How will your school garden survive the holiday period?

1. Early-summer school garden April – July

By sowing and planting early crops, it is possible to clear the garden plots before the summer holidays. An autumn crop such as pumpkins can then optionally be sown. This can manage for a while with less attention. Another option is to sow green manure crops during this period that produce beautiful flowers. This is, for example, how it is done in the Municipality of Nijmegen. Want to know more? Read Chapter 4 of the School Garden Handbook.

2. School garden open during the summer holidays

Most children do not go on holiday for the entire summer. If a few volunteers open the garden at one point during the week, the children can come and work in the garden. This happens, for example, in the Municipality of Leiden. Nothing is sown during the summer, but sometimes crops are harvested and, of course, weeding and watering are done. It is a fun holiday activity for the weeks when children are at home.

3. Garden maintained by out-of-school care

During the holidays, children often go to the holiday childcare provided by the BSO. Talk to a BSO in your area to see whether they can maintain the garden during the summer holidays. This also involves more children.

4. Local residents keep an eye on things

A good neighbour is worth their weight in gold. Local residents usually do not mind keeping an eye on things. Perhaps there is also someone who would like to water the plants from time to time. The end of the school year is a great opportunity to invite local residents for a cup of coffee and show them the school garden. There are often people who enjoy helping out a little.

5. Volunteers maintain the garden

There are plenty of gardening enthusiasts who enjoy helping out for an hour now and then, including during the summer holidays. Gardening is becoming an increasingly popular hobby, but not everyone has enough time for their own vegetable garden. So, for many people, helping out for a few hours during the summer holidays is an ideal solution. And perhaps you can reward them with a small share of the harvest, or a convivial get-together with crackers topped with school garden herbs/flower butter in September.

Do you have any other ideas? Alliantie Schooltuinen would love to hear from you. Add them to the comments on this LinkedIn post about the summer holidays or email Alliantie Schooltuinen at [email protected].

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