🥗 Fall in the Garden: Learning, Harvesting, and Tasting
This fall, our school gardens were buzzing with excitement as students rolled up their sleeves and experienced the full cycle of growing food. 🌿 🌻 Learning Garden SafetyBefore stepping into the beds, students learned the basics of garden safety—how to use tools carefully, why we wear gloves, and how to respect the plants (and each […]
Sip and Savor 2025
What a wonderful evening we had in the garden for our Sip & Savor event! Guests gathered among the flowers and tomatoes to enjoy a beautiful night of community, flavor, and fun. 🍅 The heirloom tomato tasting was the star of the evening, with everyone sampling juicy bites straight from our gardens. ☕ Full Circle […]
Planting Possibilities: New Accessible Garden Beds for All Students
When Aimee Sterk, Program Director at the Michigan Assistive Technology Program-Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, reached out asking if we had a need for handicapped-accessible raised beds, we eagerly accepted. In July, two raised beds were delivered to two of our Wyoming Public School gardens, Gladiola Elementary and West Elementary. Our students in wheelchairs will help […]
Seeds, Seeds, Seeds, Seeds
By Kathy Bego, Garden Educator Seeds you could peel, pry open, and peer into with magnifying glasses—searching for the tiny leaves and roots hidden inside. Seed diagrams to color in: 🔴 Red for the seed coat 🟢 Green for the embryonic leaf 🟡 Yellow for the cotyledon food pack 🟤 Brown for the root A […]
Dreaming in Green: Godfrey Elementary Students Design Their Own Gardens
The young gardeners at Godfrey Elementary Team 21 after-school program let their imaginations bloom as they designed their very own dream gardens! After an inspiring garden planning presentation by Ms. Angie, students eagerly got to work, armed with paper, vibrant seed catalogs, and plenty of coloring supplies. With their thinking caps on and creativity in […]
Meet Julie Brunson: Growing H.O.P.E. in the Heart of Wyoming, MI
As the Executive Director and co-founder of H.O.P.E. Gardens, Julie Brunson’s journey is deeply rooted in personal experiences and a passion for cultivating resilience through gardening. Alongside her husband, Julie established H.O.P.E. Gardens with the mission of inspiring children and families in Wyoming, MI, to connect with their food and nurture their communities through nature-based […]
Putting Our Gardens to Sleep for the Winter
As the growing season comes to an end, it’s time to tuck our gardens in for their winter rest. Recent mulch deliveries at North Godwin and Lee Middle helped us prepare the soil for the colder months, ensuring it stays protected and nourished. These two gardens needed a little extra attention, but luckily we had […]
From Soil to Plate: First Graders Discover the Journey of Food
By Angie Bruder, Garden Educator How does food get here? Does it just appear in stores? To answer that question, first graders at West Godwin explored the fascinating journey of cornflakes from soil to plate. Students learned that all foods come from nature, and then many foods are trucked to factories for processing and packaging. […]
October Garden Lessons: 1st and 2nd Grades Discover the Joys of Gardening and Healthy Eating
In our indoor sessions in 31 classrooms of first and second graders, we explored the question, “What’s so great about gardening?” Together, we discussed the benefits of growing our own food and the importance of making healthy choices. This led to a lively conversation about “Sometime Foods” and “Anytime Foods,” helping students understand which snacks […]
H.O.P.E. Gardens Featured in School News Network: Cultivating Community and Learning
This year, H.O.P.E. Gardens was honored to be one of only four organizations in Michigan awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program. School News Network visited our schools to learn more about what this grant means for us. Check out their article here.