Before you dive into the rest of this Quest, check out these videos for more information about the nature of urban gardens:
Watch 1:
How to make seed balls at home
Watch 2:
How to help pollinators in cities (Nature)
Watch 3:
The global importance of urban gardens (Nature Lab)
Watch 4:
Botanical animation: "The Story of Flowers" (AMMK)
LEARN + INTERACT
Explore the world of seeds. Start by collecting the seeds from vegetables and fruits you eat. Observe, marvel at and identify different types of seeds and store them for the winter or share them with your family and friends. Would you like to grow food the permaculture way? Here’s the database for
more inspiring ideas (for ages 3-12)
Become closer to nature
and identify what you have in your garden with a nature ID app
iNaturalist.
(for ages 7+)
ACT + SHARE
Move and dance.
Listen to the music by the band
Formidable Vegetable and take a break from screen time. Let the permaculture principle “use and value diversity” remind us that creating polyculture is better than monoculture.
(for ages 5+)
Start your own seedlings indoors by growing seeds in
eggshells. Eggshell seed planters are a great way to reuse and recycle with zero-waste! Sprinkle some water on them every day and once your seedlings are ready for planting, you can gently break the shell and let it decompose in the soil naturally. Show us your seedling’s progress by sharing a photo of your eggshell planters with #EarthSchool.
(for all ages)
Create a
story garden. Reggio Emilia is a town in Northern Italy that developed its own unique philosophy of early childhood education. Part of this approach includes creating "story gardens": creating miniature worlds using containers and garden planters where children can use small figures they have or make to create narratives and let their imagination take over! Find things at home like a tray, pot or box and fill it with sand or soil. Design your own garden in the container and add herbs like lavender, lemon balm, or even grow strawberries! Let your imagination take it’s own journey: add pebbles or other natural materials, and don’t forget to share your stories and photos with #EarthSchool.
(for ages 3-10)
Make a
bee and butterfly water station. It’s a simple and kind way to show you care for the pollinators
— they get thirsty too!
(for all ages)
WANT MORE?
Get inspired by an allotments school project made by high schoolers. The
Papillon Project urges young people to learn to grow their own food for their school and community.
(for ages 14+)
Read about the
history of urban gardening.
(for ages 10+
)
Plant a
pollinator-friendly garden with the David Suzuki Foundation.
(for ages 9+
)
Attract more insects to your garden by making a
bug hotel. A top tip to remember: Make sure to put your hotel in a sunny spot!
(for ages 4+
)
Learn more about bug hotels with
these infographics (for ages 10+
)
Grow your own salad at home and find useful resources about
how to garden.
(for ages 8+
)
Explore Google Earth to visit cities around the world that have a diverse range of urban gardens.
(for ages 11+)
Watch a video about how the
Haiti Urban Agriculture project in Port-au-Prince, Haiti is enhancing food security with car tire gardening.
(for ages 11+)
Resources for Parents and Educators: Children in Permaculture manual and this
poster on children in permaculture (from the Children in Permaculture Network and Learning In Nature) and this great
resource book Edible Cities, which discusses why the urban landscape can be a great place for permaculture.
School garden ideas and inspiration, from the Mayor of London.
Dyce Lab Pollinator & Beekeeping Resources,
Bee species other than honey bees, with Cornell CALS.
Watch
how children engage in gardening
through hands-on experience. See how they design their own garden with the three ethics of permaculture: Earth care, people care, and fair share. A top tip to remember: Playing promotes learning!
A good read on balcony gardening
Permaculture in Pots shows how to grow food in small urban places.
This Earth School Quest was created by the following incredible educators and environmental experts: Gaye Amus,
Julie Kapuvari,
Juli Voss,
Malm Nordlund,
Kaisa Viitamäki
They produce food for us and for other people.
We can eat fresh, organic produce right off our doorstep. That's huge in terms of reducing carbon emissions and reducing the effects of climate change.
People plant food by renting gardens, experiencing hard work of farmers, learn to not waste food. Kids can enjoy their time there, studies have shown that children’s exposure to plants have positive effect on the brain’s development Therefore with keeping in touch with plants in the garden the children will have a good understanding of nature , gardens allow people to hold activities like picnics and it’s easy to get to.
Veli Gut mass production of food
It is better for us to eat food we have grown rather than buy it from the grocery store because farms are very far away and it causes carbon to go into the air when it comes to the store. It takes a lot of resources to grow lots of food on farms, but less resources for us to grow food ourselves.
Help us realize that we are part of Nature
We are producing food locally and reducing carbon emissions.
Urban gardens bring us closer to food because they are what produce our food. Urban gardens bring us closer to nature because we can marvel at nature and help it thrive. Urban gardens bring us closer to each other because we can marvel at nature together also because we are a part of nature and **** sapiens are meant to communicate and live with each other.
They make us more appreciative of the process through which everything is created.
Urban gardens help us produce food naturally, helping nature, and they provide us with food, and food for other animals.
They provide food and clean water, and a close access to nature no matter where you are. They help remind us that we need to conserve nature, and they also help reduce our carbon footprint, which one day may save all life on Earth.
The best part about urban gardening is how it shows us that "lack of space" can no longer be an excuse for lack of action. Urban gardening helps us create spaces for environmental conservation and self sufficiency at the same time. By growing small vegetable gardens in our own homes, we can produce enough for our own plates. And when a large number of people do the same, it protects land, resources and nature.
because it forms like a mini comunity and decreaces the transport of food while also making the food absolutly delicious!!!
It allows the restaurants and stores to get fresher supplies
Urban gardens bring us closer to the food on our plates because we are actively producing and farming the food ourselves. This connects us to nature as we grow fruits and vegetables. Participating in these activities connect humans together in the shared process of farming and gardening.
Urban gardens being is closer to nature by forcing us to see its wonder in person and learn its magnificent, efficient ways. In addition, urban gardens being us closer to our plates simply because, if you only eat from your urban garden, then you know how much work went into each item on your plate. In turn, you may appreciate the food you eat more than others without an urban garden. Finally l, urban gardens can bring people together in many ways. One of these ways is sharing an experience with a friend or a new person who is also playing an urban garden, and another is sharing crops and vegetables with other people, or even sharing a garden with someone.
If you grow your own vegetables in your garden that brings us closer to the food on our plate. Being around plants and nature makes you appreciate it more and puts you in a calmer mood. Which probably makes it more pleasant for people dealing with you.
We are dependant on what surrounds us: nature. Urban gardens are great ideas for making us aware of biodiversity since the minimum particle until animals and at this case, pollinators. As we have watched in the videos, urban gardens let species thrive without disrupting anything. They are a type of ecosystems where species can interact and make our lives better and more natural by providing us food and decreasing our diet footprint. I think that it brings us closer to each other in the way that everybody can join and strive for safeguarding urban gardens and their proper inhabitants.
gracias a la polinización que puede surgir no sólo en nuestros jardines y no en cualquier lugar apto y fértil para dependiendo el ecosistema cualquier clase de especie por ende no sólo las grandes áreas para cultivar son importantes para mantener un ecosistema saludables no también pequeñas áreas cómo lo pueden ser nuestros jardines por eso ambos están interconectados debido a que fluyen juntos para crear un ecosistema común.
Growing one's own food seems to be the only solution to the environmental problems that we face.In that way, people become more self-reliant and thus the large scale productions which includes massive usage of pesticides can slowly take a back seat.
We depend on these many bees for pollination and breed them into existence in an unnatural way because of the huge scale of the crop industry....
If every house has a unit of food production, then we wont be needing these many bees.
I think 🤔 that we should be nicer to the bees 🐝
It is better for us to eat food we have grown rather than buy it from the grocery store because farms are very far away and it causes carbon to go into the air when it comes to the store. It takes a lot of resources to grow lots of food on farms, but less resources for us to grow food ourselves. People plant food by renting gardens, experiencing hard work of farmers, learn to not waste food, gardens allow people to hold activities like picnics and it’s easy to get to.
In my house we have a kitchen garden and to grow our own plants that is how we become closer to nature.
In my house, we have created the tares garden and to grow our plants and that is How it is come to closer to nature and food.
El hecho de cultivar jardines dentro de nuestro hogar va a permitir generar propio consumo y sobretodo la cultura de preservar la naturaleza.
Because they are little parts of nature in cities that benefits their food.
principalmente nos acerca la fruta
They have less pests and you know how they where grown
It’s the life cycle of... nature!
You all probably know decay,compost,etc,etc,etc
They’ll all get re-born in 500 years or more...
Why should have a crisis if they’ll get re-born!?!?
After all... they were discovered in the late 1600’s
Urban gardens make your realize where these veggies and fruits are coming from and these make people be closer to nature every day Dylan
Urban gardens create a community, makes it so you can cut greenhouse gases, and you can walk and pick up food for your meal.
The production of food increases based on plants
Urban gardens allow people to grow food that is geographically closer to them, rather than buying food in stores that may have traveled across the country or even the world to make it on the shelf. Urban gardens also bring people closer to nature because they don't have to leave the city to access these gardens. Additionally, urban gardens are often communal spaces that require constant attention from many people; thus, they bring people closer together by their mere existence.
Things would be organic, and overall more sustainable. It could be beneficial to the earth and nature by using less pesticides and being locally grown reducing chemical and gas emissions. The smarter our food gets the smarter we get. Remember you are what you eat. We could reduce the greenhouse effect by a global scale if we make quick and better decisions.
They bring us closer to our food plate because we plant our own food. we know what is being put into it. like no pesticides and artificial colors and flavors
it increase access to fresh food
They allow for people to get fresh food right off the vine/whatever the plant is growing from, thus the food that goes onto our plates no longer needs to travel as far by truck to supermarkets, then to our plate. Urban gardens also bring us closer to nature as we take care of the plants together, which also brings us closer to each other because of the mutual care we all need to have in order to keep the garden going.
Urban gardens can produce the food we and others can eat. They also provide shelters and habitats for small insects and possibly other animals.
Urban gardens creates positive changes in our mind and body, this helps us creating a healthy mind and create a social well being. We can increase the social interaction in urban gardens and social interaction with each other is a good way of a happy life. We can also get foods and fruits from urban gardens. Our dependency on imports and exports will decrease. Urban gardens reduces the carbon from the environment and creates more oxygen.
It's important for everyone, at least as basic knowledge, to know how to harvest their own food and to live in harmony with nature.
It brings us closer so that we learn to value how that food got to our plate and that some people cannot consume it either due to lack of money.
Urban gardens bring us closer to the food on our plate because we know exactly from where it came.
In my house I have a kitchen garden where I grow plants like:
Cabbage,Ladyfingers,Tomatos,Carrots,watermelons,etc. And this is how I become closer to the nature. :-)
urban garden brings us closer and provide the food on our plates when we are closure to each other and to nature.
Si no existieran las abejas muchas plantas morirían y la tierra seria afectado por no tener plantas y también nos afectaría a los humanos porque si no hah plantas no hay comida sin comida nos morimos si nos morimos no va a ver nadie que cuide la tierra y si... XD
Urban gardens give us the idea of how nature coexists with other organisms. They can bring us closer to the food on our plate by making it more accessible for us to harvest, such as tomatoes, lemons, and whatnot. They can also bring us closer to nature since it gives us positive aura and clean air to make us enjoy the very essence of its beauty.
It produces fresh and organic food for us and also helps nature survive.
its better for us so we can eat organic foods
they produce a healthy organic product for us.
Urban gardens are good.
.!.!#’’#
Urban gardens bring us closer to the food on our plate, to nature and each other by understanding how they actually plant them and how the food on our plate got there.
Urban gardens give us an easy access to the vegetables and crops needed for our daily meals and help us incorporate nature more in urban areas which is a positive action for the environment.
they make your grocery bill less they clean the water ways and they polenate
i don't know much about that type of stuff so just bee have a good day
well... umm....well i think they give as food from crops as if there planting crops to bring food to our plate
they bring crops to put food on our plate
They supply us fresh food to eat.
fresh food is always better!
They make water more fresh and produce food.
The urban gardens are a way for us to be able to work and talk together. It's a good chance for us to befriend our neighbors.
Urban gardens have so many benefits for communities and nature. In communities people work together to help create and maintain urban gardens they put effort forth and produce food that everyone can eat. This helps reduce their carbon foots print and helps save money. Urban gardens also attract pollinators and other species.
Urban gardens bring us closer to the food on our plate, as these bees visiting the gardens could be the same bees pollinating the food we eat.
urban gardens allow the typical person to grow their own fruits and vegetables.
They produce food for us and for other people.
They have a share in many foods we consume
Urban gardens bring us closer to the food on our plate because we are the ones who grew it ourselves instead of buying it from a grocer. It brings us closer to nature by showing us how food is produced and what nature does to provide us with the nutrition we need. It brings us closer together because it helps build social and emotional connections with our neighbors fostering a better sense of community between one another.
Urban gardens bring us closer to the food on our plate because it makes eliminates the regular transportation and extra added preservatives that other foods in the markets have.
If we grow your own vegetables in your garden that brings us closer to the food on our plate. Being around plants and nature makes you appreciate it more and puts us in a calmer mood. Which probably makes it more pleasant for people dealing with us.
Urban gardens bring us closer to nature and the food we eat by letting us see and execute how we are getting our food. We can understand more how nature works and how to grow food to eat ourselves. Many people are amazed by how nature works and if they have been in a city their whole life they might start to appreciate nature nd buy less products that harm the environment.
We have a urban garden in our neighborhood and I think it not only produces food and flowers for us and others but it also cleans the air, water, brings happiness and healthiness to us and others but it also makes us closer and more positive.
It helps us take care of our planet as a whole.
Urban gardens brings us closer to the food on our plate by providing us with those types of meals and food being grown. It brings us closer to nature by us planting and gardening being one with nature. This beings us closer as humans by having something to talk about and relate with others.
We can eat fresh, organic produce right off our doorstep. That's huge in terms of reducing carbon emissions and reducing the effects of climate change.
they allow us to take care of animals and to see how we affect the enviorement
Becuase almost the most of the food we eat, comes from there
Things would be organic, and overall more sustainable. It could be beneficial to the earth and nature by using less pesticides and being locally grown reducing chemical and gas emissions. The smarter our food gets the smarter we get. Remember you are what you eat.
Urban gardens give us easy access to the vegetables and crops needed for our daily meals and help us incorporate nature more in urban areas which is a positive action for the environment.
we can buy fresh local products that doesnt has no added chemicals to preserve them
The production of food increases based on plants
urban gardens help bring us food without contaminating so much with transport and help to incorporate nature into cities
- Urban gardens give us food, food, among other products, although the use of chemicals generates pollution, death of species and nature. This affects us and nature, in addition, the entire planet.
they bring us too close since many crops such as corn and different vegetables that come from urban gardens are ingested by us
They plant the biggest part of our everyday plates and bring us their clean, fresh and organic for our food. If we consume ocal products that came from those urban gardens we benefit them by giving them the money, we get the products and that is a way for helping the enviroment because of the exportation and packaging that produce pollution.
because all our food provine of its and this are a big part of the enviorment
They provide fresh organic food for human beings and others. Which helps with reducing carbon emission and etc.
They produce food with a lower carbon foot print, and allow for small creatures to find a new ecosystem. It bring us together trough labor.
The food that reaches us is fresher and if we grow our food we are aware of exactly where it comes from and we value it more.
It supplies humans, animals food as well as reducing the amount of carbon emission.
with the help of fresh supplies
They provide us with fresher food, and lower carbon emissions, helping everyone and everything on this planet. We also know that we wouldn't put anything harmful in the food we will eat, so that way, we know it is safer food too.
Producing it thanks to the animals that provide us with various foods.
Help us produce food naturally
Urban gardens can produce the food we and others can eat. They also provide shelters and habitats for small insects and possibly other animals.
eating organic foods are good for or immune systems
They lessen our plastic use by not buying produce off the shelves.
People plant food by renting gardens, experiencing hard work of farmers, learn to not waste food. Kids can enjoy their time there, studies have shown that children’s exposure to plants have positive effect on the brain’s development Therefore with keeping in touch with plants in the garden the children will have a good understanding of nature , gardens allow people to hold activities like picnics and it’s easy to get to.
scientists are making artificial chicken nugget plants to help bees get the best food
I might be serious today artificial bee protectors we have to make them
It's a way for us to be able to talk to each other without it being awkward. Explanation: Urban gardens are a way for us to be able to work and talk together it's a good chance for us to befriend our neighbors. They also help as a learning center it provides the opportunity to learn from the other people around us. - Alli
It helps ungrateful children learn what hard work is
We eat, drink, and makes nature beautiful and nice.
By experiencing the urban garden,people will be more aware of where their food is coming from and this can also end the exploitation done by the corporate giants in food market.
they produce food for us humans
People plant food by renting gardens, experiencing hard work of farmers, learn to not waste food. Kids can enjoy their time there, studies have shown that children’s exposure to plants have positive effect on the brain’s development Therefore with keeping in touch with plants in the garden the children will have a good understanding of nature , gardens allow people to hold activities like picnics and it’s easy to get to.
Urban gardens allow communities to share food with each other
urban gardens provide flowers / food source for bees, which helps sustain their population and hence help keep their number to pollinate our crops that turns into our food or other animals' food
If we grow our own food we appreciate it more; we are with nature more when gardening; we build friendships when we're all out in the garden together for a purpose
Building urban gardens attract pollinators to our urban spaces, providing healthy plants which provide a wide array of fruits and vegetables right in our community and into our plates almost every day. Thus, it reduces the cost we induce to purchase fresh produce from the supermarket, while also reducing our carbon footprint from packaging, transport, farmers using insecticides, etc. We put in our own work and these community gardens can bring people closer together for community dinners, etc. Additionally, they also aid in filtering our water, reducing the pollutants that enter our waterways from our cities, while also improving air quality.
Its fresh, sustainable, chemical free. And provides food and habitat for honeybees.
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You can plant fruits and vegetables, flowers look nice, and you can just sit near the flowers, and lastly, you can share the beauty of the flowers by giving seeds they produce to neighbors and friends, as well as giving them some home-grown food.
they produce food and healthy environment to us
we eat food right from gardens and we know it doesn't go through any process before being sold
They reduce carbon emissions, reduce waste, and provide food for the community
Living in the countryside in the Philippines, I can plant my own vegetables and fruits. I also have trees in my yard that provided shade and natural cooling, especially during our dry season.
They provide food for everyone