Starting+a+School+Food+Garden

Here are some great resources that cover the basics on how to get a food garden going at your school!
Click on the images below to view the entire PDF version. || ||  ||  ||
 * [[image:wikitbhemg/Untitled.jpg width="254" height="345" align="center" link="http://richmondfoodsecurity.org/Documents/School%20Garden%20Toolkit%5B1%5D.pdf"]] || [[image:wikitbhemg/COG.jpg width="312" height="308" align="center" link="file:wikitbhemg/COG GUO garden workbook.pdf"]] ||

Wondering how School Gardening can Enhance Student Learning?
Click on the images below to learn more.
 * [[image:wikitbhemg/Impact of School Gardening on Learning.jpg width="254" height="324" align="center" link="http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/uploads/documents/Impact_of_school_gardening_on_learning_821.pdf"]] || [[image:wikitbhemg/RHS.jpg width="258" height="367" link="file:wikitbhemg/RHS-Gardening-in-Schools-Aug10_852.pdf"]] ||

Example of Garden Box Construction
Here is an example of a garden box construction. It was all cedar. We got all our wood from Wanson Lumber (345-6589). The 3 rd garden we built was an upgrade on the first two in that we secured the corners by drilling 3/8” hole vertically through the corner, and then drove in 3/8” aluminium rod (get at Canadian Tire). This should last a very long time, much longer than screwing the corners. Below is a Bill of Materials for building a single garden.

One would want to double check these prices as they are from last year. If you simply forward this email to Wanson ( wanson@tbaytel.net ) they will fax back a quote. I’ve included enough screws to ensure there should be a few extras of each (Wanson should ensure they are suitable for affixing cedar gardens). I don’t remember what the Al rod was worth, just took a guess.
 * Item || Quantity || Per Item || Total ||
 * 2x6 – 10’ || 4 || $16.38 || $65.52 ||
 * 2x6 - 8’ || 2 || $13.19 || $26.38 ||
 * 2x8 – 8’ || 1 || $21.62 || $21.62 ||
 * 1-1/4x6 – 10’ || 2 || $11.57 || $23.14 ||
 * 2x4 – 10’ || 3 || $9.59 || $28.77 ||
 * Screws – 3” || 50 (1/2 lb?) || $2.00 || $2.00 ||
 * Screws – 2.5” || 30 (1/2 lb?) || $2.00 || $2.00 ||
 * Screws – 2” || 80 (1lb?) || $4.00 || $4.00 ||
 * 3/8” Al rod – 4’ || 1 || $12?? || $12.00 ||
 * ||  || TOTAL || $185.43 ||

As for instructions: • any screws that get put in should be put in from the inside, so you don’t see any screw heads on the outside of the garden
 * cut the 2x6-10’ to 118”, and the 2x6-8’ to 48” and notch the ends of these pieces to fit together as per the drawing
 * cut the 1-1/4x6-8’ into 1 length of near 45” (say 44-3/4”) and 1 length of 36”, cut that 36” in half, and then into 4 lengths of roughly 9” each, screw these eight 9”pieces to the boards above to help align the corners, make sure you keep them near flush with the bottom (this is a little different from the drawing, where we just used a 1-1/4x6x9” piece in each corner)
 * check for square, and sync a 3/8” drill bit vertically into each corner, followed by 10.5” of Aluminum rod
 * cut the 2x4-10’ to 120” (2 of them) and 43” (make 2 of them)
 * this should leave 34” spare 2x4, cut 2 lengths of 9” off this, and secure them vertically to roughly the centre of the garden side walls as shown in drawing, make sure you keep them flush with the bottom
 * cut the 2x8-8’ to 45” (the other 51” is waste, so this particular choice works better for building 2 gardens)
 * secure the piece you just cut above to two 43” 2x4’s mentioned above, as per the drawing
 * cut the 1-1/4x6-10’ to near 113” (say 112-3/4”)
 * rip off both sides of the the near 113” and near 45” pieces of 1-1/4x6 into strips 1-3/4” wide
 * screw those strips to the bottom of the appropriate 2x4’s, such that the 1-3/4” surface is flush with the short side of the 2x4, with the nice side of the 1-1/4” wood away from the joint (wood is actually 1” thick)
 * drop the short end caps that you’ve just made in first, and then the long side caps. Affix them with screws drilled through the 1-1/4” pieces on the inside of the bed (you might need to trim things a little more to make these caps fit nicely).

That should do it. I pre-cut everything at home to ensure no errors, and to help things move smoothly on site. Below are some photos of the garden boxes for a useful reference.