I just bought a bag of fresh mint from the R&S group organic garden!! AMAZING!!
-Hilary Bauer, SAS-Pudong substitute teacher and former R&S staff member
Introduction of the Organic Garden Program
The Organic Garden Program is one of Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ environmental education programs. Gardens are brought to life within the confines of small school grounds using organic farming methods, and show students what great change they can produce in their immediate environment. Organic gardens are gardens that nurture hope.
In early spring of 2006, Roots & Shoots planted the first seed of hope in Qingpu High School. Soon afterwards more seeds were scattered in the grounds of Rainbow Bridge International School (RBIS). Through the Organic Garden Program, students learn methods of organic farming without the aid of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, growth promoters, or genetic engineering. They are taught to use more natural alternatives, such as organic fertilizer, compositing, catching pests by hand, and organic pesticides.
Following the success of these two schools, Shanghai Roots & Shoots officially launched the Organic Garden Program in March, 2008. By May, 2010, 47 schools had joined this project. We are helping these schools to develop their organic gardens with the cooperation of BIOFarm, Tongchu Organics, and Shanghai Organics.
Besides providing the organic gardening curriculum, little seeds to get started and a list of places to get soil, and worms, the Shanghai Roots & Shoots office tries to provide each school with a volunteer to help organize relevant activities. These volunteers learn organic farming skills alongside the students and, with the teacher advisor or group leader, report back to Roots & Shoots with photos as well as feedback regarding the usefulness of the instruction manual. When an organic garden has reached a certain degree of success, Roots & Shoots office will even help the school obtain OFDC(Organic Food Development Center) certification and find a way to sell their organic vegetables. At anytime during the year, students can plant crops in their organic garden.
The application process for a is very simple: schools with a Roots & Shoots group need only fill in an application form and pick up an organic garden instruction manual; schools without a Roots & Shoots group could first create a group, and then join the program or they could simply sign a memorandum with Shanghai Roots & Shoots office and pick up a manual.
Information for Gardeners:
Dear New-Gardeners,
Do you want an organic garden with beautiful and healthy plants?
Let me tell you what you can do. You can buy soil, seeds, and red worms from the markets below. Red worms are the best for composting. Do you want to know how to compost at your home, office, or school?
What are you waiting for? Let us plant a garden--watch it grow--harvest your own crops--and
Make your own ‘roots’ and ‘shoots’!
Happy Gardening!
Mingying
If you are interested in this program, please contact the coordinator：
