What Do We Do?

Programs with Schools

The Josiah Quincy Elementary School

885 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111

Our program at The Josiah Quincy Elementary School will begin in late February 2022 and we will meet every Friday 3:15-4:00pm. As part of an after-school program for 5th graders, we will spend the first 4 weeks indoors learning about growing seasons, composting, the intersection between art and environmentalism/sustainability, and how to plan a garden space. Once April (and warmer weather) is upon us, we will get outside and begin our planting season based on plans made by the 5th grade!

Mission Grammar School National Elementary Honors Society (NEHS)

94 St. Alphonsus Street, Roxbury, MA 02120

We are working with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from Mission Grammar School to study environmental activism and food justice in Boston. This group will take a specific look into Indigenous environmentalism and how it relates to Boston's history. The program will run every Thursday morning 7:45-8:30am beginning on March 24th, 2022 and ending on April 28th, 2022.

Gardener Pilot Academy

30 Athol Street, Allston, MA 02134

Our 6-week program will start on March 15th, 2022 with 1st graders at the Gardener Pilot Academy. This group of students will learn about outdoor basics: What are the parts of a plant? What is the circle of life? What are pollinators? We will answer these questions and more through fun games and activities, while using their beautiful outdoor garden space worked on by Green City Growers as a classroom. Our volunteers will meet with the 1st graders on Tuesday afternoons 3:30-4:30pm.

Urban Gardens

Our plan for the Josiah Quincy Elementary School garden is designed with experiential environmental education in mind! We have structured the planting, tending, and harvesting timeline to encourage student involvement and hands-on learning throughout the seasons.

Students will plant and care for vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers that they will then be able to harvest and taste! Ornamental flowers will also be planted to attract pollinators and other critters, fostering a healthy and diverse urban garden ecosystem. We will also dedicate space to exercise our curiosity and explore any fun ideas that we come up with: Can you plant a seed from the apple you ate for lunch? Can you create a succulent garden that looks like a desert landscape? How can we grow the tallest plant possible? We also hope to create a section for native plants so that we can learn about some of the plants that grow in Massachusetts and the New England region. With a focus on perennial herbs and native plants when possible, we hope to keep the garden alive and beautiful from year to year.