Oconto's
Community Garden Project
JULY 2007—The Oconto Community Garden Project is currently in its 7th season and thanks to a number of helping hands, big and little, everything is looking great! This spring teachers and students from the Oconto Elementary and staff from UW-Extension helped prepare the garden for planting, and before the end of the school year it was planted, mainly by the third grade classes. In early summer, the community garden was tended by Mrs. Pinkart’s summer school class group. UW-Extension’s Summer Intern, John Kruse, also helped teach gardening-related lessons earlier in July.
In addition to teaching children about the finer points of planting and tending a garden, during late June through early October, the project also serves as a source of fresh vegetables for NEWCAP’s food pantry. Portions of the harvest will also be donated to the Oconto Commission on Aging and to groups New View Industries clients who will visit the garden later this summer.
The community garden is located behind the elementary school in Oconto. If you’re nearby, stop by for a visit. If you’re not, you can see some recent pictures are available here.
OCTOBER 2006—The Oconto Community Garden Project, which this year completed its sixth season, serves two main purposes. First, it is used to teachboth children and adults about gardening. Located on the grounds of the Oconto Elementary School, class time is built each spring and fall for the students to participate in planting, tending and harvesting the garden. Also this year, fresh produce from the garden was part of the lunch menu offered to students at OES. The University of Wisconsin-Extension Nutrition Education Program also conducts events at the garden with adult audiences throughout the summer to teach about nutrition and gardening.
The second main purpose served by the community garden is to provide a source of fresh vegetables for NEWCAP’s food pantry during late June through early October. During the summer, produce was also donated to the Commission on Aging meal site in Oconto, and to New View Industries clients in Gillett.
This year, grant dollars made available by the Oconto County Public Health Department were used to make some improvements to the garden, including bordering the garden with landscape timbers, and the purchase of needed tools and equipment.
The Community Garden Project is the result of a partnership between UW-Extension, Oconto Schools, and NEWCAP, Inc.
Click here to view garden pictures from the season.
Need Funding to Start a School Garden?
 
 Organize
Establish a planning committee and a coordinator. Discuss roles of teachers, parents, volunteers, and administrators. Define the purpose and objectives for the garden. Decide how to share information, assign duties, plan and schedule workdays. Form a year-round plan that identifies who will keep the garden maintained during summer break, conduct summer gardening classes, start up and close down the garden, each year, etc. Determine whether you will need to obtain liability insurance for the project.
Select a Location
Consider sunlight (at least 6-7 hours per day), soil quality, lot debris, drainage, wildlife pests, electricity, and potential for vandalism. You may want to start small, but leave room to expand. Include school administrators, school boards, and maintenance staff in planning and organizing the project. Recruit local experts, such as master gardeners, county University Extension offices in planning and designing the garden.?
Tools, Equipment and Structures
You will need a storage facility located nearby the garden to store tillers, garden tools, hoses, buckets, wheelbarrows, etc. Consider using fabric material under pathways for weed control. Other considerations include: construction of a compost bin, a sign for the garden, a green house, landscaping timbers, benches, picnic tables.
Estimate Costs
Develop a budget. Discuss sponsor, donation, fund raising and grant opportunities. Start up costs may include: organic planting mix, irrigation, storage building, tools and equipment, wood chips or mulch, lumber, stakes, fencing.
Design of the Garden
Consider garden plot size & pathways (make them wheelchair accessible), room for expansion, type of watering system, an area for composting, sufficient space for groups to gather. Will fencing be necessary? Encourage landscape diversity by having sections for annual crops, berry patches, flower andherbbeds, planters, fruit trees, etc. Explore school garden web sites for ideas.
Prepare the Site
Clear the area of debris, determine garden borders, prepare soil (consider a soil test), mark off pathways and garden plots, form beds, install water system, mulch pathways, plan compost area/bin.
Plan your Student’s Garden Activities
Determine which groups of students will be doing what. For example, how will bed spaces will be allocated? How many students and/or grade levels will be involved? Will there be individual class beds, theme gardens (butterfly garden, pumpkin patch), etc? How could students stay involved during the summer months?
Using the Harvest
Plan for how the harvest be utilized. Some ideas include: using garden produce in school meals, donating to local food pantries or senior mealsites,and other charities, using in school health fairs, and allowing students and families to bring produce home to eat.
Publicity and Public Relations
You may use your local media to recruit volunteers and to promote the activities taking place in your school garden. You may also request contributions from local gardening centers, green houses, nurseries, and hardware stores.
Other Educational Programs
Consider making your school garden available for use by other community education programs such as garden clubs, Master Gardeners, or the Cooperative Extension Service.
Prepared by the Oconto Unified School District and Oconto County University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension.
Contact: John Pinkart (920) 834-6845, john.pinkart@ces.uwex.edu
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