Here's an idea - put some tangible 'value' in the pledge the students are taking - ask the kids to pony up 25 cents for their bulb; bulbs shouldn't cost more than that. For those who are unable to pay; your school council already has a slush fund of 200 bulbs to cover this anticipated occurrence. I remember as a kid, I valued my things that I tangibly had to pay for; verses things simply handed to me. But perhaps I'm just an odd ball and kids minds don't work that way anymore. It seems like kids are handed so much without much thought to earning it themselves or saving for something of value - this worries me. Just an idea. Good luck with your venture.

Lots of good advice already. Quick crops, easy to pick and eat. Nothing that might look edible but is bad for you. Hope you get a few great helpers but set things up initially so you can maintain whatever you plant yourself. It must be kept neat, unlike some home gardens. Like luke_oh, I've had people who expressed a willingness to help but left after a short time. Frustrating....so start small. Focus on early spring crops and flowers (bulbs) and late summer plantings for fall harvest if you plan to primarily have classrooms visit the garden. I work part time at a school nature center/agriscience center. We have a garden area that we use for educational programming with elementary age students. Mostly, we try to plant the area in a way that is fun and "pretty" to lure the garden shy to to take a look....and get educated at the same time :) Several well planned signs can help with the education part. The attached photos show a few things we have tried. Herb wheels....herbs planted in among the spokes of a wheel from old farm machinery...ties in with our agriscience/farm theme and makes for some tasty cooking. A chef came and helped 2 classroom harvest, wash, chop (they loved using real knives), and cook a vegetable soup to eat. The herbs really added to the taste. Sunflower house.....found out later there is a children's book with that title that is very fun to read aloud with kids while sitting with giant sunflowers arching overhead. A double row of sunflowers screens the hideaway well. It gives you a chance to use some short varieties in the outer row that will bloom at kid height while still keeping the mammoths that are so awesome high above. Life cycle garden.....let various plants grow past normal harvest time and flower and produce seed. Lettuce and radishes are fun ones to do. Early plantings will produce seed in one season unlike some biennials like beets, carrots, and turnips. We have had kids harvest the radish seeds and plant the next crop with them. It's fun to see where the seeds come from and realize you don't always HAVE to buy them....although that is often easier and lessens the chance of crossed seeds. This garden was difficult to keep looking neat and pretty, but it is a favorite of mine. We tried for successive plantings to show several stages in the plant's growth. Barn and barnyard theme garden....ties in with our agriscience emphasis done by older students in a different area. It is fun to try to come up with plant names that have a tie in with the farm theme, ie. hen and chicks, eggplant, lamb's ear. We picked up a few inexpensive garage sale/thrift store items to enhance the animal name themes and decorate the planting. I've seen other gardens that have different themes they focus on......ie, outer space with cosmos, moon and stars watermelon.....you get the idea....maybe have children join in searching seed catalogs for cool names that would tie in with the theme....Oh, no, you might create an addict who spends inordinate amounts of time reading catalogs like I do! ABC garden...26 small areas each planted with things that start with each of the letters of the alphabet....makes for an interesting and creative exercise just to come up with the plant list....so far we are stuck with Xolhp for "X"....Phlox spelled backwards....a favorite of the dyslexic. Variety names and even letters within the plant names are sometimes used...ie table Queen bush squash for "Q". I've heard of people trying to do the ABC theme with only tomato varieties or pepper varieties or flowers. (Anyone have Quinoa, Xena lettuce or Xananthemum seed they would care to trade or share?) Pizza garden.....ingredients for pizzas....we had a sign up for awhile suggesting they hike over to the barn after their garden visit to see the pigs...growing pepperoni and ham for pizza :) I've seen salsa themed gardens and spaghetti themed ones, too. Just pick a kid favorite. Local farm commodities.....grow a small area with a crop that is grown by farmers in your area. What drives the farm economy in your state? Sorry this post is so long but maybe our experiences and photos will stir some more ideas for what would work in your area. I hope your garden does well and I hope many children come to see it and learn from it. It is amazing to see and hear how little many children and their parents know about where their food comes from. Time in your garden can give them knowledge to make good food choices now and later in life and can be alot of fun, too. Here is a link that might be useful: School garden 2009

Thanks again for all of the suggestions!! Bulbs will make my have list, if I can find them cheaply. I am envisioning that most people will love the project and one or two will destroy it - so I'm doing it on the cheap. If the project survives, I'll add some more cash to the deal. I tried to eliminate water loving plants, excessively poisonous ones and sun lovers. Here's my list: If you take the time to read through it, please comment if any are invasive in zone 5. THANKS AGAIN ALL - Agastache Lavender Haze Anthemis tinctoria Golden marguerite Aquilegia Columbine Aquilegia Royal Purple Artemisia vulgaris Oriental Lime Lt Asperula Blue Woodruff Astrantia Masterwort Autumn Fern Brilliant Baptisia Australis Blue False Indigo Begonia Go Go Yellow Bergenia Winter Glow Bergenia red edge leaves Bergenia Redstart Butterfly Flower Angels Wings Calendula Clematis Mongolian Bells Coleus Giant Lime Light Coleus Giant Palisandra - Velvet Black Coleus Wizard Sunset Coreopsis Digitalis Summer King Foxglove Dryopteris Autumn Fern Echinacea Gaillardia Geranium Ripple Mixed Gloriosa superba Glory Lily Heuchera Coral Bells mix Hosta Earth Angel Hosta Frances Williams Inula orientalis Elecampagne Lamium macula Lemon Frost Ligulara Leopard Plant Lobelia Siphiliti Great Blue Lobelia Lychnis Orange Gnome Michauxia tchihatchewii Michauxia Milkweed Pink/Red Mimulus Puniceus Red Monkey Flower Mirabilis jalapa Marvel of Peru Nepeta Blue Infinity Catmint Nicotiana Only the Lonely Nicotiana Fragrant Cloud Nigella Pachysandra Green Sheen Papaver Checkers Penstemon Pikes Peak Purple Platycodon balloon flower Primrose Oxlip Primula Veris Cowslip Ruellia humilis Wild Petunia Salvia Evolution Sedum Autumn Joy Sedum Gold Moss Tagetes African marigolds Tagetes French marigolds Thalictrum Yellow Meadow Rue Thalictrum Columbine Meadow Rue Thalictrum Adiantifolium Torenia Clown Burgundy Tricyrtis toad lily Viola Brush Strokes Viola Labrador Showy Stonecrop Rose Campion Happy Gardening - Deb

Why don't you try some kind of ground cover? There are so many to choose from like creeping thyme or some sort of low growing sedum. I have a ground cover sedum that my husband "snowblowed" this winter and when spring came, more than half the plant was gone but sure enough, it's growing back. I can't remember the name but I will try to look it up. It blooms yellow flowers in June and July. Garnet