Summer Support for School Gardens

[Morgan Smith]

Good Afternoon,

I work with 9 garden teachers across Novato, CA and am putting together a resources sheet of local programs that they can use to supplement parent volunteer help in their gardens over the summer. 

So far I have found programs that will come and help with gleaning, but that's about the extent of it. Do you have any local resources that you've found helpful that I should reach out to? I'm thinking about Girl Scout troops who can do weeding, or YMCA that waters every week? Hearing about your successful partnerships will really help me provide strategies to gardens that don't always have parents able to show up over the summer. 

Thanks!

Morgan

[Andrea Brewer]

Do you have a local 4h chapter?

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[Erin Maidlow]

I’ve had a hard time with this, too. I did find a high school environmental club who’s been helpful with volunteering at events. 4-H and FFA have not helped out at all and say they have their own projects, which is really disappointing. Even Master Gardeners in our area will only work in their own garden and will not do any volunteering at school gardens as part of the MG program. We have had a few of them volunteer on their own time, but curious what everyone else is finding that works. 

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[Daniel Barrera Ortega]

Hi all!

I was digging through some SGSO Network Resources and remembered that we have a section on School Garden Summer Care in our Maintaining Multiple School Gardens Promising Practice. Sharing the specific section below

• Summer Care

• Summer Vacation for your School Garden general tips and ideas for summer care

• Summer in the School Garden a comprehensive 40 page guide on summer care

Looking forward to read how other folks are approaching summer care,

Daniel

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[Leann Barber]

Maintaining the school garden over the summer months seems to be a universal problem. As a 4-H club leader, I understand that members would find it difficult to be motivated to weed someone else's garden in the hot summer sun. Here are a few suggestions to help with this dilemma.

1) If you are planting annual beds, clear the beds the last week of school and plant summer crops such as sweet potatoes, that can grow all summer long. When school starts, have a harvesting event and cookout to celebrate the return to school.

2) Start a 4-H or FFA club at school so students and parents can support their school garden over the summer, and harvest any produce. Sometimes access to the garden is a challenge, but a feeling of ownership is vital.

3) Adopt permaculture principles and plant more perennial vegetables rather than annual vegetables. Depending on your climate, 

4) Use mulch heavily to reduce weed growth over the summer.

5) Summer is a great time to build soil using the lasagna method of layering cardboard, mulch, and horse manure. Use the hot sun to your advantage.

6) Plan major activities for the end of the school year (summer transition) and for the beginning of the school year to ease back into the garden routine. Don't expect the garden to be neatly trimmed over the summer if noone is around to maintain it. When clearing the garden of old annual vegetables, compost the waste. 

Hope that helps.

 

Leann Barber
Made in Broward
208 NW 28th Terrace
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
954-303-6750

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[Melanie Cross]

Thank you for sharing this, Daniel and Leann. As a non profit, we ran farmers markets workshoops and summer clubs to keep up with that, plus we use that time to work on infrastructure. Also, we rely on the Permaculture guild's help. 

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[Tristana Pirkl]

Hi everyone,

I also wanted to share a best practice from PEAS in Austin that has families “adopt a bed” for a week or so in the summer. The families go by and weed and water and get to take home any produce that is ready. I’m sure they can offer more specifics but this also doubles as a community engagement and creating investment in the garden!

Best, 

Tristana

Tristana Pirkl Executive Director School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Network (She/Her) www.sgsonetwork.org

On Sat, May 16, 2026 at 6:31 AM Leann Barber <leann...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Finfrock, Stella]

Thanks, Daniel,

This is great.

I was able to hire a half-time farmer for the month of June when I am off. 

She will work 20 hours a week and make her own hours to work around our heat in Las Vegas.

Our school will pay her $20/hour.

The farmer I hired was a parent volunteer who has helped all year and was looking to make a little extra cash.

Stella

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Stella Maceri-Finfrock M.Ed. She/Her/Hers Sustainability & Garden Coordinator (702) 949-3600, x.216 10845 W. Desert Inn Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89135 Experience the Dawson Difference

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