School Garden Network of Sonoma County

Statewide Workshops Offered on Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:37:21 +0000

The California School Garden Training Program and the California School Garden Network are putting on 7 statewide Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden workshops to help schools start and maintain gardens. For more information, click HERE.

County Launches Online Gardener Certificate Program

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:56:18 +0000

The Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, in collaboration with the Sonoma County Dept. of Health Services and the UC Cooperative Extension, announced the launch of an online program to allow local gardeners to sell or donate their eligible produce from school, community or home gardens. The free online self-certification program reflects the County’s commitment to support locally grown healthy foods and increase access for consumers. The Agricultural Commissioner’s Office will be hosting two informational meetings about the program on April 16th and May 13th from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at the Agricultural Commissioner’s conference room located at 133 Aviation Blvd, Suite 110 in Santa Rosa. All interested gardeners are encouraged to attend. Please go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/360310 to register for one of the informational meetings as space is limited. The Approved Produce Gardener Certificate website can be accessed from https://secure.sonoma-county.org/agcomm/produce_gardener/.

Help Raise Funds for SGN Programs through the Human Race – Join or Donate Now!

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:28:03 +0000

The School Garden Network of Sonoma County has put together a Human Race team and we are actively fundraising to support our garden and nutrition programs through this wonderful event which takes place in Santa Rosa on May 11th. The theme of this year’s race – “Grow, Bloom and Grow” – is especially relevant to our mission! Please consider supporting SGN programs by:

1. Joining our Human Race team and setting a personal fundraising goal. The team will walk/run together on May 11th.

2. Help SGN raise funds through the Human Race by spreading the word to family and friends and directing them to our Human Race page.

3. Make an online donation

SGN’s Human Race page is http://www.humanracenow.org/goto/SchoolGardenNetwork1

You can join the team or make a donation by clicking on this link. Every donation is greatly appreciated!

Thanks for you support!

OAEC School Garden Teacher Training Workshops

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:36:46 +0000

The School Garden Program at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC) is hosting hands-on, residential School Garden Teacher Training workshops for school teams over the summer. OAEC’s School Garden Program is dedicated to cultivating ecological literacy among youth through garden-based transformation in the outdoor learnscape. Applications for the summer program are due by March 15, 2013. For more information and to apply to the program, go to http://www.oaec.org/school-garden.

Get Involved! Volunteer with SGN!

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:54:20 +0000

Are you interested in learning about and supporting local school garden projects? Improving school food? Fostering garden-based learning? Connecting kids with the natural world and where food comes from? We are currently seeking passionate people who would like to join the School Garden Network of Sonoma County, now in our 10th year!

CURRENT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Join a Selection Committee! Help select SGN grant recipients by reviewing proposals and awarding funds to deserving schools. This is a short-term, volunteer commitment of approximately 10 hours between March 20th and May 10th, 2013. Click HERE for more information.

School Garden Network of Sonoma County (SGN) accomplishes most of its work through small committees. The amount of time you put in depends on the project. Click HERE to learn more about SGN Committees.

We are also looking for a few more committed Board members to lend their passion and skills to the organization. Board members actively participate in creating and sustaining school garden projects. Click HERE for a Board Job Description.

MORE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Additional ways to get involved include:

The Human Race – lead or support efforts to raise money for SGN through the 2013 Human Race.

Fundraising – research and solicit new donors, research and write grants, or follow-up with donors.

Outreach – post Facebook and Community Forum updates, represent SGN at community events (i.e. tabling), sell SGN t-shirts at events, organize a garden tour, collect and maintain our free resources, connect with community partners and businesses or advocate for school gardens.

Healthy Roots Program – help with program refinement, outreach, funding, solicitation of food donations from grocery stores, or evaluate program applications. The committee meets once a month. Click HERE to find out more about the Healthy Roots Program.

For more information on these opportunities or to sign up, please contact our Administrator, Tracy Batchelder at info@schoolgardens.org, or 707-874-1557 ext. 301.

Welcome to Our New Website!

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:34:42 +0000

Welcome to the School Garden Network’s new and improved website! The biggest change to our website is the Community Forum where registered members can exchange ideas and information related to school gardens on a daily basis. We hope that you will join the group! Also, check out the grants, programs and resources that we have to offer and the opportunities available to you to become involved in the school garden community.

Healthy Roots Nutrition Education Program

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:31:22 +0000

The School Garden Network is offering, free of charge, a Traveling Nutrition Educator Program to Sonoma County Middle and High Schools for the next school year. Healthy Roots Nutrition Educators teach a four part nutrition curriculum at your school, including a hands on food demonstration. For more information on the program, click here or go the Healthy Roots page under “Programs”.

Announcing the Schoolyard Habitat Program

Tracy Batchelder, Administrator — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:27:08 +0000

School Garden Network is pleased to announce a new collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Schoolyard Habitat Program. The Schoolyard Habitat Program helps teachers and students create wildlife habitat at their own schools. A schoolyard habitat project is a naturalized area that is used for classroom field studies and observations. A well-designed project that is integrated into the curriculum will help foster long-term ecological stewardship in children of all ages. Qualified schools or organizations serving kindergarten through 12^th grade students are eligible for funding and may receive up to $8,000 for their projects! Click here for more information.