'I Can Grow' Youth Garden Award Program

Youth and community garden programs across the U.S. can benefit from the Burpee Home Gardens "I Can Grow" Youth Garden Award. Now in its third year, the award sponsors and supports urban school and community gardens through garden installations and donations.

In 2012, three grand-prize winners will be awarded a spring garden installation and kick-off gardening event. Three runner up winners will receive 500 vegetable and herb plants to get their gardens started growing this spring.

Gardens for the following winners will be planted in spring 2012.

Islands High School, Savannah, GA

As a school with new ideas about experiential, hands-on learning, Islands High School in Savannah, GA, will teach students how to grow their own food while working together and building teamwork skills. Serving 360 students in grades 9 to 12, the garden will be primarily maintained by the high school's basic agriculture class and will be incorporated into science, art and English curriculum. The garden also will be used by adults and gardeners in the community who will learn basic horticultural practices during monthly meetings hosted by students.

P.S. 323, Brooklyn, NY

Committed to helping transform empty spaces into vibrant, food-producing gardens for schools and communities, the Student Farm Project will create the first school garden for P.S. 323 in Brooklyn, NY. Placed in the underserved Brownsville neighborhood where fresh produce is hard to come by and heart disease and diabetes statistics are among the highest in the city, the school and community garden will help inspire more than 500 students as well as community residents to become lifelong healthy eaters. One of the largest school gardens in New York City, the garden at P.S. 323 will be located on approximately 8,000 square feet.

The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, PA

The Village Urban Farm in Philadelphia, PA, will support the expansion of the youth urban farm, nutrition and environment programs to include an orchard, herb garden, 24 raised vegetable beds, rain-water catchments, a compost section and an environmental center outfitted with a commercial-grade kitchen. The urban farm will encourage environmental awareness, social responsibility, nutritional education and entrepreneurship skills of 120 students in grades 1 through 12 through partnerships with community members, university students, non-profit organizations and local businesses. Partnerships include those with John & Kira’s chocolate company, a local gourmet chocolatier committed to purchasing garden herbs, and Get Real Get Raw, a non-profit organization that offers nutrition classes and after-school snacks in exchange for fresh garden produce.

City of Houston WaterWorks Education Center, Houston, TX

Increasing public awareness of practical gardening and irrigation techniques in Houston, TX, the WaterWorks Community Garden has the potential to increase environmental awareness of more than 980,000 students in Houston-area school districts. With the addition of raised garden beds, the WaterWorks Education Center, currently including two rainwater harvest tanks, native plant garden, picnic tables and a watersmart demonstration area, will provide hands-on workshops for students and community members.

Urban Youth Impact, West Palm Beach, FL

In an inner-city neighborhood with crime rates almost three times the national average, the Impact Garden in West Palm Beach, FL, provides 130 student members of the Urban Youth Impact Leadership Academy, as well as the community, a relaxing and safe green space to enjoy. Founded in 2011, the 3,600-square-foot Impact Garden provides students in kindergarten through grade 12 the opportunity to learn gardening skills, enjoy nutritious food, and build entrepreneurial and business skills.

Pleasant Ridge School Foundation, Cincinnati, OH

By incorporating a garden into the Pleasant Ridge Montessori schoolyard in Cincinnati, OH, students will interact with nature through new adventure playscapes to complement existing playgrounds. By incorporating "field experience days" into the curriculum in place of expensive off-site fieldtrips, students can bring content from the classroom into their outdoor learning oasis. The hybrid school and community garden will benefit more than 580 students and countless community members that will enjoy access to healthy food and a variety of learning experiences, events and activities held in the garden.