History

By Allison -
The SPEC School Gardens Project began as a pilot in two schools, in March 2009, reaching 190 students.  By April 2012 the project had grown to 7 schools, and over 1050 students have been involved by building, planting, learning, maintaining, harvesting and eating the fruits of their labours.

The project has received over $20,000 in grants, donations and other support from various sources, as well as in kind-donations, and time from school PAC's, parent volunteers, teachers, students, local businesses and foundations.


The purpose of this site is to share some of the stories and images from the project, to share information, and to inspire more schools to get involved in creating, growing and harvesting their own food gardens.  The site will document some of the events of the past years, then become an ongoing blog of activities by the school gardens project team.

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The Story of John Norquay: The School Garden Buzzzzing with Excitement

By SPEC School Gardens -
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At the Farm to School BC Spring Celebration, one of the schools SPEC works with, John Norquay Elementary, was awarded the highest award for a school garden. The Farm to School BC Pollinator Award recognizes Farm to School programs and school teams that act as pollinators within their community: buzzing around their gardens, kitchens and classrooms to build healthy food systems, transferring and sharing knowledge, fostering thriving learning environments, and supporting the development of young healthy “seeds”, who will grow up to one day offer the fruits of their labour back to the environment and community. 1 This esteemed award went specifically to John Norquay’s school garden committee, which includes Valeria Kao (parent volunteer), Linda De Jardin (grade 6/7 teacher), and Ivy Chang (K/1 teacher) as well as the involvement of many others at the school, such as Gary Loong (grade 5/6 teacher), the school librarian/resident garden carpenter, Mark  Warkentin , a very supportive cu
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John Norquay Elementary Transplanting Session

By SPEC School Gardens -
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May 3rd What a beautiful, sunny day to be outside! Today, students transplanted their leafy greens into the garden boxes. We were very impressed with how well the boc choy grew. Unfortunately, the lettuce seeds struggled to grow, but that happens sometimes. The grade four class spent the hour adding compost to their garden box and planting new lettuce seeds. Check out the photos! 
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Preparing for the Winter at Thunderbird Elementary

By SPEC School Gardens -
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For more details, click to go the SPEC website. Fall 2016: As the winter nears, and the rains pick up, students at our 10 schools have been busy getting the gardens ready for winter. The students cover each garden box with leaves to protect the soil from the cold and rain, to feed the worms, and to add fertility back into the garden so that we can have rich soil waiting for us in the Spring. TIP: Instead of putting your leaves in your green bin, you can use the leaves to mulch your garden over the winter, which protects the soil and adds nutrients back into the ground.
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