About
Garden for the Environment maintains a nationally acclaimed one-acre urban demonstration garden and offers environmental education programs about organic gardening, urban compost systems and sustainable food systems. Since its founding in 1990, the garden has operated as a demonstration site for small-scale urban ecological food production, organic gardening and low water-use landscaping.
Today, GFE 's programs include four central educational elements; a three month intensive Gardening and Composting Educator Training program, monthly Compost Education workshops conducted at the garden and community gardens throughout San Francisco, the Resource Efficient Landscape Education series, and the School Education program offered in partnership with San Francisco Unified School District and San Francisco's Department of the Environment.
EDUCATION
GARDENING & COMPOSTING EDUCATOR TRAINING PROGRAM
The GCETP program is a great way to get a deeper understanding of home composting and green gardening in San Francisco. The classes are every Saturday and several Wednesday evenings over a 3.5 month period. Through hands-on workshops, workdays, and class discussions, we cover many topics including: composting, food security, permaculture, propagation, native plants, soil fertility, and pruning.
As part of the class, students help maintain the Garden for the Environment. By the end of the training program students will be able to effectively teach home composting classes to San Francisco residents. Students also complete a gardening-related community service project, which often include outreach, restoration of neglected community or school gardens, and tabling at public events.
We take students on field trips to favorite SF attractions like the transfer station and permaculture projects. Each student receives a copy of the current GCETP manual, as well as 3 seminal books: The Rodale Book of Composting, Golden Gate Gardening, and Permaculture in a Nutshell. And best of all, students get a free worm or backyard compost bin!
SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Throughout the school year we visit elementary and middle schools across San Francisco to teach about gardening and composting. As a class we look at the value of diverting food waste from the landfill and discuss soil as a delicate natural resource. The students then join us on a field trip to the Garden for the Environment. Together we spend the afternoon poking around in the compost pile, planting vegetables, and playing garden games. The students even get a worm bin for their own classroom! By outreaching to local schools, we hope to instill a sense of environmental stewardship in our kids so the next generation of San Franciscans will have the knowledge and tools they need to maintain a vibrant, green city.
RESOURCE EFFICIENT LANDSCAPE EDUCATION
The RELE workshops are held at the Garden for the Environment and offered FREE to the public. We offer these classes in order to help local landscapers and urban gardeners reduce the amount of resources they use in order to make their yards, gardens, and balconies green and beautiful. You don't need Round-Up and Miracle-Gro to have a lush, healthy garden! Workshop topics often include: native plant landscaping, rainwater harvesting and storage, drought tolerant plantings, water conservation, Integrated Pest Management, planting and pruning to reduce waste, and effective use of mulch and compost. You can take the whole series of workshops or just drop in for one particular topic.
URBAN GARDENING INTERNSHIP (Not offered Summer 2007)
From June to August, we host an incredible group of interns through our Urban Gardening Internship program. Every Saturday, for approximately 10 weeks, we cover a new and exciting topic through hands-on practice as well as lunchtime lectures. UGI is a fantastic experience for students seeking internship opportunities as well as eager gardeners looking for some summer garden education.
HOME COMPOSTING EDUCATION PROGRAM
San Francisco hauls away a five foot high football field of trash every day! And about 20% of that is organic material like kitchen scraps and yard waste that easily can be composted at home. We offer FREE monthly workshops on how to compost inside, on balconies, in backyards... anywhere! Less waste is created when you compost your food waste yourself - close the loop in your own backyard! In addition to reducing overall city-wide energy use, your plants at home get a rich, organic fertilizer to help them grow. Composting classes have been taught in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Tagalog, and Russian in community gardens all over the city.
