School Garden Network is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year
The Sebastopol-based nonprofit offers garden-focused classroom education, teacher trainings and summer camp sessions in three locations
The School Garden Network celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Founded in 2006, the nonprofit’s mission is to “grow healthy students, families, schools, and communities through garden-based education.” For the past two decades, it has done just that, building and serving a network that now includes 160 schools with 52,000 students.
Sue Davis, School Garden Network’s executive director for the past eight years, served on the board while in her 20s, as part of a master’s program on improving school food. Years later, now with a family, she re-joined the board, then accepted the director position.
“What I love is weaving together the community: families, teachers, farmers,” she said in a recent interview.
Under her leadership, the organization continues to fulfill its mission. In 2024-2025 alone, the School Garden Network distributed grow kits to 73 schools, hosted three teacher trainings, installed over 530 plants in new and existing habitat gardens, engaged 105 student campers, 39 of whom got scholarships to attend, and much more.
Funded by individual and corporate donors, grants, contracts and fee-for-service programs like summer camp, the School Garden Network offers three programs: Farm-School, Schoolyard Habitat and Summer Garden Camp.
During the school year, School Garden Network focuses on its Farm-to-School Program, where, per its website, it “supports up to five K-12 schools in Sonoma County with maintaining their edible school gardens and promoting fresh and seasonal eating habits.”
Davis said the organization also supports schools outside of Sonoma County. Teachers from schools without similar programs reach out for assistance, and the School Garden Network does its best to support them.
This program also includes an annual summer “Cooking from the Garden” training, which teaches educators about nutrition and seasonal nourishment, as well as harvest and cooking techniques.
School Garden Network’s Schoolyard Habitat Program, also run during the school year, assists schools with creating and maintaining gardens designed to attract pollinators. The organization also offers participating schools consultation, guidance and funding for a host of garden materials, including native plants and seeds, tools, materials and compost.
It’s time to sign your kids up for Summer Garden Camp
Summer Garden Camp, now in its sixth year, begins in late June. This year’s camp will be held at three locations: at School Garden Network’s Salmon Creek School in Occidental; at Lucas Valley Elementary in San Rafael; and, for the first time, at Solar Punk Farms in Guerneville.
Children ages 6-17, as well as five-year-olds who have attended one year of TK or Kindergarten, are welcome to sign up. In addition, a Junior Educators Program allows students ages 12-17 to take on leadership roles at camp and receive certificates and/or service learning hours upon completion.
Importantly, scholarships and discounts are available. SGN wants students to attend even if finances are tight.
Weekly day-camp sessions generally have about 30 students each, with an adult educator for every 6 or 7 students, and run Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3 pm. This year, the week-long camps run from June 29 to Aug. 14. Themes include Imaginative Explorers, Buzzing Botanizers and Farm-to-Market, among others.
Jesse Schmieg, the School Garden Network camp manager at Salmon Creek School, said that they particularly enjoy the Critters and Crawlers theme. “It’s learning about insects and animals that we locally see, and learning a little bit about the local ecology and how gardening connects with that,” Schmeig said. “I’m excited to develop some activities that actually use real scientific methods for the kids.”
Schmeig is also excited about Thinkers and Tinkers week, which focuses on STEM and engineering. In past years, students have engaged in building projects where they have constructed cob benches and willow structures.
This year’s new Solar Punk Farms camp, which takes place July 13-17 at the farm’s 10-acre location in Guerneville, is a special opportunity for middle school campers (sixth, seventh and eighth graders) only. Billed as a demonstration site, gathering space and regenerative think-tank, the farm was founded on a solar punk ethos that “seeks to wed us to a breathtaking vision of civilization where technology works in service of thriving ecologies so that we go out and make that more beautiful future a reality.”
Campers will spend the week making compost, learning about soil, planting seeds, tending crops and harvesting food, as well as learning about the farm’s vegetable and flower community supported agriculture (CSA) program and new farm stand.
Hayley Dougan, farm manager and lead educator at Solar Punk Farms, said, “What I really like about working here is that we’re not just a production farm. What we are is a community space and a land-regeneration project. We’ve taken a piece of land that was really degraded and, over the past six years, have been bringing a lot of life back to the soil. I love using this space as an educational classroom area because we’re trying to inspire folks to do this themselves.”
She added, “I’m hoping I can inspire kids to feel more connected to the natural world rather than just seeing it as something outside their windows and maybe learning a bit more about where their food is coming from. And, hopefully, seeing the future a little bit more optimistically and how humans can have a positive impact on the world rather than just a detrimental one.”
Early Bird registration for Summer Garden Camp began March 1, with a special discounted rate of $325 per week per child. Regular registration begins May 1, with a rate of $400 per week per child. Starting May 1, the sibling rate is $350 per child.
Help the School Garden Network
“We are recruiting new board members right now, and there’s information about the skill sets we’re looking for on our website,” School Garden Network executive director Davis said, adding that folks who are interested in making donations, joining the board or just learning more information should check out the website.
School Garden Network’s 20th anniversary celebration will be held Sept. 13 at Bohemian Flowers and Farmstand in Freestone. The event is open to the whole community and will feature local band, Mr. December. Sue and the crew hope to see you all there.
For more information about the School Garden Network, visit www.schoolgardens.org.
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