Southwestern Kokopelli Garden Yard Stakes

Review”The bounty of data is staged in ways that will generate excitement and provide inspiration. [An] splendid manual for teachers and parents.” (Booklist )

“As a former early childhood educator and one who gardened with her students, let me say that I wish this book would have existed when I was in the classroom. How to Grow a School Garden takes away the guesswork and provides tip after tip from two women who have a lot of ears of school garden experience beneath their belts… This book is a must-read for any individual (parent or teachers) mesmerized in bringing gardens to their own school community.” (CafeMom.com )

“Here’s a book that we wish we could buy many, galore copies of, permitting it is fun lessons to disseminate far and wide.” (Rocky Mountain Land Library )

“[Introduces] the joys and gains of digging in the dirt to kids who might not other than as supposed or expected get the chance.” (Grist.com )

“Offer[s] the data and encouragement for helping schools construct a patch of green.” (Chicago Tribune )

“This book is a treasure trove of good counsel and progressed ideas. From the standard ‘what to grow’ and ‘how to garden’ to using the garden as a  instructing tool and originative starting point…Fabulous resource for schools but likewise families who want to get more out of their patch of land.”

(whipup.net )

“Bucklin-Sporer and Pringle have written a book that simplifies and clarifies the mysterious routine of altering share of any schoolyard from an asphalt wasteland to a lively connection with the natural world.”

(San Francisco Chronicle )

“This terrific guide is filled with detailed, practical guidelines for organizing and running a school garden.”

(SciTech Book News )

“This is my bible on starting a school garden.“

(Annie Spiegelman Huffington Post )

“Their hands-on approach makes school garden projects accessible, inexpensive and sustainable.” (Marin Independant Journal )

“This book will be a well-thumbed resource in a heap of school and public libraries. … Strongly recommended.” (Library Journal )

“Easy-to-read, informative, and visually delighting — any parent or teacher giving careful consideration to a school garden will find a wealth of data in this book.” (American Gardener )

About the AuthorArden Bucklin-Sporer is executive conductor of the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance, an advocacy institution for school gardens and outdoor classrooms. She is the conductor of instructional gardens for the San Francisco Unified School District, and a founding collaborator of Bay Tree Design, Inc., a landscape architecture firm. Arden has worked with green schoolyards and public school gardens for over a decade, building an award-winning school garden program as a public school parent and working closely with school districts at the local, state and national level. Her interest in urban agriculture is fueled by her family’s organic farm and vineyard in Sonoma County, CA. Arden lives in San Francisco and Sonoma with her husband and three for the most part grown sons.

Rachel Kathleen Pringle is programs manager for the San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance. She is likewise the urban school garden liaison for Occidental Arts & Ecology Center’s School Garden Teacher Training Program in Sonoma County, California. Rachel has worked in the environmental education field since moving to California in 2002.  She has taught in a public school garden, integrating the curriculum into the outdoor classroom and planning events, and has formulated and led workshops for garden coordinators, parents, and community members while collaborating with local environmental organizations. Before earning a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology, Rachel raised cattle and held a garden while growing up on a little farm in rural Maine.