School Gardens

Garden City Harvest offers assistance and some funding for the establishment of school gardens in the Missoula area.

Currently, we run a school/community garden at Meadowhill Middle School and school gardens at Willard High School, Washington Middle School, and Lowell School in partnership with the MCPS and the Flagship Program.

School gardens offer teachers and students the opportunity to learn about the connection between the food they eat and where and how it is grown. Food grown at your school garden can be used in cooking projects at your school or as a part of your school lunch program. Working in your school garden provides an opportunity to integrate curriculum inside and outside the classroom while staying on your school site. A school garden is a great way to teach students about seasonality, ecology, life cycles, and cooperative working.

The GCH School Gardens program is one component of the Missoula BEANS program (Blending Education, Agriculture, and Nutrition in Schools), along with the GCH Community Education Program, and the Missoula Farm to School program.

Missoula BEANS offers teachers and students in Missoula an opportunity to learn more about our food system, gardening and farming, and healthy eating habits both inside and outside the classroom.  The BEANS program works within the curriculum standards of the Missoula County Public Schools, especially in the areas of science, social studies, and health enhancement.