What to grow in a school garden?
Inviting kids into the garden is a wonderful way to teach them about life cycles, nature, the world around us, and where their food comes from. Here’s a guide to get your children inspired in the garden.
Wondering what to grow in a school garden?
Kids + gardening brings all kinds of benefits, learning and wonder!
But where to start? And what to grow in the Spring school garden?
If you are new to gardening, look no further!
We’ve been growing with the kids for 10+ years.
Together, we have compiled a list of the kids tried and true and TASTE TESTED favorites that are easy grow, and taste goooood!
What to grow in a Spring school garden:
1) CHERRY TOMATOES
Top of the list for a reason, these juicy gems are easy to grow, and easy for little fingers to forage and pick.
Tomatoes are easy to grow, with cherry tomatoes being fairly resistant to the problems of other varieties. They grow into a bush, so do need staking, but this means lots of stems for more tomatoes to grow!
These particular beauties are heirloom seeds grown from the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust, so are extra special – saved in NZ generation upon generation. Your school can get on board saving, and sharing these seeds too! Together keeping these special seeds going.
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✔ EASY CARE:
Need to stake + tie every couple of weeks. Suggest a watering system for summer break.
✔ KID FRIENDLY:
Great fruit for little fingers to forage.
✔ EASY TO GROW:
Cherry tomatoes germinate fairly easily, and seem resistant to blights that affect other varieties.
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2) CAPE GOOSEBERRY
These wee fruits are not only look enchanting, they are sweet and delicious!
Cape Gooseberry are cherry sized orange fruits encased in a papery ‘fairy lantern’ covering.
To be honest, us adults are lucky if we get to eat many – they are a favourite to forage and munch on in the summer and spring garden. I can’t blame them really, they are a treasure to hunt for and a treat to eat! They are easy growing, and in the right conditions can become weedy (if you are lucky!) making them an irresistible and lovely addition to home and school gardens.
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✔ EASY CARE:
Cape Gooseberries can be left to their own device quite easily.
Suggest to stake + tie every couple of weeks and watering once a week through summer break.
✔ KID FRIENDLY:
Great fruit for little fingers to forage.
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3) RUNNER BEANS
Kids don’t always like veges . . . but they can learn to!
Now I catch myself saying things to the kids like “Stop eating all the beans!”
Even though of course that’s what we actually want to encourage!
Setup initial framing and beans will climb. Suggest a watering system to water 1-2 times per week through summer break.
✔ FUN STRUCTURES:
Great for growing over a structure for an edible shaded, fun summer hut.
✔ PICK REGULARLY:
Regular picking encourages more flowers and beans to grow.
4) GEMSTONE POPCORN
GemstonePopcorn? What a beautiful and practical thing to grow.
And not only are they beautiful and ornamental, they can be popped into popcorn or ground into flour!
The kids loved husking and removing the seeds, a total sensory experience, seeds all in a bucket asking to be played with. They played for ages – almost as much fun as the popcorn part!
Plant out in double rows, to create spaces or ‘rooms’ in the garden.
Kids enjoy husking and removing (playing with seed) and the marvelous colours!
✔ EASY TO GROW:
Corn is great to plant an leave over the summer.
Suggest a watering system or water 1-2 times a week over for summer break.
5) CAPSICUM
Capsicum are another easy care plant, where after initial care and a some occasional love through the summer, they provide a crop that can actually last into the winter months.
We like to sown them in late Autumn for summer picking, while Capsicum sown in the Spring provide fruit for harvest in the Autumn and even early Winter months (in the right, sheltered climates), making these great to come back to after the summer break.
Here, the kids pester to pick them and simply “eat a whole one”.
Need to stake + tie every couple of weeks. Suggest a watering system for summer break.
✔ EASY TO GROW:
6) LEMON BALM
Lemon balm is a beautifully fragrant herb with a mild lemon aroma, that makes a tasty tea.
Lemonbalm it a plant and leave herb, great for summer break!
✔ KID FRIENDLY:
Generally indicated as safe for children (always use common sense).
✔ EASY TO GROW:
Pruning back at end of season helps to keep shape and tender leaf growth.
7) EDIBLE SUNFLOWERS
Sunflowers bring delight with their big joyful summery faces.
But did you know that some varieties are edible?
Need to stake + tie initially, then the stalks grow strong and support themselves (like our kids!)
✔ KID FRIENDLY:
Beautiful, fun presence in the garden and great for kids to pick and nibble on when sets seed.
Attracts buzzy friends to the garden.
Fun fact: The leaves and petals are actually edible too.
✔ GREAT TO TEACH PLANT LIFECYCLES:
Grow from seed, watch and learn about each stage of growth.
9) FLYING SAUCERS (SCALLOPINI)
In our garden these were first known as flying saucers, and the name has since stuck.
Need to be picked regularly so to encourage more growth.
Can grow into late Autumn, so try planting either side of the summer break.
✔ FUN FOR KIDS:
A novel plant, can be used on the BBQ or and extra special ingredient for a moist ‘zuchinni’ cake.
9) GHERKINS
My kids love a good pickle, and request to grow these year after year. They are a smaller sized cucumber perfect for pickling.
Need to be picked regularly so to encourage more growth.
Can grow into late Autumn, so try planting either side of the summer break.
Seem to be hardier than regular cucumbers.
10) EDIBLE FLOWERS (FOR THE BEES AND THE TUMMIES)
Edible flowers have become a favourite in out garden, there are so many to choose from! And not only can you eat many varieties of flowers on baking, salads, or even decorating a simple good -ol scone, they are great for eco-friendly crafts and creations (yes! especially if you are an Enviroschool and want to walk the talk!), and for the buzzy creatures who share our world and need the garden too. Many of tehse thrive from a regular picking, they produce more flowers, the more you pick, and many can withstand minimal care, making them great to enjoy over he spring months, and hopefully when school returns.
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After initial spring care, watering they take care of themselves.
Need to stake + tie periodically through summer growth.
Pick regularly to encourage more flower growth.
Beautiful, fun presence in the garden and great for kids to pick and nibble on when sets seed.
Attracts buzzy friends to the garden.
✔ GREAT TO TEACH PLANT LIFECYCLES:
Grow from seed, watch and learn about each stage of growth.
11) STRAWBERRIES
The perfect foraging fruit for little fingers! Having a Strawberry patch in a kids garden is a must. Who can resist a strawberry, sweet and healthy straight from your own garden. Plant in good soil, water, and you’ll be able to grow this easy care plant.
Netting may be required to protect from birds, that is if the kids don’t get to them first!
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After initial spring care, the occasional compost and watering they take care of themselves.
Like a treat in the garden – kids love hunting for and devouring these sweeties.
✔ GREAT TO TEACH PLANT LIFECYCLES:
At the end of the season they put out runners, forming baby plants for your next strawberry patch – how cool!
So there you have it, our list of kid approved, tummy tested ideas of what to grow in your school garden.
What would you add to this list?
I’d LOVE to hear what you grow, share and inspire us!
Want more Garden inspo?
Check out the seed range, or downloadable garden planners / garden by the moon:
EDIBLE FLOWER SEEDS NZ – Edible flower seed collection
SUMMER VEGE GARDEN – Vege seeds collection
HERBS + EDIBLE WEEDS NZ – Herbs and Edible Weeds seed collection
FRUIT TREE SEEDS NZ – Fruit tree seed collection
GARDEN JOURNALS – Garden Guides / Garden by the Moon
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