School Gardens with Ease
Discover how to effortlessly integrate school gardens into your elementary or middle school curriculum with the School Gardens with Ease Podcast. This podcast is your go-to resource for creating flourishing and productive food gardens that provide long-term educational benefits. Learn tips, strategies, and insights to help you grow and maintain a sustainable school garden that enhances your teaching and inspires students for years to come.
Episodes
Is an outdoor garden necessary to teach kids how to grow food? Absolutely not!
In this episode of School Gardens with Ease, Leila Mireskandari challenges the myth that you need access to an outdoor school garden to create powerful, hands-on gardening experiences in your classroom. Whether you’re in summer mode or gearing up for the new school year, this episode will help you feel excited, not overwhelmed, about school ...
Do you know what kind of school garden teacher you are?
In this episode of School Gardens with Ease, I help you discover your School Garden Teacher Type — so you can stop spinning your wheels and start growing with more ease, clarity, and confidence.
Whether you're dreaming of your first classroom garden or scaling an existing one, knowing your unique approach to school gardening can completely shift how you plan, ...
In this episode of School Gardens with Ease, Leila shares real stories from Toronto schools where well-meaning but misinformed caretakers accidentally damaged school gardens—from mowing over fruit trees to refusing to maintain grass paths. These challenges are more common than you might think in school gardening—and there’s an easy solution.
Sheet mulching.
This simple Permaculture technique not only keeps grass o...
What does it really take to grow a thriving school garden year after year? Spoiler alert: it’s not a big budget, a huge team, or fancy tech. In this episode, I share the key ingredients behind the success of one of my Oasis program teachers whose garden is thriving—and growing—without any of the common “must-haves” people assume are necessary.
I also explain what kind of teacher doesn't lead to a lasting school ga...
Welcome to Episode 51 of School Gardens with Ease!
As the school year winds down, are you heading into summer break with peace of mind, or dread, when it comes to your school garden?
In this episode, host Leila Mireskandari helps you take a deep breath and shows you exactly how to set your school garden up for summer success with almost no summer maintenance.
Whether you've created a lush indoor garden with O...
Are you unknowingly sabotaging your school garden project with poor timing? In this fiery episode, Leila Mireskandari tackles one of the most overlooked — and crucial — aspects of school gardening: plant timing.
From high school science classes to elementary school projects, too many well-meaning teachers are planting seeds at the wrong time of year, leading to wasted resources, missed learning opportunities, and plant...
The Secret to Low-Maintenance, Biodiverse School Gardens
In this episode of School Gardens with Ease, host Leila Mireskandari dives into the concept of biodiversity and how it can be the game-changing secret to creating thriving, low-maintenance school gardens. Drawing from her background in Permaculture, Leila explains how the principles of observing nature, using renewable resources, and integrating diverse plant spe...
In this episode of the School Gardens with Ease podcast, Leila Mireskandari dives into the crucial steps of transplanting seedlings into your school garden. Whether you've been growing seedlings with your students in the classroom, selling them, or have purchased new ones, it's essential to prepare them for the outside world to minimize transplant shock.
Leila breaks down the process of "hardening off,&q...
Are you overwhelmed by the idea of fertilizing your school garden during summer break—or worse, feeling disappointed when your garden underperforms come fall?
In this episode, Leila Mireskandari shares a powerful shift in perspective: you don’t need to fertilize your school garden during summer at all—if you set it up right from the beginning.
💡 Learn why proactive garden design is more powerful than constant summer ma...
Welcome back to School Gardens with Ease! I’m your host, Leila Mireskandari, and in this episode, we’re tackling a question that comes up a lot around this time of year:
👉 How much cleanup does a school garden really need in the summer?
If you’re a bit of a clean freak when it comes to your school garden—or you’re feeling overwhelmed by summer maintenance—this episode is for you.
We’ll explore:
- The difference between...
Weeding might be the most dreaded chore for school garden volunteers, especially during the summer—but what if it didn’t have to be? In this episode, Leila challenges the common belief that weeds are inevitable in gardens. She breaks down why weeds show up, how our cultural biases shape our attitudes toward them, and how you can design your school garden to prevent them in the first place.
She also shares her favorite ...
Is your school garden going to thrive this summer—or completely overwhelm your volunteers and fizzle out in a tangle of weeds?
In this episode of School Gardens with Ease, I’m diving back into summer maintenance (yep, again!)—because this is the time of year to be planting with intention, and if you don’t… your garden could be doomed before the heat even hits.
If you want your garden to be buzzing with bees, bursting wi...
Short answer: No. But the longer answer might surprise you!
Summers can be tough on school gardens—drought, weeds, and neglect often leave them struggling. But what if your school garden could be designed to require almost zero summer maintenance?
In this episode, I break down how Permaculture techniques can help you create a thriving school garden with:
✅ No weeding
✅ No cleanups
✅ No fertilizing
✅ ...
🌱 Welcome to another episode of School Gardens with Ease! I’m your host, Leila Mireskandari, and today’s episode is a special one—part of the Podcasthon movement, where over a thousand podcasts highlight a charity of their choice.
💧 In this episode, we’re talking about water—clean, accessible water—and why it’s critical for school gardens, communities, and the world.
🌍 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why Charit...
🌱 Happy Spring Equinox! As gardeners, we’re excited to welcome spring, but before you grab your rake and start clearing up your school garden, pause and listen to this episode first!
In today’s episode, I’m talking about one of the biggest mistakes school gardeners (and home gardeners) make—cleaning up too early in spring! Many beneficial insects like ladybugs, bees, and butterflies are still taking shelter under leav...
Welcome to School Gardens with Ease! I’m your host, Leila Mireskandari, and in this episode, we’re diving into an important and sometimes controversial question: Should we use plastic to grow food?
In This Episode:
- Why I still use plastic party cups to start seeds in my Oasis programs.
- The dilemma of balancing environmental responsibility with practical classroom gardening.
- The importance of sub-irrigation and why pap...
Are you passionate about transforming education by humanizing learning? If so, this episode is for you!
In this episode of School Gardens with Ease, I introduce you to Thinkering Collective—a movement dedicated to empowering students to become changemakers in their communities. Their work is all about fostering curiosity, redefining academic success beyond grades, and making real-world impact.
Are you an elementary or middle school teacher eager to grow a thriving classroom or school garden, without extra work outside of class time? In this episode, I break down the four programs in the Oasis Program Series to help you find the best fit for your students, space, and level of commitment.
🌱 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
✔️ Why school gardens should be student-powered, teacher-led, and curriculum-connecte...
Welcome to Episode 37 of School Gardens with Ease! In this episode, I dive into a question I often get from teachers and principals:
"Can you come in and run the school garden program for us?"
My short answer? No. But there’s a deeper reason behind it, and today, I’m sharing why having an external vendor grow your school garden isn’t the best approach, and why you are the best person to lead this initiative in...
Let's delves into the common misconception that funding and approvals are the primary obstacles to creating a successful school garden. How about some insights on how to make the most of available resources and an emphasis on the importance of a well-connected teaching plan over physical garden infrastructure.
Key Points:
- Funding Myths: Addressing the false belief that money and approvals are essential for star...
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