The Herb Society of America

The Herb Society of America is dedicated to promoting the knowledge, use and delight of herbs through educational programs, research, and sharing the experience of its members with the community.

Samull Classroom Herb Garden Grants

The Herb Society of America established the Samull Classroom Herb Garden Grant Program in 2014 as a result of a bequest from the estate of Donald Samull, an elementary classroom teacher who used herb gardening to engage his students.

For grade 3 to 6 elementary school classes to ensure that teaching students about herbs continues for years to come, classses with fifteen students or more may apply for a grant to establish an herb garden for plants plus supplies such as soil, plants, trays, containers, child or youth sized tools. Ten grants in the amount of $300 each are available. Although the funds have been already dispersed for this year, applications will be available again next year.

Applications for the grant are received through the Herb Society’s website at www.herbsociety.org/get-involved/grants-scholarships/ between September 1^st and October 1^st annually. The grant recipients will be notified by December 1^st.

Each recipient of the Samull Classroom Herb Garden Grant will be asked to sign a contract, submit photos and write a brief status report due in June of the school year in which funds were received. Photos and written descriptions of the projects may be used by The Herb Society of America in promotional materials.

In 2023, one of the grant winners was Chelsea Elementary School in Chelsea, Maine! Rosanna Gargiulo, Foodcorps Service Member at Chelsea Elementary School shared a description of their project. “Our project is called “Helping Herbs” and our objective is to introduce herbs to our students, including our youngest learners, and teach them how herbs can help people, insects, and other plants. Over the winter, our 5th graders and Life Skills students grew herbs indoors which we have used in multiple taste tests. This spring, our Pre-k students started many types of herbs, which they’ve also started tasting. In May, we’ll plant the herbs out in our garden. Pre-k will have an herb garden with edible flowers to learn how flowers can feed us and pollinators. The 5th graders are learning about companion planting with herbs, so they’ll interplant our herbs with the vegetable seedlings they’ve started. The grant allowed us to buy sturdy trays that we can reuse year after year to start herbs, as well as soil and lots of herb seeds.”

Check out these herb resources and links in Thyme 4 Kids!

What herb flavors toothpaste? Can you name an herb found in pizza sauce? Can you find an herb that smells like lemons – or two different herbs that both smell like lemons? Herb gardening can be a great adventure, promoting lots of fun discoveries, tasting new foods and opening doors to many new projects!

Use these guides to help you design gardens that interest your students and that will thrive in your climate and growing conditions.

Please keep in mind safety rules when gardening with herbs and children!

Always be sure that you correctly identify that your plants are safe for eating.
Be sure that any plants you eat have not been exposed to harmful chemicals.
Wash plants thoroughly before use.
Teach students to never put any plant from the garden in their mouth without checking with an adult first.