Gardening
Benefits Of Gardening
- Positive Social and Interpersonal Skills.
- When third to fifth grade students who participated in a one-year gardening program filled out a survey of life skills, they showed a significant increase in self-understanding and the ability to work in groups compared to nonparticipating students (Robinson & Zajicek, 2005).
- Healthy Eating and Nutrition.
- Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables (Canaris, 1995; Libman, 2007; McAleese & Rankin, 2007; Pothukuchi, 2004) and express a preference for these foods (Lineberger & Zajicek, 2000; Morris & Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002).
- Science Achievement and Attitudes Toward Learning.
- Fifth grade students who participated in school gardening activities scored significantly higher on science achievement tests than students who had a curriculum without garden experiences (Klemmer, Waliczek, & Zajicek, 2005).
- Evaluations of the Junior Master Gardener program in Indiana (Dirks & Orvis, 2005) and Louisiana (Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005) also found greater science achievement gains among gardening students compared to control groups.
- Design Skills and Environmental Stewardship.
- Second and fourth grade students in a school gardening program in Texas showed significantly more gains in proenvironmental attitudes than students in a control group, and the more outdoor experiences they had, the more positive their attitudes (Skelly & Zajicek, 1998).
- In a qualitative assessment of an intergenerational gardening project, students expressed an increased understanding of ecology, interconnections in nature, and responsibility to care for the environment (Mayer-Smith, Bartosh & Peterat, 2007).
Community Resources for Gardening
- Check out which fruits and vegetables are in season this month!
- Arizona Seasonal Produce Calendar by Sun Devil Dining
- What should you be planting right now?
- Vegetable Planting Calendar for Maricopa County by Arizona Cooperative Extension
- Other Gardening Resources
- Gardening Library by University of Arizona Master Gardener Program
- Poisonous Plants