Why School Gardens?

View our research database for articles and research briefs that support the value and purpose of school gardens.

The garden pathways map lists 101 ways to connect learning to your garden project.

Read the about the four pillars of our mission in the links below.

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A Healthy Lifestyle

Beyond academics, the garden provides broader life lessons including contributing to students’ knowledge of how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The state of California is experiencing a major health crisis as the number of overweight and obese youth is growing at an epidemic rate.

Academic Achievement

Academic achievement is the primary focus of educators throughout the country. Emphasis is placed on ensuring students perform at satisfactory levels guided by local, state and national academic standards. All lessons and activities must complement mandatory standards to merit the use of valuable classroom time.

Community and Social Development

Community and social development lessons do not receive the attention of academic achievement, but they are as crucial to the survival of our country as reading and writing. Children must learn how to take responsibility for their environment and develop a strong sense of community to ensure the continuation of our society.

Environmental Stewardship

A school garden is a powerful environmental education tool. Through gardening, students become responsible caretakers. They have an opportunity to engage in agricultural practices on a small scale, learning about the responsibilities and impacts of land cultivation. They explore the web of interactions among the living and nonliving players that sustain life.

Garden-Based Learning Research Summaries

The CSGN Research Committee along with the UC Garden-Based Learning Workgroup has created research summaries that highlight the value of garden-based education programs. These were created to give promoters of school gardens data to share on the impact of garden-based learning.

More benefits of Garden-Based Learning are documented on Cornell's Garden-Based Learning site.

Garden-Based Learning Assessment Tools

For resources on assessing garden-based education programs try the following sites:

Garden-Based Learning Evaluators Tool Kit

Easy to use guidance, aimed at the educator with minimum experience with evaluation, for purposes of program improvement and documentation.

Farm to School & School Garden Research Consortium

A social network that coordinates research and evaluation efforts to strengthen farm to school and garden-based education programs, practices and policies