Regional Garden Education Centers

Healthy Works^SM is supporting the next phase of garden education in San Diego County.

The International Rescue Committee, Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center, San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project, San Diego Youth Services, and Solana Center for Environmental Innovation have been selected to host Regional Garden Education Centers (RGEC), community-based hubs for garden education and training. The RGEC model is based on the Victory Gardens San Diego (VGSD) "University of Gardening" or "U-Gardening" education program which offers hands-on, basic garden education.  The RGEC program extends this model to include classes in basic, community, and school gardening.  It offers classroom education and hands-on experience.

About the Curricula (All are available for download below):

Gardening 101: How to Grow Your Own Food
This course offers eight lessons on the basics of gardening, including: organics and permaculture; garden siting and design; soil and composting; plants and botany; seeding and planting; irrigation; weeds, pests, and disease; and harvesting.  This series will provide students with a mix of classroom education and hands-on garden experience.

Gardening 201: How to Start and Manage a Community Garden
This course offers six lessons on the fundamentals of community garden organizing and management, including: asset-based community development, finding and obtaining land, budgeting and fundraising, garden design and supplies, day to day operations, and how to be a good neighbor. This series will provide classroom education and opportunities for active discussion and planning.

Gardening 301: How to Start and Sustain a School Gardening Program
This course offers eight lessons on building support for school gardens among peers, educators, and administrators, including: making the case for school gardening programs, building a garden leadership team, garden planning and design, financially sustaining your gardening program, community partnerships, volunteers and joint use, curriculum and outdoor classroom management, before- and after-school garden clubs, and gardens in the wellness movement. This series will provide classroom education and opportunities for active discussion and brainstorming.

These VGSD-trained and -supported sites offer courses to the public at no cost from May 2011 to February 2012. Regional tool lending libraries are planned to provide a place where local residents can go to borrow garden tools and resources to support efforts at home or in the community.

The RGEC sites are designed to spark a dynamic conversation between local community members and organizations on the role gardens can play in shaping a healthy, sustainable future.

For more information visit: www.HealthyWorks.org.

For more information, please contact JuliAnna Arnett, the Senior Manager for the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative, a program of Community Health Improvement Partners.

The following documents reflect the tool library lending policies for the Regional Garden Education Centers:

Made possible by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through the County of San Diego.

Gardening Curricula and Manuals: