Our First School Garden + A Giveaway!

Thanks to Tree Top for sponsoring this conversation! All opinions are of my own. 

We've been so lucky in our little community. It seems as if there’s always a small group of people willing to go the extra mile to ensure that our kids have opportunities available for them in this small town, whether it be field trips and assemblies at school, sports programs, reading programs, and now – a community garden at the grade school.

I didn’t grow up here, and neither did my husband – we just took a leap of faith when we moved here 8 years ago, and I’m glad we did.

Someone at the grade school worked hard, and we now have a school garden to show for their diligence. While I didn’t attend the planning comity (I’ve been keeping pretty busy with the PTSO these days) I wanted to make sure that I was able to participate with the kids in this program in some way. A few weekends ago we all headed over to the garden site and pitched in with getting the area ready to plant. It was a lot of work and by far the largest garden area that my kids have ever helped with. The best part about it is that it’s right behind our house, adjacent to the grade school, so we will literally be able see the progress and plant growth every day, and will probably help care for the garden in the summer as well.

 After helping prepare the school garden, the kids (especially Noah and Emma) were even more excited to plant our own garden. You may remember that last summer was the first year we had planted a raised garden of our own in our side yard. Noah is just now really old enough to full understand how planting a garden works and the work that goes into making it a success – and all of that comes from hands on education and awareness – it makes it so much more exciting for young kids, and they are more eager to try new vegetables’ after they’ve put the work into caring for the plants.

 Tree Top is a brand that we've always loved because they are located in the heart of Washington’s apple country, and we love supporting local companies whenever possible. Tree Top is a grower-owned co-op that is also rooted in the communities where they work and live. Tree Top has been a trusted brand with top-quality products like juices, smoothies and sauces for over 50 years – and their growers are committed to raising top quality fruits for our families to enjoy. As part of their commitment, Tree Top is partnering with KidsGardening.org to help change the world by growing the next generation – one child, one school and community at a time. For every purchase of Tree Top Apple Sauce pouches, Tree Top donates a dollar to KidsGardening.org to help fund community garden projects across the country! How amazing would it be if all kids had an opportunity like this?

 Not only is Tree Top devoted to supporting KidsGardening.org – but their products are a delicious snack for hungry helpers! Their apple sauce pouches are mess-free, taste great and super convenient for little working hands to consume because you don’t need a spoon!

 We've got about half of our little garden finished at this point and Noah is proud to have his first “garden” barrel of his very own this year.

 Does your kids’ school have a community garden? Check out KidsGardening.org for some helpful educational resources so you can talk to your kids about where their food comes from!

Be sure to enter below for a chance to win a $60 gardening set! 

• The giveaway will be open from April 7, 2015 to May 15, 2015 at midnight PST and will be sponsored by Sway Group.
• Forty winners (from all 40 giveaways) will be selected to receive a gardening set valued at $60.
• Sway Group will select the winners on or about May 18, 2015 and we will follow up with the prizewinners.  No further action will be needed from the campaign participants.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tree Top