University of California Davis School Gardening Program

The UC Davis School Gardening Program is a program of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute on the UC Davis campus. It is located at the Ecological Garden and Student Farm on campus. The program provides an array of opportunities for learning about gardening, farming, food systems, nutrition, and the development and use of school gardens.  These opportunities serve audiences ranging in age from kindergarten students, through youth and college students, up to adult educator groups. 
 

We host school field trips for elementary-age children each spring in the Student Farm’s Ecological Garden. These field trips are led by UC Davis students trained in environmental and agricultural education.  The field trip content is focused on food production, nutrition, and garden and farm ecology.  We are currently using garden-based learning to impact childhood nutrition through workshops and school visits in low-income schools in this region.  We have also been involved in special programs for youth visiting the Student Farm. 
 

The UC Davis School Gardening Program partners with educators and practitioners throughout the state to promote school gardens and agricultural and environmental education to California’s K-12 population.  We provide hand-on workshops for teachers and other educators at our site and at school sites on a range of garden-based learning topics.  A library of garden-based learning resource materials used by our program staff is available for teacher review at workshops or by appointment.