How operators grow staff-run gardens

3. Devise a plan—and goals

Create a plan of skills you need your team to learn and overall benchmarks for the garden, Pipkin says. For instance, decide on the goals of the program—will the focus be production, or education?  Shelby County Schools’ focus is on the latter. “A lot of times the kids see the USDA or Sysco truck come down the street and think that’s where food comes from,” he says.

The tie-ins mean everyone from teachers to students need to be taught how to properly handle the produce. That learning process, Pipkin says, needs to both excite and educate. “As important as training is, it has to be a collaboration,” he says. “If one side or the other doesn’t see it as a partnership, then you will struggle.”