If you haven’t heard about Granny’s Garden School, make sure to visit their site.

Founder Roberta Paolo started something big in 2002!    She  collaborates with the Loveland, Ohio,  school district to provide environmental education for Loveland’s students and now Granny’s Garden School is the largest and most comprehensive school garden program in the Midwest. Based on a 25 acre campus shared by the primary and elementary schools in Loveland, they’ve  have turned the school grounds into teaching gardens that serve all of Loveland’s nearly 1,800 K-4th grade students.

There are more than 100 garden beds where students come out as part of their school day to grow vegetables under the guidance of their classroom teachers and the garden teachers, who use the process of growing vegetables to teach across the curriculum. The produce is served in the cafeteria and donated to a local food bank and “Soup” kitchen. The teaching is not limited to the garden beds. They  have many common flower garden areas and a seven acre nature trail that are also part of the program. To hear the entire interview, click here.