Network Survey 2023
Here are the results of the 2023 Network Survey of the school gardens listed in our online Garden Directory.
2019 Survey Results
We surveyed the school gardens in our Garden Directory in 2019 to obtain a snapshot of the current status of school gardens, how well our resources and services were assisting school gardens as well as feedback on how we could improve our support of educational gardens for youth in Maine.
Our 2019 Network Survey includes:
- Profile of the network
- School and Community Support and Engagement
- Needs, Challenges, and Goals
- Impact & Opportunities: the Role of MSGN
This survey provided feedback for ways the Maine School Garden Network could improve our services. For example, school gardeners let us know they need more technical information, sources of funding, ways to integrate garden programming into their curricula, how to get more support from the administration as well as how to sustain their school gardens especially during the summer.
In answer to our question of how the Maine School Garden Network can support school garden goals, here are some of the answers we received:
“You are a hub of resources that make it a lot less daunting to try and build a successful program.”
“Your workshop was terrific. I think you are doing a great service to all school gardeners. I guess what you could help with is giving ideas on how to promote ourselves in the community. We do have t-shirts with our logo and we’ve had a presence in the local farmers market in the past, but it is always a struggle to get the rotating administration to always buy in.”
“Any ideas on what points I should make when approaching administration about the importance of having a year-round person to tend the gardens?”
“Continue to promote the value of school gardens to the larger community, state education commissioner, etc. in order to promote acceptance for paid positions.”
“Continuing to be an advocate for school gardens statewide.”
“I have been very pleased with the newsletters and personal support from MSGN. I rely on MSGN to learn about funding opportunities and materials available (free seeds and compost). I also like the inspiration and ideas from the newsletters. Keep up the good work MSGN!
We take your feedback very seriously and have worked to fill in the gaps since the survey to provide school garden coordinators and educators with the resources, programming and networking they need to flourish.
We welcome your comments and feedback on ways we can improve! Email us at info@msgn.org. Thank you.
We extend thanks to Maine Agriculture in the Classroom for a Statewide Agriculture Organization grant to do a new Network Survey in 2023.
