By Julia Comino, The Vegetarian Resource Group Intern

A small, overgrown green island floating in an ocean of black asphalt. That was the humble beginnings of my Charity Garden. And inside the grass-lot, was me, soiled and sweaty absolutely not understanding what I had gotten myself into.

     When I first embarked on my journey of founding a charity garden at my high school, in all honesty, I had no idea what I was doing. My limited gardening knowledge consisted of quite a few deceased succulents that sadly did not survive my horticultural attempts. However, after putting two years of work into creating the Charity Garden at my school, I can confidently offer you a few pieces of advice as you begin your quest to create a charity garden. In order to be successful in this mission, you have to consider who, what, when, where, and how.

     Think about whose permission and help you will need; what materials, knowledge, and funding you will require; when you will prepare, plant, and harvest the produce you will grow; where your garden will be located; and finally how you will accomplish your goal of creating a functioning charity garden.

Who

Depending on your high school’s policy, who you will need to receive permission from to begin this garden and how you must go about forming a club or organization may differ. For me, a student at a private school with a student body of just under 300 in the upper class, who I needed to ask was clear and simple. I first asked one of my teachers who doubled as my Speech and Debate coach if she would be willing to be the teacher sponsor of my club, which, lucky for me, she was, and then I moved on to ask my school’s principal. However, if you attend a public or larger high school, you may need to do some more digging to find out who you need to ask.

     Before you speak to the individual or individuals you will need to ask permission of, you first need to create a basic plan for your project. In my case, I admit, I possibly went overboard when it came to this part of the process.

     Armed with a trifold poster presentation I spent a few too many hours crafting, I walked into my principal’s office the summer before my junior year confidently and ready to persuade my principal to my plan. The presentation covered everything that I naively thought would need to be done to begin my garden. There was a section dedicated to the budget this environmental club and charity garden would require for that school year, a whole side of the poster hosting a sketch of the area in which the garden would be located, and a timeline of the creation process along the bottom of the poster. With my presentation so well-crafted and executed articulately, my principal agreed to allow me to turn my plan into a reality.

What

As put together as my pitch was the actual creation of my charity garden was in no way as perfectly or easily done. The “what” phase is where I initially went wrong. While no amount of forethought can allow you to escape the inconsistencies of the reality of making an idea tangible, you can save yourself some strife by working to plan ahead as much as possible. I recommend sitting down and writing out every single necessary item that comes to mind.

     Consider what needs that you already have met without any planning. Maybe your school already has a sprinkler system or hose that you can use without purchasing or planning for another water source. Test the pH of your soil to see if you will have to buy products to make it more viable. Ask around and see if there are any gardeners who are willing to donate supplies such as soil, gardening tools, or seeds for your organization to use or if they would be willing to help you by working in the garden. After all, you never know the extent of others’ generosity until you ask.

     However, I found that you do not need to use store-bought tools or gardening supplies to begin this garden. To cut back on waste production, repurposing items can be an environmentally and economically friendly choice. For planter beds, I recycled old wood pallets by stapling a mesh bottom to the bottom boards and then filling the slots with soil and mulch. Cans, milk jugs, and bottles can be used as temporary planters. Should you be hoping to create an aesthetically pleasing garden, you can host events where students at your school can paint and decorate your make-shift planters using eco-friendly materials.

     Beyond the materials you will need, you also must consider what knowledge you will need to build and care for this garden. Personally, I have never had a green thumb, and when I founded the Environmental Club and Charity Garden at my school my fervent passion surrounding climate justice clouded my judgment around how my lack of gardening experience would affect this process. I have fond childhood memories of spreading almond-shaped, white pumpkin seeds in the corner of my yard that I had designated “Julia’s Garden” as my mother tended to her real garden. However, had I chosen to reminisce on these times with more candor, these childish fantasies would have dissipated with the realization that not one of these seeds ever prospered under my careless cultivation. The fruitlessness of my prior pumpkin planting should have forewarned my Charity Garden’s tragic pumpkin patch incident. An unusually early frost paired with a lack of pollinating insects and my insufficient gardening knowledge left these sad seedlings withered and barren by the time harvest came.

     Learn from my pumpkin planting woes, and do yourself a favor by picking up a Farmer’s Almanac, checking out gardening forums and blogs online, or seeking advice from farmers in your area. What supplies you gather and buy can be just as important as what knowledge you acquire when it comes to being a beginner gardener.

When

Timing is important, not only with when you plan to plant certain types of seeds but also with the timeline for when you hope to complete your garden. Be generous with how long you give yourself to create a garden space. While a desire to get your garden up and running as soon as possible is a great mindset to have, you also must be realistic with how this project will fit into your and others’ schedules. In my case, the creation of the Charity Garden at my high school was an extension of the Environmental Club I founded. This meant that I had a group of passionate individuals who were invested in creating this garden with me. I advise seeking out your own team of people who want to create a garden as much as you do. This will not only allow you to get work done quicker, but it will also help you remain invested and held accountable.

     Once you have created a basic timeline for when you want to have different portions of this project done, remember to allow yourself flexibility, both with time and financially. Fundraising was what the majority of my early work in creating my garden consisted of. When creating your schedule, factor in the amount of time you will spend raising money to afford supplies you will need. Host bake sales, car washes, have a donation jar, or even sell merchandise to raise funds.

     When it comes time to begin sowing seeds in your garden, make sure the plants you are growing match the season that you are in. It is easy to do a quick google search to find out when it is best to begin growing certain plants, and when these plants will be ready for harvest. Remember, you are on nature’s time.

Where

Deciding where your garden will be hosted is what’s next on the to-do list. It is important to be logically resourceful with this decision as well as willing to allow your imagination to turn what may seem to be a plot devoid of any life into the flourishing garden in your mind’s eye. In my case, I turned my fanciful gaze onto an overgrown grass plot surrounded by a crumbling metal fence in the middle of my school parking lot. While at first glance, this plot seemed barely habitable, with its proximity to a working hose and with the offering of soil in an otherwise asphalt covered space, I found the area would be just fine.

     Look at your own campus. An accessible rooftop could host a cluster of raised planting beds or a patch of grass that is not in use could be transformed into a blossoming garden space. Your only limit is your imagination. However, of course, you still must be practical. Make sure that the location you choose is one that is close to a water source, receives enough sunlight, and matches the needs of the plants you wish to grow.

     When you choose your space, analyze what work needs to be done to first transform the area into a functional garden, but also what work will be needed to maintain the area. In the case of my garden, the grass lot I chose had not been used in almost a decade. Not only was the entire plot infested by weeds, but a large limb of an old oak tree loomed over half the space cascading it in shade. This was not ideal for a garden. So I had to find someone who had the ability to trim back this branch as well as cut down the weeds overrunning the area. As part of this process, you must learn how to be your own advocate. When asking for others’ help you need to be able to persuade them into believing that the cause they would be helping is worth their time. Luckily, the school’s gardener was fond of my plan to reinvent this previously empty lot and had no issue with sprucing up the space during his normal care of the campus

How

Once you have completed all of this planning, this is where it gets fun! You are ready to start planting. Schedule events for your club or members of your school to come out and get their hands dirty, planting your new garden. Follow a plan for where each plant should be located within the garden giving special consideration for each seedling’s sunlight needs. For some plants, you may find that starting them in seed starter trays is the best practice. These trays, while can be bought in stores, can also be made out of old juice boxes or even cardboard boxes.

     After all your seedlings are in the ground, now you are just doing maintenance and care. Weeding, watering, and looking after your vegetation can be tedious, but with patience and hard work, you will be ready for your first harvest. But before you can reap the produce of your labor, you need to plan how you are going to disperse what you have grown with those in need. Working in accordance with any outreach protocols your school has, you can now find out how you can best give out your garden’s produce. Reach out to local food pantries or shelters for those with complex living situations to see if anywhere would be interested in receiving fresh produce donations. Work with school officials to see if allowing those in need to come into the garden to take what they need would be a possibility. See if your city has community fridges you can stock. Or maybe even plan events at public centers in which you can set up stands to give out your produce. There are so many ways in which you can share the fruits of your labor.

     No matter if you have a green thumb or if, like me, you are new to the business of gardening, you can successfully create a Charity Garden with a little planning and a lot of passion. While even I may still be learning how to garden as I go, I have discovered that with enough dedication, and with getting my hands a little dirty, I can cultivate my dreams into fruition, and you can too!

You may also be interested in veganic gardening and farming articles found here: https://www.vrg.org/links/#veganic-farming