How to Begin Creating Garden Links in an Integrated Food Curriculum

For the next couple of weeks, I am going to lead you through an example of how I create a linked garden, cooking, and classroom curriculum. It is my hope that this will inspire you to begin creating your own.

When planning any garden I always begin with a set of questions. Below is the set of questions I have asked over and over again, of myself, my colleges, and educators and administrators in programs that have asked me to create curriculum for them. The answers to these questions help me to think about what the garden plan I’m designing might grow into.

When thinking about the all school garden, tell me a little about…

• Which plants have been successful?
• Which plants didn’t work at all?
• Which plants do you never tire of growing?
• Please describe any garden to table rituals that you already have in place.
• An example of one that I observed was using the apples from the school orchard being used as a topping for waffles in one class and applesauce in another.
• Please describe any garden to table rituals you wish you could create.
• An example from my own experience is growing Rainbow Inca Corn and the grinding of the corn into meal to make corn bread.