Valley Oaks Charter School, a home school public charter school where we have our meetings, finished building their new school and did not have a school garden at the time. Plants for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators not only offer important habitats for these species, they often enjoy a greater fruit and vegetable bounty come harvest time. Bees, in particular, are master pollinators of many of our fruits and vegetables. However, pollinators are facing many challenges including habitat loss, disease, and harmful pesticides. 

Setting up a school edible garden including native plants can help ensure a bountiful harvest because natives will teach students who attend Valley Oaks how to grow their own garden as well as the importance of pollinators. We selected this project because we wanted to give back to our local community. We love gardening and growing our own food, and do want to also teach other students attending Valley Oaks what we had learned about growing our own organic garden and various gardening topics such as the importance of native plants and pollinator gardens. We wanted to help beautify the school while making it educational.

We fundraised by selling Girl Scout cookies and used the earnings to buy all the gardening supplies. We worked together to help put in the garden, plants, and trees. We each picked a vegetable to grow and made a video on how to cook this vegetable. We also picked a garden craft/activity and made a video on how to make it. Our troop leader put our video on YouTube and posted the link as a QR code on a sign in the garden. This way students and parents can scan with their phones to see the lessons and do it themselves. What made us feel good about the project is giving back to our community and doing our part to make the world a better place. 

Check out our Before, During, and After Photos below!

Before

After