperative Extension, County of San Diego, has provided this helpful site for those who would like to have a school garden. Included are planning ideas, growing tips, activities, tours and other resources.

Gardening Influences Tots' Views on Veggies (www.cfaitc.org/ReutersHealth.html)
Reuters Health Information, Inc. has published this article, which reports that children's attitudes toward vegetables are positively influenced when they spend time gardening. This article is interesting and provides another validation for youth gardening programs, which may be of help if you are seeking administrative or financial support of a school garden.

Integrated Pest Management (www.schoolipm.info/)
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has launched a new version of its School Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Web site. IPM promotes strategies based on prevention and least-toxic solutions.

School Garden Registry (www.kidsgardening.com/school/register.asp)
Register your school garden and view others who have registered with The National Gardening Association. This site has many other school garden resources as well.

School Gardens (www.cityfarmer.org/schgard15.html)
City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture, has provided a list of links related to school gardening.

VIVA! Garden (www.vivagarden.com/schools/index.htm)
VIVA! Garden, in participation with The Home Depot, has developed the VIVA! Garden for Schools program to introduce gardening to children, through free plant material and garden guides.

Composting

Composting in Schools (compost.css.cornell.edu/Composting_homepage.html)
Cornell Composting provides access to a variety of composting educational materials and programs developed at Cornell University. The reader will learn in detail the science and engineering of composting, composting in schools, and composting resource materials. This is an educational site on the weird and unusual, along with a composting quiz and glossary.

Drink Box Composting (www.aseptic.org/)
The Aseptic Packaging Council is a trade association that represents the manufacturers of aseptic cartons (commonly called drink boxes). This site includes contact information and resources for recycling or composting milk cartons and drink boxes at school.

Organics Outlook (www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Organics/)
The California Integrated Waste Management Board provides you with information on compost, mulch, grasscycling, and other topics relating to the management and use of organic resources.

The Master Composter (www.mastercomposter.com)
There are so many great resources on this site, including a list of organic materials with appropriate compost methods for each, instructions for building bins, composting with worms, other composting methods and links to composting curricula and project ideas.

Vermicomposting

Global Classroom (globalclassroom.org/worms.html)
This site focuses on a first grade class that has a vermicomposting system. Included in this site are comments from the students regarding the activities.

Worm Composting Bin (www.dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub215.pdf)
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Solid Waste Management Program provides detailed instructions on how to build a worm composting system with some helpful Q & A and an extensive bibliography of resources.

Worm Digest (www.wormdigest.org)
This site's aim is to network people, information, and resources in the area of using worms for organic waste conversion and soil enrichment. Get your questions answered in the Worm Forum!

Worm Woman (www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/index.html)
This site provides Mary Appelhof's introduction to the methods of vermicomposting and its materials and process. Ms. Appelhof was known as the Worm Woman. This site advertises the book and video Worms Eat My Garbage, a child’s activity book Wormania, and products provided by the Worm Woman’s company. This page also provides worm video footage.

Worms! (www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Organics/Worms/)
The Integrated Waste Management Board's Worm Composting Site includes lists of worm suppliers and worm bin suppliers in California.