Thursday, January 9, 2025
Grant Opportunities
Madison Area Master Gardener Association Call for Garden Grant Applications
Applications due: March 1, 2025
Madison Area Master Gardener Association (MAMGA) grant applications are being accepted for gardening and horticulture projects for 2025. These grants support school garden projects and nonprofit community-based garden projects located within Dane County. The project must be sponsored by a MAMGA Master Gardener* and be affiliated with a school or a nonprofit organization. MAMGA grants may not be used to benefit individual home gardens or private businesses.
Individual grant applications may request up to $500. Grant funds may be used for seeds, plants, fertilizer, mulch, tools, information and education of students and the community, and garden infrastructure, but not for paid labor. There are a number of sources in Madison for free seeds, seedlings and other forms of assistance such as gardening supply stores and environmental organizations which may also help with project resource needs.
Grant application and submission information may be found on the MAMGA Website. For more information, contact Mary Collet: mpcollet@sbcglobal.net.
*The MAMGA Master Gardener does not need to hold current certification but does need to be a member of the organization.
Agriculture in ALL Classrooms Grant
Applications due: February 1, 2025
Agriculture impacts our lives every day in all subject areas – STEM, ELA, Social Studies, Art, Music...the possibilities are endless! Let your creativity be your guide to incorporating agriculture themes into unexpected curriculum and bring relevance and context that enhance student learning in any space. Formal and non-formal (volunteer) educators and/or groups are eligible to apply for Agriculture in ALL Classrooms Grants of up to $500 per grant.
Learn more and apply on their Website!
Wisconsin Farm to School Recognition Program: Check-in Call
Join the Farm to School (F2S) Team for a mid-year check-in about the Wisconsin F2S Recognition Program. Connect with us to troubleshoot challenges, share success stories, or to learn more about the program to sign-up for the first time! The call will be held Tuesday, January 28 from 1:30-2:30 PM.
Register Here to receive a calendar invite and link to join.
Celebrate Wisconsin Chili Lunch!
Wisconsin Chili Lunch Day is Thursday, February 27, 2025, but schools and organizations are encouraged to celebrate any day during the month. This is an opportunity for K-12 schools, early care and education programs, hospitals, colleges and more to cook and serve a chili recipe featuring local foods. Prepare your chili with locally grown and produced ingredients. Local meats, vegetables, cheese, and yogurt are some foods to consider using. Try including other local foods on the entire lunch tray, in addition to the chili. Use the Wisconsin Local Foods Database (LFD) to find local ingredients for your chili! Producers who offer ingredients for chili are highlighted in the LFD with the Chili Lunch icon.
The DPI Farm to School (F2S) team also has a brand new resource called, “Cooking with Dried Beans In a Nutshell”. Learn how Wisconsin grown beans can be prepared and added to your favorite chili recipe!
Help highlight the amazing local foods available in our state by participating in the 2025 Wisconsin Chili Lunch and Register Today.
Wellness and Farm to School Summit Save the Date and Vendor Show Registration
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction-School Nutrition Team is excited to announce Cultivating Connections: A Wellness and Farm to School Summit. Conference attendee registration will be available in March of 2025.
Who: Anyone interested in school wellness and farm to school, such as school wellness leaders, school nutrition staff, farmers, educators, and farm to school advocates.
What: Two-day summit on innovative strategies that promote student health and knowledge of local food systems through educator engagement, policy implementation, and partnership opportunities.
When: August 5 - 6, 2025
Where: Chula Vista Resort, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Local Foods Vendor Show: A local foods vendor show will take place August 5 from 1-4 PM. Registration for Vendors is open!
Please share with any farmers, producers, or aggregators that sell to your programs!
Professional Development Opportunity
2025 School Garden Support Organization (SGSO) Leadership Institute and Webinar Series
Application Due January 22, 2025
The SGSO Network is an open peer-to-peer learning network with the goal of growing, sustaining and elevating a movement of equitable garden-based education. They provide professional & leadership development, resources, and platforms to connect for members serving at a school, district, regional, state, or national level.
Check out the Growing School Gardens Summit Webinar Series featuring topic areas from the March 2024 Summit to learn more.
The 2025 SGSO Leadership Institute is being held June 22-27, 2025, in Santa Cruz, CA. It provides an opportunity for school garden professionals from across the country to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to share with a national audience. Apply by January 22, 2025.
Wisconsin F2S and Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) Statewide Information Sessions
The WI F2S and F2ECE Statewide Information Sessions are resuming in 2025! Join F2S and F2ECE stakeholders to learn about open grants, training opportunities, added resources, upcoming events, and current projects. Meetings will be held monthly on the fourth Thursday. The first meeting of 2025 will be held Thursday, January 23 from 1:30-2:30 PM.
To register, send an email to subscribe-f2s-and-f2ece@lists.dpi.wi.gov (no message necessary). You will only need to register once to receive the monthly, recurring invite. If you registered in 2024, you do not need to re-register for 2025.
Planning a School Garden
It can be helpful to set the stage for the upcoming gardening season by creating a garden plan design on paper or a computer. A holistic plan includes how the garden will look, what plants to grow, the placing of the plants considering rotations and companions, as well as any additions, subtractions, substitutions from last year. A holistic plan also includes where to get the seeds, when to plant the seeds considering the start date, where to start the seeds; inside, outside in a hot bed, or in a greenhouse, if available.
Additional considerations include seed starter soil mix, containers, fertilizer, water, light, and temperature. Ensure the plants are transplantable and be vigilant of the frost start date (spring), and the frost end date (fall), for your geographical area. An example for Oconto, Wisconsin has the last frost date on May 15, and the first frost date on October 1 with a growing season of 138 days.
An important part of the garden plan is what plants to grow and how the produce will be utilized; therefore, a production schedule is helpful in communications with the school food service director discussing the projected delivery dates that describes the types and quantities of fruits and vegetables. Food safety and cleanliness is of utmost importance.
Two New Resources: Tips for Connecting with Farmers and School Food Service Directors
Communication is vital for creating connections and building relationships between farmers and school food service directors. It involves understanding their distinct roles, needs, and shared goals.
Farmers focus on their challenges, such as finding consistent buyers, managing production, food safety, and understanding regulations. They value partnerships that respect their hard work. School food service directors focus on prioritizing healthy and affordable meal options for students.
Learning terms and concepts familiar to each industry helps generate informed conversations between farmers and food service directors. General knowledge of agricultural practices and school meal program requirements are essential to forming these relationships. These relationships are mutually beneficial by providing fresh, local food to schools while supporting local farmers and enhancing student nutrition and community health. Discussing creative solutions for seasonal menu planning that align with farmer production cycles and school budgets for consistency and reliability are crucial for fostering trust in these partnerships which builds a relationship that feels collaborative rather than transactional. Building meaningful connections with people takes time, effort, and a genuine approach.
The F2S team at DPI has two added resources available to help guide the connections between farmers and school food service directors:
Connecting with School Food Service Directors In a Nutshell
Connecting with Farmers, Ranchers, and Producers In a Nutshell
Produce Processing Training Update
Chef Jeff Mallegni, Farm to School Specialist with the Wisconsin DPI’s School Nutrition Team, offers in-person produce processing training for school nutrition professionals. The goal of these training sessions is to increase speed, skill, and confidence with processing of raw produce to increase local product procurement. These trainings have expanded to include demonstrations of recently purchased kitchen equipment such as tilt skillets and training on cooking with raw, local beef. Training can be tailored to fit the needs of your operation.
Beginning in April 2024 and continuing throughout the 2024-25 school year, Chef Jeff has visited eight different individual school districts, the Summer 2024 SNA conference in La Crosse, WI, and multiple school districts who gathered for the August 2024 Coulee Region summer training. These trainings have reached more than two hundred school nutrition professionals. Opportunities to participate will continue throughout this school year and will also be offered for the 2025-26 school year.
Please fill out the Training Interest Form to request a training visit for your school or district.
Seed Exchange Opportunity
Teachers and garden educators are invited to exchange seeds and letters with students in other parts of the country. Seeds can be collected from school gardens or commercial seeds. Letters are opportunities for students to share about their school garden or other growing spaces they use during the school day and find out about what other students are doing with their own spaces.
This is a great English Language Arts (ELA) activity as well as an opportunity for students to research other geographic areas, climates, growing seasons, and crops while connecting more deeply to their school growing spaces.
Register Here by January 30 for this opportunity!
*This project is not organized by the DPI; the project is overseen by Schenectady City School District in New York.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Jill K. Underly, PhD, State Superintendent
201 West Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 266-3390 • (800) 441-4563
For questions about this information, contact Jeff Mallegni (608) 266-2364