School Gardening Guide - Selecting Plants for the Massachusetts School Garden ~ Massachusetts

Selecting Plants for the Massachusetts School Garden- Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom 2012
Selecting Plants for the Massachusetts School Garden
Side Bar A
The Plant Families of Common
School Garden Vegetables
★Leguminosae (or Legumes):
bean, pea, peanut, red clover
★Solanaceae(or Nightshades):
tomato, eggplant, pepper, potato,
tomatillo
★Brassiceae(or Brassicas):
cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower,
kale, broccoli raab, pak choi,
mustard, kohlrabi, Brussels sprout,
turnip, radish, rutabaga, collard
★Cucurbitaceae (or cucurbits):
cucumber, squash, pumpkin,
melon, watermelon, gourd
★Umbelliferae: carrot, parsley,
celery, parsnip, dill, fennel,
coriander
★Liliaceae (or allums): asparagus,
garlic, onion, leek, shallot, chives
★Chenopodiaceae: beet, Swiss
chard, spinach, lamb's quarter,
amaranth, purslane (common
edible weeds)
★Asteraceae: chicory, endive,
salsify, dandelion, lettuce,
sunflower, marigold, Jerusalem
and globe artichoke.
1
When most people think of gardening, they think of summer vegetables
such as tomatoes and cucumbers. This is why choosing plants for the
Massachusetts school garden can be a challenge. The school year skirts
neatly around these harvests. The school year was in fact designed to do
just that, so that children could help out on their family farms during the
growing season. Having abundant school gardens that are productive
when most children are at the school during the “off” season is possible,
it just requires some thinking outside of tradition garden crop planning
parameters.
This guide presents some of the factors involved in choosing plants for
the Massachusetts school garden, lists annuals and perennials that are
well suited for small space off-season growing, and then offers design
examples of eight school garden beds. It looks at considerations such as
frost dates, days to harvest, requirements of warm and cool season
crops, and plant families, so that the school gardener may have the
information necessary to practice useful techniques for the small-plot,
off-season gardening that most Massachusetts school gardens require,
such as interplanting, crop rotation, and use of perennials.
There are many other factors to consider beyond the biological needs of
plants. Your budget, where you might find donations, space available
for the garden, possibilities for summer maintenance, and the cultures
and cultural cuisines of the children you teach are all important factors
in choosing plants. Your plans for curriculum connections and
classroom activities in the garden can be additional driving forces for
how you shape your garden. As agriculture is a cultural activity, and
each school has its own distinct community and culture, no school
garden will be the same. These factors, although outside of the scope of
this guide, are none-the-less important considerations in choosing crops
to drive the creation of a relevant, vibrant and educational school
garden.

Side Bar B
Germination Temperatures of
Common School Garden
Vegetables
(in degrees Fahrenheit)
‣45-60: Beet, cabbage, carrot,
chard, lettuce, onion, parsley,
pea, radish, spinach.
‣60-75: tomato, corn, peppers.
‣75-85: Beans, squash
2
What to Consider
Frost dates: When are the average last and first dates of freezing
temperatures in your area? These dates are key to know when planning
your garden, as this gives you your window of growing time for more
tender annual plants that can be killed by frost. To find your frost dates,
go to the National Climatic Data center and choose Massachusetts:
http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl?
directive=prod_select2&prodtype=CLIM2001&subrnum. For example,
the average last frost in Brockton is May 1st and the average first frost
is October 6th.
Plant hardiness zone: This
is a designation created based
on the average annual winter
temperature in a given
location. This is particularly
important to know when
choosing perennials, so that
you can determine whether
they will survive the winter
temperatures in your area. In
Massachusetts our zones
range from a 5a to 7b
designation. To access this
map and determine your
climate zone, go to: http://
planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/
PHZMWeb/# Buying from a
local garden center is a good
bet to be sure you are getting plants that are adapted and winter hardy
to your area, but if buying mail order, be sure to check this designation.
Days to harvest: A number given to annual vegetables that designates
the average days from planting the seed until harvest. This is looking at
when the part of the vegetable most commonly eaten is ready, but
vegetables may have an extended harvest period, and other parts of the
vegetable may be eaten earlier. For example, most lettuce varieties are
listed as 50 days, but the young leaves may be eaten as early as 28 days
from seeding. Broccoli is listed as 60 days, but the side shoots may be
harvested for many weeks after the main head matures.
Side Bar C
Approximate Spacing Guide for
Intensive Gardening (in inches)
Crop “ Crop “
Asparagus 16 Leeks 6
Beans,
6 Lettuce,
4
Pole
leaf
Beans,
Bush
4 Onion 4
Beets 4 Peas 2
Broccoli 16 Peppers 12
Cabbage 18 Potatoes 12
Carrots 2 Pumpkins 24
Chard 8 Radishes 2
Collards 12 Spinach 4
Corn 16 Squash,
winter
24
Kale 16 Tomatoes 18
To determine spacing for interplanting:
add the spacing inches for the two crops to
be planted together, and then divide by 2.
E.g. If onions are to be planted next to
baby lettuce, 4” + 4”=8”, then 8” divided
by 2 = 4. Therefore the onions should be
planted 4” from the lettuce.
(Adapted from: Virginia Cooperative
Extension : Intensive Gardening Methods:
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/
426/426-335/426-335.html)
Scarlet Runner Beans.

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Side Bar D
Root Depth of Common School
Garden Vegetables
★Shallow rooted plants: Corn,
broccoli, spinach, cabbage,
lettuce
★Medium rooted plants:
Cucumbers, turnips, beans,
summer squash, carrots, and
peas.
★Deep rooted plants: Tomatoes,
asparagus, winter squash
(including pumpkin), daikon and
parsnips
Side Bar E
Example Interplanting or
Companion Planting
Combinations
‣Nasturtiums with summer
squash (nasturtium repels
squash bugs)
‣Marigolds around tomatoes
(marigolds attract tomato
bugs)
‣Lettuce with sweet corn
(corn shades the lettuce)
‣Beets with onions
‣Basil with peppers or
tomatoes
‣Broccoli and cabbage with
onions, cucumber and
potatoes
3
Open pollinated and hybrid plant varieties: Open pollinated plants
(or OP) have seeds that will grow into the same plant as their parent
plant. Many of these varieties were developed over long periods of time
by human cultures selectively saving seeds for specific traits. They are
also often called heirloom vegetables. Some open pollinated varieties
were developed by plant breeders and then stabilized over many
generations of plants to save true to type. Hybrid vegetables (or F1) on
the other hand, are made by plant breeders who take two or more
desirable parent plants, and cross them by hand to create a hybrid that
has these combined traits. Seeds from hybrids will not produce the
same plant as the parent, but will grow as any combination of the parent
plants. Hybrids are often more vigorous and as most of them are
developed for production farming, they often come to maturity earlier,
and can be larger.
Hybrids can be helpful in the
school garden when trying to
push for a spring harvest. They
can also offer greater yields
which are good when you have
limited growing space. Open
pollinated vegetables are often
a good bet as they are less
designed for production
farming, and can have
characteristics that work well in
a small garden such as a longer
harvest window, longer days to
maturity (so that you can leave
them to mature over the
summer and harvest them when
you get back) and better taste.
You can also incorporate seed
Pumpkin / flour corn interplanting
saving activities into your school garden if you use open pollinated
vegetables.
Plant classification into families: English botanist Charles Linnaeus
developed a plant classification system in the 1700s still used today,
that classifies plants according to their family, genus and species. For
gardeners, the family designation is helpful in determining a plants
growth habits, potential insect pests, and maintenance requirements as
plants in the same family generally have similar traits. Knowing what

Side Bar F
Plants for The School Garden
Annuals to plant and harvest
in spring:
- Peas
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Arugula
- Other greens such as chard
- Radish
- Cilantro
- Baby Kale, Collards and other
hardy greens.
Spring bearing perennials:
- Rhubarb
- Strawberries
- Asparagus
- Herbs
- Sun Chokes (Jerusalem
Artichokes - you eat the root)
- French Sorrel (you will be
surprised at how much kids
love eating this!)
- Lovage (like celery)
- Ramps (like onions)
- Perennial scallions
- Chives
Annuals to plant in the spring
and harvest in the fall:
- Cabbage
- Brussel Sprouts
- Broccoli
- Squash such as Pumpkins,
Butternuts and Watermelons.
- Flour corn and popcorn
- Dry beans
- Kale, Collards
- Herbs
- Beets
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes or Yams
4
family a vegetable is also helps when planning crop rotation and
companion planting, techniques described below. See Sidebar (A) for a
list of common vegetable families.
Hardy greens in the garden
Warm season and cool season vegetables: Designating vegetables as
warm or cold season, helps in determining germination temperature
requirements, and what temperatures the mature plants will tolerate.
Warm season vegetables may die in the event of a light frost, whereas
many cool season vegetables can live into the winter. See Sidebar (B)
for the cold hardiness of common school garden crops.
Plant size and root depth: Plant size at harvest is important to
consider when planing a garden bed. This determines how far apart
seeds and transplants should be spaced, as well as which crops can be
planted together. Plant height may determine which plants are placed to
the north so that they do not shade out shorter plants. Additionally, root
depth determines how deep a container bed needs to be, as well as
whether plants will be competing for root space.
Light requirements: Hours of sunlight a plant needs vary crop to crop.
This is important to note if you do not have full sun in all parts of your
garden. Edible crops usually require a minimum of six hours of full sun
per day. However, there are a few that will produce in less sunlight.
These are primarily plants in which the edible portion is the roots,
stems or leaves, rather than the fruit. They may take longer to reach
maturity with shade; consider harvesting them young. Also, shade
tolerant crops may be planted in the shadow of taller sun-loving ones.

Fall bearing perennials
- Apples
- Grapes
- Fall bearing raspberries
- herbs
If you must have tomatoes...
Send your vegetables on
vacation!
- Plant tomatoes, peppers,
cucumbers, eggplants and
herbs in containers and send
them home with students for
the summer.
5
Water/drought tolerance: Another factor to consider depending on the
summer watering availability for your garden. You may not want to
plant drought sensitive plants, like watermelon, in a low maintenance
summer garden. Mulch heavily to help maintain moisture during the
summer and be sure to water during prolonged droughts.
The Techniques
Interplanting: Interplanting, or intercropping, is a technique where
two or more crop varieties are planted together in the same bed. This
can allow for a more intensive use of space. Interplanting takes into
account plant size and root depth, light requirements and water/drought
tolerance. An example of interplanting could be lettuce and onions,
plants that will not compete with each other as they have different
rooting depths, light requirements and pace of growth. See the annual
school garden bed designs for some examples of interplanting.
Polycultures: Polycultures are groups of interplanted compatible
plants, planted not only for their physical qualities, but also their
functions useful to the whole group, for insect control or soil functions
they perform. See the perennial school garden bed designs for some
examples of polycultures. This is a similar idea to “companion”
planting.
Garden Activity Ideas
Crop planning math: Bring in
calendars and seed catalogues.
Have students use math to
determine the harvest dates of
plants in the garden based on
their planting date.
Plant information tables:
Have students use seed
catalogues or internet sources to
fill out plant information tables
to use in garden planning. See
attached worksheet.
Mapping vegetable varieties:
Plants have origins all over the
world, just as your students
may. Pin pictures of vegetable
varieties on a world map and
discuss human and plant
migration.
Plant families: Teach students
about keys and plant
classification through learning
vegetable plant families.
Strawberry Rhubarb interplanting

! ! !
Table G
Plants for the shade: Hours
of sunlight needed daily
Minimum of two hours daily:
Mesclun greens and Asian
greens such as bok choi, tatsoi
and komatsuna.
Minimum of three hours
daily:
Mustard greens (baby),
scallions and culinary herbs
such as chives, cilantro, garlic
chives, golden marjoram,
lemon balm, mint, oregano and
parsley.
Minimum of three to four
hours daily:
Arugula, chard (baby greens),
kale, lettuce and spinach.
Minimum of four to five
hours daily:
Bush and dwarf varieties of
peas & beans, baby root
vegetables such as beets,
carrots, potatoes, radishes and
turnips. These will need more
time.
List from "Best Vegetables to
Grow in the Shade." Colleen
Vanderlinden, Mother Earth
News 2011
6
A traditional polyculture grown in Massachusetts is growing corn,
beans and squash together. This interrelationship described in
curriculum on corn beans and squash by the Wampanog Tribe in Gay
Head MA (see sources):
“The beans brought nitrogen to the soil, which benefited the corn and
kept the soil from being stripped of important nutrients for future
plantings. Nitrogen is a type of food for plants, so it’s important that
soil have a source of nitrogen to nourish the plants. Squash was also
planted in the same area. Squash plants grew low to the ground and had
broad leaves. The squash leaves covered the ground, making it difficult
for weeds to have enough sunlight to grow and survive. This protected
not only the squash, but also the corn and beans. The squash leaves also
prevented the soil from drying out, by keeping the ground covered and
protected. All three crops attracted insects that ate pests that otherwise
would have eaten the crops.
Not only do the vegetables protect and nourish one another as
they grow, but together they provide a healthy and varied diet for
humans...” (http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages
Wampanoag_Education/corn)
Crop rotation: Crop rotation takes into account plant families and their
various cultivation requirements, insect pests, diseases and soil nutrient
needs. Plants are grouped and then rotated year to year to a different
bed or site. An example three year crop rotation would put crops in the
brassica family, which are subject to the same pests and have similar
higher nitrogen needs, in a bed after legumes like beans and peas that
fix nitrogen in the soil, and follow with nightshades such as tomatoes
and eggplant which have a different set of insect pests.
Transplanting: Transplanting is a technique useful for getting a head
start on the season, and important to consider in crop selection as you
can get an earlier harvest of crops that you start indoors. Transplanting
is also a good technique for the low maintenance garden, as crops can
be tended in a controlled environment before setting them outside,
where they can be mulched and require less weeding than plants
started from seed. This could allow the school gardener to start warm
season plants in the classroom under grow lights, then plant them out at
the end of the school year, mulch them in and water over the summer
for a fall harvest.

7
Season extension: Season extension is a group of methods used to prolong the growing season by allowing
crops to be started earlier in the spring or kept alive longer in the fall. This can include greenhouses and high
tunnels, cold frames, hoop houses, cloches and other plant protectors that create mini micro climates that are
warmer than the outside temperature.
Fall-bearing raspberry patch
- Alice Posner, 2012

8
Perennial Bed Designs for Four 4’ x 8” Beds: (to scale)
* Perennial Bed designs with special thanks to Lisa DePiano of Mobile Design Lab, Northampton MA. *
savory pie bed
scale 1/2” = 1’
!ese plants will be able to be harvested at the end of the school year to make a savory pie or quiche. Pair
with eggs from school chickens for a complete dish!
establishment
In eight foot by 4 foot raised bed plant welsh onions one foot in from the edges of the bed. Plant sorrel
and chives 3 feet from outside edge and creeping thyme and oregano one foot on diagonal from sorrel and
chives. Water in during establishment.
Maintenance
Water and weed as needed. Plants can be le! or cut back for the winter.
Pollinator Bed
each
estab-lishment.
in
plants with
scale 1/2”= 1’
!ese plants will be le% as food for pollinators attracting hummingbirds, honey bees and other insects
to the garden. Wild senna also $xes nitogen for the rest of the bed and anise hyssop can be harvested in
Semptember, the beginning of the school year to make herbal tea.
establishment
Plant each plant two feet apart and leave a foot and half from the edge of the bed. Water in well during
establishment.
Maintenance

9
sweet early summer pie bed
scale 1/2”= 1’
!ese plants will be able to be harvested at the end of the school year to make a sweet pie or crisp.
establishment
Plant the rhubarb two feet in from the edges of the bed. Plant strawberries in rows one foot from each
other. Water in well during planting. Pick o" the strawberry #owers the $rst year to allow for root estab-lishment.
Maintenance
A%er plants fruit the second year thin out the runners of the older plants so that there is 4-6 inches in
between each. Remove older plants a%er runners have established. Mulch inbetween strawberry plants with
straw.
herbal tea bed
liquid
owering
scale 1/2”= 1’
!ese plants will be able to be harvested at the beginning of the shcool year to make herbal tea. Pair with a
lesson on drying herbs to store tea through the winter.
establishment
In eight foot by 4 foot raised bed plant new jersey tea and anise hyssop one and a half feet in from the edges
of the bed. Plant echinacea four feet from the edges the mint and lemon balm four feet in. Water in during
establishment.
Maintenance

10
Annual Bed Designs for Four 4’ x 8’ beds: (not to scale)
Fall Storage Bed
Cabbage
Onions
Carrots
This bed can be planted in the spring and harvested in the fall when school starts back up in September. These
crops can be eaten fresh or cured and stored for winter eating. The shallow rooted onions and cabbage, and
deeper rooted carrots do not compete, and their varying heights also make them compatible bed companions.
Establishment
Plant out onion sets or bulbs along with carrot seeds and cabbage seeds or starts in the spring.
Maintenance
Thin carrots after planting to 4.” Mulch the bed after plants are large enough not to be smothered. Keep
watered all summer.

11
Spring Greens to Salsa Garden
Peas
Spinach
Radish
This bed is started in the early spring, harvested just before school gets out then re-planted as a salsa garden for
the fall.
Establishment: Plant peas and spinach as soon as the ground can be worked. Plant radish May 1st. Harvest
mid June and then set out tomatillo and pepper starts and direct seed cilantro.
Maintenance: Mulch around the tomatoes and peppers leaving room for the cilantro to germinate. Water starts
well as they settle in and keep watered all summer.
Tomatillos
Cilantro
Peppers

12
Corn Beans and Squash Bed
Flour or pop Corn
Dry Beans
Winter Squash or Pumpkins
There are many beneficial relationships between corn, beans and squash, or the “three sisters.” There are also
many rich traditions and practices around their planting across America. Researching this garden bed can
provide a route into learning about the history of agriculture in the Americas and current communities of First
Nations people. Below are instructions for this polyculture from curriculum from the website of the
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, MA. Please see sources for this complete curriculum, and information on
timing planting of this traditional Massachusetts polyculture.
Establishment:
“To plant your own garden, make areas about 12 inches high and 18 inches in width three- to four-feet apart
in all directions. In each area, plant 6 wet corn seeds in a small circle. As the corn begins to grow, weed and
press soil up around the plants. When the corn is about six inches high, plant four to six seeds of beans
around the circle. Next plant four or five squash or pumpkin seeds in every area. If you plant too many
pumpkin or squash seeds, they’ll take over the garden!”
Maintenance:
“Keep the soil moist and weeded. The Tribe uses summer planting areas for several seasons in a row. By
tradition, we allowed an area to rest for several seasons by moving to a new summer location. From time to
time, a new area would need an additional season before it was ready for planting again. In that case, the
same summer planting field would be used for an additional season or two. If we thought the ground was
becoming over planted we would bury herring in each planting hill before planting the new crops. As the fish
decomposed, it provided nitrogen and other nutrients for the plants.”

13
Which Bed Plant Family Varieties
to Plant
Uses for
us
Light
Needed
Planting Harvest Plant
Spacin
g
Tasks Days to Harvest
e.g. Roots Potato Solanacea
e
Fall
harvest
Eat! Make
potato
lights,
potato
stamps...
Full sun April 15-
May 15
Fall 8-12" Hilling if
possible,
picking
potato bugs,
mulching
sold by season
not days...
Notes: This table can be filled out by older students when choosing plants. Bring in seed catalogues or go to seed websites
for reference.

Resources for Building the Garden Beds
Sources
• All photos and annual bed drawings by the author in Holyoke MA school gardens. Thanks to Connections
after School Program and School Sprouts Educational Gardens.
• Perennial bed designs by Lisa DiPiano, Mobile Design Lab, Northampton MA. http://mobiledesignlab.org/
• Four Season Harvest. Eliot Coleman. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction VT1992.
• The Random House Book of Vegetables. Roger Phillips and Martin Rix. Random House, Inc. New York. 1993
• The Kitchen Garden. Alan Buckingham. DK Press, New York NY, 2010
• Starter Vegetable Gardens. Barbara Pleasant. 2010 Storey Publishing, North Adams MA.
• Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. Chelsea Green, White River
Junction VT 2009.
• University of Vermont Extension Website. http://pubs.ext.vt.edu
• Virginia Cooperative Extension Website: Intensive Gardening Methods http://pubs.ext.vt.edu
• www.vegetablegardener.com
• www.gardenguides.com
• http://www.pickyourown.org/MAharvestcalendar.htm
More instructions on the “Three Sisters”:
• Wampanoag Tribe website: http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/Wampanoag_Education/corn
• http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html
P. O. Box 345 Seekonk, MA 02771
www.aginclassroom.org
Please Visit the Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Website
to tell us how you used this Selecting the Crops resource for the School Garden.
Thanks!
Local and National Organizations
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
www.mass.gov/agr
Massachusetts Flower Growers Association
ZZZPDVVÀRZHUJURZHUVFRP
Massachusetts Nursery Landscape Association
www.mnla.com
National Gardening Association
www.garden.org
www.kidsgardening.org
UMass Extension
www.umassextension.org/index.php/information/
gardening
UMass SoilTesting
www.umass.edu/soiltest/
USDA Food and Nutrition Program
ZZZIQVXVGDJRY*URZLW%RRNV
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone MAP
www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html
US Botanic Garden - Planning Planting
www.schoolgardenwizard.org
Other Curriculum Resources Websites
American Community Garden Association
www.communitygarden.org/docs/how-to_manual.pdf
American Horticulture Society
www.ahs.org
California Agriculture Foundation
Gardens Curriculum
www.cfaitc.org/gardensforlearning
Gro Edibles
ZZZJURHGLEOHVFRPKRZWREXLOGDUDLVHGEHG
Junior Master Gardener Program
http://jmgkids.us
My Healthy School
www.myhealthyschool.com/gardens/starting.php
New York City’s School Garden Program
http://growtolearn.org
Project Life Lab Science School Gardens
www.lifelab.org
School Garden Weekly
http://schoolgardenweekly.com
Soil Water Conservation Society
www.swcs.org
School Garden Transformations
www.schoolgrounds.ca/projects.html
USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service
www.nrcs.usda.gov
http://soils.usda.gov/
Vegetable Garden Basics - Rutgers
ZZZPJRIPFRUJGRFV9HJ*DUG%DVLFVSGI
Raised Bed Container image - http://images.taunton.
com/enewsletters/vg/kg08-raised-beds-09.jpg
Information for this How-To-Guide for Getting Started in the School Garden
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Thank you to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural
Resources for a Specialty Crops Grant that supported development of
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14

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School Gardening Guide - Selecting Plants for the Massachusetts School Garden ~ Massachusetts