Digging Into School Garden Week:
A Review of Statewide Celebrations
May 18-22, 2026
The second annual School Garden Week was held on May 18-22, 2026, to celebrate the amazing impact of school gardens across the state of Minnesota! The week provided an opportunity to celebrate the hands-on learning students experience to learn about food systems, and to acknowledge all the hard work community members have dedicated to building these spaces. Thousands of students at dozens of locations across Minnesota joined in the celebrations by planting seeds, participating in garden-themed lessons, and much more! Together, our communities showcased the importance of school gardens in our state. Join us as we dig into all the amazing ways school gardens were celebrated during this year's School Garden Week!
The Numbers
69 registered sites
11,000+ students participating in celebrations
31 Minnesota counties represented
2 educational webinars offered
2026 Vegetable of the Year
The Delicata Squash
Every year we feature a different vegetable to be planted during School Garden Week. At the 2026 School Garden Conference, attendees selected the delicata squash – a beautiful yellow squash named after its delicate skin that does not need to be peeled before eating. This delicious vegetable has a sweet, earthy flavor that has earned it the nickname “sweet potato squash.”
The Vegetable of the Year provides a framework for School Garden Week lessons and activities, as well as other year-round garden programming. All the sites that registered for the 2026 School Garden Week received free delicata squash seeds in the mail, bringing people across the state together to learn about and grow the same vegetable. School Garden Week took place at the beginning of the growing season, which provides these sites with the perfect opportunity to harvest the squash when school starts up again in the fall!
“Students were so excited to plant the seedlings they started inside out into the garden. Such care, gentle hands and willingness to learn how to keep their plant growing and thriving!” - Kim Benton, Garlough Environmental Magnet School
Students came back the following week to check their plants and were very happy to see new growth!” - Brianna Haupt, Riverway Learning Community
Celebrations and Events
Across Minnesota, students, educators, parents, and community members celebrated School Garden Week with a wide variety of fun events and activities.
- At Garlough Environmental Magnet School, students planted their seedlings that were started inside and learned how they can help their plants thrive.
- The Hopkins High School Garden Club partnered with Gatewood Elementary School to help establish a new wildflower garden.
- Northup Elementary School students partnered with educators at Midwest Food Connection to plant their square foot gardens.
- St. Mary of Mt. Carmel School hosted a plant sale that raised more than $1,100 for their garden program.
- Pine Bend Elementary School set up a free seed library for students, teachers, and families.
- Hutchinson public schools brought together 200 third grade students in the garden to measure beds, amend soil, dig holes, and plant over 800 plants! Their garden features peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, fennel, broccoli, and more.
- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Graders at Riverway Learning Community helped prepare the garden and planted new starters.
Spotlight Event at Jefferson Elementary School
New Ulm, MN
On May 21st, the Jefferson Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization hosted an after-school garden party to celebrate School Garden Week! The party had plenty of fun, garden-themed activities, including a scavenger hunt, self-guided yoga, seed planting, and a photobooth with a variety of props. Several Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) staff joined the party – including Commissioner Thom Petersen and Deputy Commissioner Andrea Vaubel. The party also welcomed four high school students to read Governor Walz’s School Garden Week proclamation to the audience of garden-enthusiasts, highlighting the importance of spaces like theirs in schools across the state.
These four students were a part of the class that founded the garden in 2017. When they first helped establish the garden, they were third graders. Now, they have wrapped up their senior year of high school! One student has decided to go into agricultural management and dairy production after graduation. This amazing celebration, and these four returning students, are a beautiful example of the community that is brought together by school gardens and the impact they can have on students’ futures.
School Garden Week 2027
While we have wrapped up our School Garden Week celebrations this year, we hope that you will join us next year on May 17-21, 2027!
We will be hosting the School Garden Conference on March 9th, 2027. Gather with fellow educators and community partners to learn strategies for building and maintaining gardens, and how to engage learners in a successful school garden. You’ll also have the opportunity to help us choose our 2027 Vegetable of the Year! We hope to see you there!
Follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram! Learn about our FREE resources, keep up to date with our upcoming events, and help us grow agricultural literacy for students!
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom
Written by: Elliot Dusosky and Izzy Bajek
June 24, 2026
