The Boise Urban Garden School, BUGS, envisions a community of critical
thinkers and problem solvers who will help build and promote a strong local
food economy and find personal meaning and purpose by exploring connectivity
with the natural world. The organic garden provides an authentic learning
environment through which children, teachers and community members engage
issues of ecology, local food economies, sustainability, nutrition, health
and literacy.

According to many experts and child psychologists, young people are growing
increasingly detached from and fearful of the natural world upon which they
depend for their survival. BUGS reconnects youth with the land and people
who grow their food, and by doing so ensures that human and environmental
health play an important role in our children’s education. Critical
thinking skills are fostered in experiential learning environments where
inquiry methodologies exist. BUGS empowers young people to act responsibly,
meaningfully contributing to the creation of an environmentally sustainable
and healthy community.

BUGS, founded in 2003, began as a seven-week summer gardening and literacy
program for young people ages 11- 16. In October 2007 we launched a pilot
fall/spring workshop series for four local public school classrooms and
teachers on small scale gardening strategies for urban backyards and
schools. Within the context of square foot gardening, container gardening,
raised bed and traditional row gardening, this series of four workshops
teaches garden preparation, soil and compost, seed propagation, planting and
garden maintenance. We work with individual teachers and administrators to
integrate into existing curriculum and explore possibilities for planting on
school grounds.

Our long-term plans include a permanent urban agriculture education center
in our community.