Join us as our Slow Food USA School Garden committee chairs show you and your Snail Kids how to start seeds — in different ways and different places!
Learn about seed starting from our expert team of school garden educators — Neha Shah (Michigan), Cynthia Waters (Ohio), and Kim Aman (Texas) teach us about starting seeds indoors, building low tunnels, and prepping a new garden bed.
For more information on gardening to match the climate where you live, you can find your local extension service here.
Cynthia recommends these books to get you started with low tunnels:
Year Round Vegetable Garden – Niki Jabbour
Four Season Harvest – Eliot Coleman
For inspiration to populate your garden, Plant a Seed with Slow Food USA! The 2020 kits are available now and they’re filled with six delicious Ark of Taste varieties. For each kit purchased, we will ship a kit to a school garden for free!
CONTACT INFO —
Neha Shah, Burns Park Elementary School Garden Coordinator
AAPS Farm to School Collaborative Steering Committee Co-Chair
Email: shahn@aaps.k12.mi.us
Twitter: @shahburnspark
Cynthia Walters, M.Ed., School Gardens of Ohio
Email: cynthia_walters@olsd.us
Slow Food USA School Garden Network on Facebook
#SnailKids
Kim Aman, School Garden Coordinator
Email: FarmerKimAman@gmail.com
Instagram: @thefarmerkim
Moss Haven Farm | Moss Haven Farm Facebook | Moss Haven Farm Instagram
Grow Garden Grow Facebook | Grow Garden Grow Instagram
If you want to follow Neha and start your seeds indoors, you will need:
- Heating mat
- Tray and dome cover
- Planting pots
- Labels / marker
- Tape
- Soil
- Seeds
- Gardening journal
- Watering can
- Spray bottle
- Scissors
- Calendar
- Ruler
- A sunny place
- Love
If you want to replicate Cynthia’s construction of covered garden boxes, compile these materials:
- 1”x6” Cedarwood boards
- Tape measure
- Screws and driver
- Brackets
- PVC piping
- Plastic or fabric covering
- Weed barrier
- Soil mix (⅓ each compost, peat moss, vermiculite
- Seeds
- Hammer
- Ruler
- Scissors
- String
- Thermometer
