Garden Science

This eight-week classroom program and three week outdoor program is designed to provide over 130 D.C. Elementary School students with an in-depth look at the garden cycle. The highly interactive curriculum uses cooperative learning techniques to teach hands-on activities relevant to the environmental, agricultural and life sciences. The beauty of Garden Science is its incorporation of art, math, language arts, geography, food and history. The lessons learned in the classroom are reinforced in the spring, when students travel to the Washington Youth Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum to plant, mulch, weed, and harvest the communal vegetable and herb beds. Several of these children go on to participate in the other two gardening programs, Seed to Supper and Growing Food…Growing Together. Currently we partner with elementary schools in Northeast Washington, D.C.

Seed to Supper

Seed to Supper, a FREE eight-week summer program in the WYG at USNA, serves about 25 children from the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation’s Camp Discovery, Garden Science, and nearby elementary schools twice a week during July and August. These children participate in an intensive gardening and environmental science program that incorporates multiple disciplines including nutrition, taste education and cooking classes with local chefs through the Capital Area Food Bank’s Operation Frontline. In addition, the children visit a variety of educational sites including local farms, environmental education centers and the D.C. Central Kitchen, where they donate their surplus produce.

Growing Food….Growing Together

This intensive twenty-week, family gardening and cooking program takes place on Saturday mornings, May through September. The program is designed to bring 25 to 30 families together to grow and prepare their own organic foods. In addition to learning organic gardening techniques, families learn about garden ecology and how to cook nutritious, seasonal foods from the garden. Throughout the program, families participate in a variety of field trips that raise awareness about the importance of supporting local sustainable agriculture. In the past, participants have visited organic family farms and farmers' markets where they learned about the rich variety of seasonal produce available and, at times, have had the opportunity to sell herbs and produce from the garden. All participants are invited to attend several special garden events that celebrate the harvest and incorporate various creative elements including cooking, taste and nutrition, family foodways, literacy, and art.

SPROUT

Through SPROUT, Science Program Reaching OUT, WYG conducts one-time garden science outreach programs to D.C. Elementary Schools during the spring and fall months. Topics include edible plant parts and their functions, composting, plant life cycles, soil, water and phytochemicals. Students and teachers are invited to join the Youth Garden staff at the U.S. National Arboretum for a few hours in the garden to explore and enjoy what nature has to offer. If schools are unable to coordinate transportation the staff is available to travel to the schools. We recommend that each class chose both an indoor program and an outdoor program to ensure a more well-rounded experience. This program is free to schools however donations are always welcomed. Applications can be downloaded here.

Visit our blog to learn more about Washington Youth Garden programs.