The mission of the Family Garden Project, launched in 2009, is to encourage families to create vegetable and flower gardens and other practical and fun features in their yards to entice the whole family to spend time outside.

With this program, we encourage families to develop vegetable and flower gardens in their backyards.  As our students are introduced to gardening at school, they are taking what they learn home and getting their parents involved.  There is a long list of good things that can come out of families gardening at home.    

There is a lot of concern these days about how to get children outside.  For most people, letting  children explore the nearby woods or creek is not a comfortable option no matter how "good" their neighborhood.  For many, what used to be the first outdoor space children could explore, their back yards, have turned in to manicured lawns that receive a regular dose of chemicals of one kind or another and may or may not be fenced in.  There may be a slab of cement or a deck and perhaps a play structure of swing set of some sort and perhaps a sand box (if you can keep the neighborhood cats out).

In this section of the website we share our experience of using what is at hand or can be had for little or no cost to create a space that will draw children and adults out to enjoy the space.  This is a hands on activity space.  It could be a great space for an adult party and family activities as well as child's play but it is not likely to appear in Better Homes and Gardens.