Raising money using your school garden

Information sheet

Involve your pupils in using produce or plants from the school garden to raise money.

  • School term: All year round
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s): English, Maths, Art&DT

Vegetable, fruit and plant sales

  • Sell surplus crops to staff and parents by having a garden produce sales table in the school reception.  
  • Hold pick-your-own days in an established fruit garden. 
  • Sell surplus plants such as tomatoes, pumpkins, salads, herbs and strawberry plants grown from runners. 
  • Take cuttings of fruit bushes and other plants in the school garden and grow on to sell 
  • Make up bunches of fresh flowers or herbs.  
  • Grow flowers or bedding plants from plug plants. Pot them on into small pots or trays, grow on and sell at a school fair.
  • Approach your local market or farmers' market and see if they will allow you to hold a stall there occasionally. This is a great way of engaging with your local community. 

Fruit and vegetable products to sell

  • Garlic and herb oils, jams or chutneys 
  • Carrot cake, parsnip cake, courgette cake or beetroot cake 
  • Fruit syrups made with raspberries, rose hips or blackcurrants 
  • Herb butters to go with bread 
  • Vegetable soup  
  • Mint syrups to serve with cakes or ice cream 
  • Recipe cards or books with vegetables for sale in a priced bag

Remember to comply with food hygiene regulations and list ingredients for allergens.   

School fairs

  • Sell seeds or plants along with care instructions produced by pupils. This can be linked to the maths curriculum by doing a costing exercise to ensure that sufficient profit will be made.
  • Sell the products of your harvested produce such as cakes, cookies, jams, chutneys, soup, oils and drinks. 
  • Ask pupils to bring in a plant or produce from home that can be sold.
  • Run other stalls with seed sowing activities or garden-themed games such as guess the weight of the pumpkin, fruit and vegetable feely boxes or a lucky dip in a bag of compost.

Host a garden open day 

  • Charge an entrance free
  • Pupils can provide garden tours with produce tasting
  • Offer a pond dipping activity
  • Treasure hunt or trail around the garden or school grounds 
  • Use our Spotter Guides to make seasonal trails  

Non-uniform day

  • Ask pupils to bring in £1 towards the gardening project in exchange for not wearing uniform

Seasonal suggestions

Spring term 

  • Make your own scarecrow
  • Potato day - buy in seed potatoes for sale and cook tasty potato dishes
  • Plant sale of spring vegetables and flowers
  • Make your own plant container – paint and decorate a container and plant up with flowers or vegetables

Summer term

  • Sell vegetables, herbs and fruit from your harvest
  • Strawberry fair
  • Edible hanging baskets and containers
  • Organise a party using produce from the apple picking and pressing day
  • Make flower posies or bouquets from the gardens flowers and sell them

Autumn term

Winter and Christmas

  • Christmas craft events
  • Make wreaths or willow stars to sell
  • Host a wreath- or decoration-making workshop
  • Sell containers planted up with spring-flowering bulbs
  • Make and sell bird feeders for the garden