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Ontario EcoSchools’ new School Ground Greening video is a how-to film that features students and staff from La Mosaïque. Read more about the amazing school featured in the video:
One of the most transformative of sections of the Ontario EcoSchools program is School Ground Greening. La Mosaïque elementary school in CS Viamonde takes their school ground greening seriously!
La Mosaïque students enjoy all aspects of greening projects, from watering and adding compost to harvesting the vegetables and collecting the grains. One of their most innovative projects is the vertical garden, pictured below. This vertical garden allows students to see plants growing in a non-conventional way, while being able to touch and observe the plants.
To get their vertical garden off the ground, students began by collecting 2L (or larger) plastic bottles from the recycling bin. They cut the tops off to add some healthy soil and pierced small holes in the bottles to allow for drainage. With the bottles ready, they attached them to the schoolyard fence with string. Then it was time to plant! Students decided to plant peppers to start off the season, with many more ideas throughout the summer.
Another important aspect of La Mosaïque’s greening program is raising awareness about the value of native plants. Students and staff feel that native plants help foster healthy ecosystems they consulted with several native plant suppliers, and are always seeking new resources to expand their greening work.
To keep their school garden flourishing, La Mosaïque has assembled a committed group of 30 families, with parents taking turns watering the garden with their children during the summer months. To organize this process, La Mosaïque EcoTeam shared a watering schedule with parents via the school newsletter. As well, caretakers were onsite in the summer to provide water access to volunteers.
How can other EcoSchools be inspired by La Mosaïque’s school ground greening success? Vice Principal Stefan Dixon suggested that by starting small, schools can take a step-by-step approach to building a solid greening project. He had the following words of wisdom to share:
“Start with a small garden, a simple composting bin, anything. Do something you know and that you enjoy doing. This will make it easy to explain to students, teachers, volunteers what to do. Keep your first project simple. Once done, you will have a better idea of the steps necessary to carry out that particular project; you can then revise your strategy for the next project.”
Resources
- Get Inspired! Click here to view our School Ground Greening photo gallery, where you can get inspired by what other schools are doing.
- Food Garden Tips: Here are some tips from Healthy Eating at School to get growing as well as ideas on integrate growing food with your curriculum.
- Garden Grants: Consider applying for a Canadian School Garden Grant from the Whole Kids Foundation.
- Fundraising Tips: The Ottawa chapter of the Canadian Organic Growers has a helpful Fundraising Toolkit.
- Native Plant Guide: If, like La Mosaïque, you’re interested in integrating native plants into your school garden, here is a guide to landscaping with native plants. This will help you create a garden that is not only beautiful, but easy to maintain as these plant adapt to local climate and soil conditions. Be sure to know what EcoZone your school is in before you plant.
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