It's a reasonable question from school garden admirers and skeptics alike: what happens to the garden during summer vacation?
The answer? We're working on that. So much of school  gardening is an experiment, a never-finished work-in-progress (which, of course, is part of why it is such a powerful, engaging educational tool) and the question of summer maintenance fits right in with the theme. The ever-evolving list of solutions is creative, exciting, and always welcome to newcomers.
School gardens often follow one of two tracks during the summer: Drawing additional activity to the garden, or planning for a low-maintenance "resting" garden until school resumes in fall. Mixing techniques is, of course, common and encouraged. Here are some of the best ideas we've seen yet:
Ideas for Active Summer Gardens
Summer school or camp programs: Create one, or adapt existing programs to incorporate the garden. Incorporate classroom activities, as well as extra time for cooking, exploring, and reflecting.
Students volunteers or interns: A great way to keep students involved, especially those that really want to dig in beyond short classroom hours. Works well if there is an adult volunteer or staff member available to coordinate students.
Other student organizations: Partner with a nearby community center, Boys and Girls Club, 4-H group, Scouting troop, day care, or summer camp. Have one group adopt the garden for the entire summer, or have groups sign up for specific weeks.
Adopt-a-plot: Make garden beds available for families to "adopt" for the summer. You may allow families to keep produce or donate it to pantries, or plant things of their own, as long as the plot is in good shape in the fall.
Weekly volunteers: Create a sign-up sheet for parents, teachers, community members, and Master Gardeners who want to volunteer. Leave specific instructions for each week or time slot. Sign-up Genius is a great way to stay organized.
Ideas for Summer Gardens at Rest
Plant spring and fall crops: In Wisconsin, many annual plants  can be harvested before the end of school in spring, and planted again when school begins at the end of August. Try: radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and green garlic (plant full bulbs in October, harvest like a bunching onion in spring). Photo at right: a radish "snake" with raisin eyes and chive hair.
Plant edible perennials: They come up early in spring, and herbs will last until fall. Try: asparagus, rhubarb, sun-chokes, and herbs such as oregano, thyme, mint, chives, and sorrel. Consider investing in fruit trees for fall harvesting!
Plant low maintenance crops: Anything that is fairly vigorous and drought tolerant is likely to survive with little care and provide a nice fall crop if it gets a good start in spring. Try: tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries, potatoes, kale, swiss chard, pumpkins and winter squash, dry beans, and sunflowers.
Consider drip irrigation: Investing once saves time and water for years. Small timers can be installed for automatic watering. Dripworks offers how-to materials as well as a discount for schools; home garden centers often have basic supplies and advice. A good candidate for small grants or fundraiser funds.
Mulch: Use straw, hay, or leaf mulch 2-4 inches thick under well-weeded plants or empty beds to help keep in moisture and minimize weeds.
Cover crop: No space is too small. Cover crops improve soil and out-compete most weeds. An oats and peas combination is a good starter. Learn more here.
Funding for this project was provided by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health from the Wisconsin Partnership Program.
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“We didn’t have a lot of help from students when we first started the program,” said agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Alice Doudna, “but after we had the food in the lunch program, they were like, ‘this is way better than the stuff that is shipped in, we want to help.’” 
The FFA program is also crucial to the garden’s success. Sixteen FFA students from Horicon are currently working toward proficiency in horticulture, a skill for which they must log 100 hours and show competency in at least ten garden-related skills. The FFA is also able to hire a student Garden Manager, as well as a Greenhouse Manager, who play a big role in weeding, watering, bookkeeping, and other essential tasks. These students receive 10% of the garden’s vegetable and plant sale profits as a scholarship when they graduate, and the skills added to their FFA resume have the potential to help them garner additional scholarships in the future.
On June 3rd, WSGI was honored to receive a Community-University Partnership Award from UW-Madison. The award recognizes WSGI and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health as an "exemplary partnership," making significant contributions to the good of the Wisconsin community. WSGI was nominated by the Wisconsin Partnership Program, which stated, "Your work - developing an infrastructure to support youth gardening and garden-based education across the state - is a critical step in helping to reduce obesity rates in Wisconsin." Thank you, WPP and UW-Madison - we look forward to two more years of successful collaboration!
For those new to WSGI, we couldn't leave out these amazing resources. "Got Dirt?" will walk you through starting a school garden, while "Got Veggies?" will help you implement a garden-based nutrition curriculum. "Cultivating Childhood Wellness through Gardening" is an online training that will help you establish and utilize a school garden. You can watch the entire training or select specific chapters.