In this 30 minute webinar, hear about the different ways to incorporate school gardens into your farm to school program as well as how schools are successfully procuring school garden produce for their meal programs.

As the School Garden Toolkit for Loudoun County Public Schools, this comprehensive guide includes everything a Virginia school district should consider when planning a school garden. Contents include tips for starting a school garden, sustainability, planning, garden to cafeteria best practices, connections in the classroom, composting, and guidance for planting.

This guide includes good agricultural practices to reduce food safety risks in school gardens. The steps presented in this guide are practical, rooted in science, and presented in a context suitable for passionate organizers and volunteers associated with school and community gardens.

This toolkit will provide the important steps to develop GTC protocols that emphasize food safety and the training protocols necessary to make sure that the food safety protocols are followed closely. There is no need to start from scratch with the GTC protocols since there are numerous examples of successful implementation of GTC programs across the country.

This hour-long webinar features district-run school garden program directors from a small, medium and large school district sharing their experience and expertise in launching and maintaining district run garden programs. This webinar is presented by the National Farm to School Network and School Garden Support Organization Network.

The National Farm to School Network has curated hundreds of resources related to farm to school and school gardens. Use the search criteria on the left to narrow your search results or scroll through the entire library.

Visit this Virginia Cooperative Extension webpage for evidence-based information on vegetable and fruit gardening in Virginia. Resources included on the site fall under the following topic areas: planning your garden and getting started, preparing garden beds, when and how to plant your crops, small space gardening, troubleshooting plant problems, crop specific guides, growing fruit, processing and enjoying your crops, extending your growing season, and gardening with youth. The site can also connect you to your local Extension Master Gardeners for additional help with your garden.