Location of Tools and Supplies

Granny’s Garden School has three locations for tools and supplies.  Two are located in the front courtyard area of the gardens, which is located between Loveland Elementary and Primary Schools.  One courtyard space is the corral, which is located in the left corner at the back of the courtyard.  There is a chain link fence and gate at the entrance.  The other courtyard storage area is the green barn in the center of the courtyard.  The third storage location is Granny’s Garden School Office, which is located at 20 Miamiview.  Miamiview is the street next to McDonald’s Restaurant.  Granny’s Garden School Office is accessible to the school grounds along the side of the transportation area behind Loveland Elementary School. 

In the Corral
Tools and containers are located in the corral.  We stock student-sized spades that are located in the large, covered garbage cans and trowels that are located in buckets inside the long, metal storage bin, all of which are located near the entrance to the corral.  When the tools are returned, please be sure to replace the covers to prevent rusting.

The corral also contains wheelbarrows that can be used to transport your tools and supplies to your garden spot.  Please stand them vertically to prevent rusting. 

Many containers are in the corral.  Buckets with handles can be used to collect weeds and spread wood chip mulch and leaf compost.  These buckets are stored upside down to prevent water from accumulating in them when it rains.  Plastic plant pots are available if starting plants indoors from seeds for transplanting later into the class gardens.

In the Barn
Buckets marked with your teacher’s name are located in the barn. We will use these to distribute supplies (like seeds for the growing season) and information (like planting instructions) to you from time-to-time, so please check your class bucket each time you take your class out.  Please do not remove these buckets from the barn.

Also in the barn are plant markers, rulers, plastic magnifying lenses, baskets used for harvesting, soil thermometers, and Frisbees for compost dissection. 

We recycle plastic Venetian blinds for our plant markers.  They are cut to about six inches and labeled by students with a permanent marker when they plant. 

Supplies for various class activities are located in the barn and are specified on the individual lesson plans on the website.

Supply Sign-Out
The Supply Sign-Out form is located on the bulletin board hanging on the inside of the barn door.  Please complete the form when you borrow items from the barn, and return the supplies after your class since our quantities are limited and other classes may need the items.

In Granny’s School Office
Seeds are located in Granny’s Garden School Office.  Each planting season, seeds that are appropriate for the growing season are pulled from our inventory and delivered to your class bucket in the courtyard barn.  If you have a special request, please contact us about a week in advance, and we’ll check our inventory.

If you need binoculars or compasses, plan in advance to sign them out from Granny’s School office.

Granny’s Garden Library is also located in the office.  The website lists the titles in the library.  There are books related to gardening with kids, identification guides, and general garden reference books for your information.  A sign out form is  located in the library.

Seeds and Plant Markers

Seed packets and plant markers should be gathered in advance of planting day.  Coordinators or teachers should bring a few permanent markers for the students to write on the plant markers.  We prepackage seeds for your use to be sure you have the correct amount for your class to plant.  We deliver the seeds and planting instructions to your class bucket in the barn.

We plant only food crops in the class gardens.  Some plants like corn, squash, and potatoes take up a lot of space, and are planted in areas outside the garden beds.  For example, potatoes are planted along the boards of the raised beds on the outside.  Please check with us about planting foods that take up a lot of space if we have not addressed the planting location in your planting instructions.

Flower seeds and flower transplants can be planted in other areas of the school gardens.  Please check with us for locations.

Wood Chips for Mulching Paths
We use donated wood chips to mulch the walking paths through garden areas.  The chips are large and densely packed to prevent weeds.  The paths are mulched in the fall and spring.  Classes help this effort by laying wood chips on the paths around their class garden beds. 

There are wood chip piles in the courtyard and behind Loveland Elementary School at the end of the parking lot near the woods.  Students should not climb on the piles to prevent them from spreading too far.  If we are able to obtain the necessary equipment, we will locate a pile of wood chips behind Loveland Primary School.

Compost for Preparing Beds
Granny’s Garden School receives truckloads of donated leaves from the fall leaf pick up in various communities.  Over time the leaves decompose nicely into nutrient-rich compost that we add to the gardens.  Before planting day in the spring, the students spread a layer of leaf compost on their garden beds.  In the fall after the beds have been harvested, a thick layer of leaf compost is spread over the class gardens by the students to prevent germination of many weeds in the following spring.

The leaf compost piles are primarily located behind Loveland Elementary School at the end of the parking lot near the woods.  If we are able to acquire the necessary equipment and volunteers, we also locate a pile in the courtyard and behind Loveland Primary School.  Students should not climb on the piles.  Climbing on the piles compacts the leaves and slows down the decomposition process. 

Watering 
We coordinate the watering of the gardens, including the class gardens.

Parents Often  Donate Plants and Seeds
If additional supplies or special seeds or transplants are needed, class parents are often willing to send in donations.  Many parents can’t volunteer in the gardens, but are willing to provide inexpensive supplies (for example, bulbs for the children to plant in the common areas in the fall) with a little advance notice via a note that the teacher can send home with students. 

What are the basic garden rules to discuss with the students?

Garden Time is Class Time

Teachers remind students that time in the garden is still class time.  Since many garden areas are near classrooms, please remind students to use inside voices so classes are not disturbed.

As a coordinator or volunteer, please keep your focus on the students and the activity.  Check with your teacher about the rules for bringing younger siblings.  Granny permits siblings if the parent coordinator or volunteer and the older sibling in the class are not distracted by the presence of the younger children.  However, teachers may have a different rule that siblings may not participate in this class time activity.  Be sure to check in advance.

Walk on Paths
Please instruct the students to walk on the wood chip paths only.  Students and adults often assume that it is okay to walk in a garden where there are no plants.  We never walk in a garden, even when it does not contain plants because it compacts the soil.  If an area is not covered with wood chip mulch, grass, or blacktop, it should be considered a garden.

Don't Stand or Sit on the Beds
Students are often tempted to stand or sit on the boards that form the raised beds of the class gardens.  To avoid damage to these structures, please ask students not to sit or stand on the beds.

Handling Tools 
Repetition is often the key to insuring that students handle tools in a safe manner.

Spades and Trowels
Please instruct students that all garden tools are carried with the sharp parts and blades pointed down.  Tools are never to be swung or carried on a student’s shoulder.  When not in use, spades and trowels are inserted into the soil with the handles standing vertically, so no accidents are caused by stepping on or tripping over the tools.

If a student misuses a tool, the tool can be put in a “time out”, whereby the student cannot use the tool, or the student can be put in a “time out” for repeated misuse.

Magnifying Lenses
The magnifying lenses in the barn are fun to use in the gardens or on the trail to take a closer look at organisms and plants.  The lenses hang from a cord around a student’s neck.  Please instruct students to keep the magnifying lens around the neck until the lenses are gathered at the end of the session.  The lenses should not be swung or carried by hand to avoid injury to others or loss of the lens.  Students are not to use the lenses to try to burn plant material or organisms.

Picking Flowers
Students love to pick flowers!  At the end of each session, each student may take a flower.  This works best if the coordinator cuts the flowers for the students as they head back to the classroom.  Allowing each student to select his own flower can take up too much time.  We encourage teachers to come out on a non-gardening day (for example, part of harvest parties) and allow students to make their own selections.  We ask that the sunflowers on the grounds not be used for this purpose.  The sunflowers are harvested in October and distributed to the classrooms.  Many classrooms use the sunflowers for estimation activities and for making bird feeders, especially during Harvest Week and the Harvest Party.

Picking Produce
Gardens are replanted during the summer so they are producing when the students are in school in the fall.  In the fall term, we ask you not to do any large scale harvesting from your garden until Harvest Week in October.  Prior to that date, you are encouraged to harvest ripe produce for the kids to sample at school.  We will also notify you of special harvest activities for the students to sample specific foods or to donate food to the local food pantry or the school cafeteria. 

Please harvest from your garden beds only.  Coordinators guide the harvesting process to insure that only ripe plants are harvested and that the food is harvested with the best method.  For many plants like beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers, if you do not keep the ripe food picked, it signals the plant to stop producing.  We are available to answer any questions about the best method. 

Tasting Food 
We love it when students want to try new things!  Vegetables avoided at home, are often eaten at school when students have ownership over the process and pride in the harvest. 

On the website, teachers have access to a permission-to-taste form for distribution to parents.  Parents who do not want a child to taste return the form to the teacher.  Students in the class may taste only if the teacher has not received a form from any student.  To avoid singling out a student, even if only one form is received, no one in the class may taste.   In this case, other activities can be rewarding and educational for the class.  For example, the food can be harvested and donated to a community food bank or used in the cafeteria, and some plants can be left to observe how seeds are formed and to harvest the seeds. 

Treat Garden Organisms with Respect
Students should treat garden organisms with respect.  Garden organisms should not be harmed, and should not be picked up unless the coordinator or teacher is certain that the organism is not harmful.  For example, some caterpillars have small hairs that can be irritating to human skin, and centipedes can sting with toxins.

What are the basic nature trail rules to discuss with the students?

Walk on Path
Students must always walk on the path.  Staying on the path allows the naturalizing areas to continue to produce plants for everyone to enjoy without being damaged.  Plus, the path is the only place regularly cleared of poison ivy. 

Follow the Leader
Students must always stay behind the leader of the trail walk and in front of the teacher who is positioned last in line.  This is the best way to keep track of the students and to keep their attention as items of interest are discussed.  Ideally, one or two parent volunteers can be stationed along the line of students. 

Dress Appropriately 
With some advance notice, parents can dress their child appropriately for a trail walk.  Shoes and clothes can get muddy if the days have been rainy.  Students should wear shoes that cover their feet, that is, no sandals or clogs.

Don’t Touch 
Students may not touch anything on the trail unless instructed by the trail leader.  Vines hanging from or climbing up trees might seem harmless, but may, in fact, be poison ivy vines, which can grow quite large and resemble grape vines.  Poison ivy vines look hairy because of the many small roots that usually attach the vine to the tree.  Grape vines usually hang away from the tree and do not have small roots.  On the ground, the rule “leaves of three, let it be” is a good one to discuss and follow.  If a vine or other plant shows three leaves coming out of a central point, do not touch it, since it may be poison ivy.

Don’t Take 
The purpose of the nature trail is to provide students with an opportunity to observe the cycles in nature.  Over the course of their education in grades 1-4, students learn about the environment by discussing habitats, ecosystems, seasonal changes, adaptations, native plants and animals, decomposers, food chains and food webs, to name a few.  Granny’s Garden School is fortunate to have a nature trail so students can experience these topics up close.

To preserve the nature trail for this use, anything observed on the trail must stay on the trail, including things like insects and organisms, fallen branches, leaves, wildflowers, nuts, sticks, and rocks.  We want to observe processes over time by leaving the trail’s resources in place.  If a decaying log is moved a bit to observe decomposition, it should be re-positioned as it was originally to cause the least disruption to the organisms that live there. 

Ask for Help
The trail doesn’t have to be intimidating.  There are many resources on the website to structure a trail walk, and there are volunteers who can help prepare a coordinator or teacher for a tour of the trail.  We can make the right connections so anyone who wants to experience the trail can do so.

Trail sign up 
Only one class should be on the trail at a time to avoid bumping into another class.  The Trail Sign-Up sheet is located on the bulletin board hanging on the door on the inside of the barn.  On the form you list the day and time you will take your class out.  We recommend a minimum of 45 minutes on the trail, 60 minutes is ideal.  Be sure to check the list to be sure another class has not already reserved the same time.  Please list the supplies you will use and return them after your class. 

What are some tips to organize the class?

Gather tools and Supplies
Advance planning is best.  Teachers appreciate knowing about a week in advance what the coordinator is planning.   When you let the teacher know the plan, you can also request him or her to make copies of a worksheet for the class and let him or her know what supplies the students should bring.

To make the most of garden time, bring the needed tools and supplies to the location of the activity before the class comes out.

Meet in the Classroom
Many coordinators find that they have the students’ full attention if they meet in the classroom first.  The classroom is a good place to review the garden or trail rules and to introduce the activity. 

Assign a Spot and Mark It
Most class gardens consist of two raised beds (a few have three beds).  Each class is divided into teams with one team assigned to each box.  The first time out in a class garden is a good time to assign each student a permanent spot in a bed.  This speeds up the time to get organized on future outings, and also gives each student a sense of ownership in their garden.  Have each student write his or her name with permanent marker on the top edge of the garden box.

Using Team Leaders
Observation skills are emphasized in Granny’s Garden School.  If the class will be recording growth or using the worksheets provided with many of the lessons, a team leader approach can be used.  The team consists of those students assigned to a class garden bed or a part of the bed.  The team leader is a rotating position that records the data and conclusions discussed by the team in the activity.  This works best in grades 3 and 4.

Using Questions
Students are generally eager to please in the gardens.  They are excited about what they see and touch.  They have many questions and observations to share, which lead to learning opportunities by answering and expanding on their thoughts.  The lessons on the website have background information to help answer questions.  And, there’s nothing wrong with volunteering to research an answer or asking the class to research the question. 

Ask open-ended questions to find out the level of class knowledge about the topic, generate interest, capture attention, and allow the students to showcase their knowledge. 

Keep the Focus
Students are excited to participate, and require reminders to use “inside voices”, since many of the gardens are located near classrooms.  Different approaches to quiet a class or redirect the focus can be tried.  Talk to the teacher about a tried-and-true method that is used in class, or develop a signal to discuss with the class so they know to bring their attention to the coordinator.

What if It Rains
Discuss in advance how the teacher would like to proceed in the event of rain.  Find out if the teacher wants to cancel or continue with an activity and how the two of you will communicate if the decision is a last minute one.  Some of the scheduled lessons can be done inside.  In addition, there are some activity ideas on the website if your teacher wants to stay inside.  We continue to add to the indoor activity page.  Please be sure to plan in advance for inside activities.  
 

What lessons and worksheets are on the website?

Granny’s Garden Granny’s Garden School Calendar

Granny’s Garden School starts when school starts.  Classes may begin to participate at anytime.  The outdoor season can continue until the Thanksgiving break.  In March, the outdoor season starts again and continues until the end of school.  Some coordinators take the winter months off; others continue with inside activities.  Talk to your teacher about his or her preference. 

What to Do and  When to Do It
We are committed to making your experience rewarding. Coordinators and teachers receive regular emails from Granny’s Garden School about what is happening in the gardens and suggestions about what you can do. 

Preplanned Lessons and Worksheets 
We have several lesson and activity ideas on the website at www.grannysgardenschool.com.  Please check the website frequently, since we continually add to the list and fine-tune what we have.  Our lessons are based on the State of Ohio curriculum standards by grade.  Also, the website lists many links for those who like to research more information. 

Our lessons list applicable curriculum standards, supplies, background information, detailed steps for the activity, student worksheets if applicable, and a summary of the lesson that can be distributed for students to take home. 

Checklist for Your First Class

The following checklist will help you and your teacher get started for your experience in Granny’s Garden School.

• Finalize the day and time for your weekly garden class.  Forty minutes is the recommended time to allow plenty of time to discuss the activity, do the activity, and wrap up the activity.

• Are there special topics your teacher would like you to cover?  We design our schedule of activities to follow the teaching of class curriculum as best we can.  Let Granny know of special requests so we can add activities or point you toward lessons already developed.

• Discuss with your teacher the best way to communicate.  Most teachers prefer email communication.

• Discuss plans in the event of a rainy day.  Does your teacher want you to plan an indoor activity?  Some lessons on the schedule can be done inside.   Check the website for more indoor activity ideas. 

• Be sure you have the names and phone numbers of other parent volunteers for communication of the weekly plans.

• In the fall term, the garden program begins the first week of school and continues through the second week of November.

• In the spring term, the garden program begins in March and continues to the end of school.

Checklist for Your First Class

You’ve taken that first step to volunteer.  Thanks!  And, you’ve discussed the basics with the teacher.  Now what?  These are a few reminders to help you ease into your first experience with a class in the garden.

• Please take the time to read through the manual for tips to focus your class, garden and tool rules, and locations of supplies among other things.

• Visit your class garden in advance and take inventory of what you find there.  If you have any questions, contact a staff member as early as possible.

• Check the schedule of activities on the website and review the weekly email to find out what’s coming up.  Review the lesson.

• About a week in advance, email your teacher and other class volunteers about the activity.   If a worksheet is needed, send an attachment and ask the teacher to make copies.  If students need to bring pencils, scissors, or clipboards (Many classes have a supply.  If the class does not, there are clipboards in the barn), tell the teacher in the email.  We recommend meeting the class in the classroom to briefly explain the activity before going outside. 

• Several days in advance be sure you have the supplies you will need, non-tool things like seeds, plant markers, permanent markers.  Take scissors each time to cut flowers or use as a tool to loosen roots when harvesting.  Please be sure to sign out any equipment you borrow from the barn.  The sign out sheet is located on a bulletin board in the barn.

• Arrive early for your class to move tools and buckets to your garden location if you are using them, and return supplies to their proper locations when you are finished with them. 

• Sign in at the school entrance to receive a visitor’s badge.

• Please wear a Granny’s Garden School apron each time you take the class out.  The apron is your identification badge for our program.

Nature Trail Checklist

• We want your nature trail experience to be informative for the students and stress-free for teachers and volunteers.  This checklist will help you and your class be prepared to HAVE FUN!

• Review the Basic Rules for a Nature Trail Walk located in the volunteer  manual.

• Discuss the focus of the trail walk with your teacher.  Ideas are found on the website.  Worksheets can also be used to help you focus the students on the topics you want to cover.

• Plan in advance for your trail walk.  A trail walk takes 45 to 60 minutes to experience it fully.  You may need to schedule your trail walk for a day and time that is not your normal class gardening day.

• Check the sign-up sheet in the courtyard barn and sign up for the day and time your class will be on the trail.  Only one class is permitted on the trail at a time.  Be sure to list the supplies your class will be using on the trail in case another volunteer needs to coordinate picking up the supplies from you.

• Some supplies we have in the barn are magnifiers to hang around the student’s neck, bug collecting boxes to share, and clipboards (your teacher may have some, too).   Binoculars and reference books to identify trees and insects are located in Granny’s Garden School Office.

• Get 2 to 3 parent volunteers to help keep the students focused.  Prepare a notice for the teacher to send home with the students in advance of your trail walk to remind them of the date of your trail walk and that students should dress appropriately for the walk with gym shoes or boots in case of mud and jackets or long pants depending on the weather.