Jan.- Feb.

Pine

Organize a garden leadership team. Hold a meeting for those interested in sharing garden planning and management.Identify and assign leadership tasks.

Complete the Garden Approval Planner. This template is designed to organize your goals for your school or youth garden. Included are specific questions to focus your planning around garden location, budget, curriculum connections, and more.

Set a meeting date and time for attaining garden approval from your principal or supervisor.
If land is off of school property, on public or private land, utilize the Land Approval Checklist to gain permission for land use.

Prioritize garden needs. Make a list of necessary tools and materials, and utilize the garden budget worksheet to help calculate costs.

Use the Large Garden Letter to Families or the Small Garden Letter to Families to identify possible resources within your community, including volunteers and donations.

If you have not already done so, sketch a garden design, noting landscaping, plot locations, plants, water source, compost area, etc.

For larger gardens, seek funding from grant sources, work on grants during these months. Visit the Fundraising section for more information.
Set meeting date, time, and site for first garden volunteer meeting to be held in late winter.Publicize your garden meeting widely in school notifications, take-home flyers, etc.

Refer to a regional zone map for plant ideas (remember to only select plants assigned to your zone).Order seeds and seedlings.
Establish garden rules, and be prepared to distribute this list at the first garden volunteer meeting. Possible rules include: Conserve water, prohibit use of chemical pesticides and herbicides, no pets in the garden, children under 10 must be supervised in the garden, as well as harvesting guidelines (i.e. for the benefit of the whole community, only pick vegetables, fruits, or flowers when given permission by the garden coordinator on duty).