• Reset garden beds after winter with a focus on soil health, compost and seasonal maintenance. 

• Plan spring plantings that support both student learning and productive harvests. 

Spring is one of the busiest and most exciting times in the kitchen garden. As the days grow longer and the soil begins to warm, gardens burst back into life.  

By focusing on a few key jobs, educators and families can create a healthy, productive garden while providing hands-on learning opportunities for children. 

Refresh your garden beds 

Start by taking stock of your garden after winter. Remove spent cool-season crops and add healthy plant material to your compost. Tidy pathways, repair supports and clear any debris that has accumulated over the colder months. 

A spring working bee is a great way to involve students, volunteers and families in preparing the garden for the growing season ahead. 

Improve soil health 

Winter can leave garden beds compacted and in need of a refresh. Before planting, add compost or a premium compost mix to garden beds to improve soil structure and support healthy plant growth. 

Soil health is a wonderful topic for children to explore. Adding compost, observing worms and teaching what plants need to grow are simple activities that help children understand the importance of healthy soil. 

For an extra boost, Seasol Plant Health and Soil Improver Granules can be incorporated into garden beds to enhance root growth, improve plant and soil health and stimulate flowering and fruiting.  

Get on top of weeds 

Spring weeds grow quickly, so early action is key. Many weeds can be pulled out by hand while the soil is soft from spring showers. Prioritise removing weeds before they flower to prevent them from setting seed. 

Weeding can turn into impactful lessons in biodiversity and plant classification. You can also explore how many common weeds have traditional medicinal uses, and some plants, like borage, can be fermented and used as a liquid fertiliser. 

Plan your spring planting

Kitchen Garden Program members often prioritise crops that children can observe, harvest and enjoy before the summer holidays. 

Leafy greens such as lettuce, silverbeet and Asian greens are ideal spring crops, along with coriander, carrots, parsnips, peas and snow peas. Start some summer crops in seed trays or mini greenhouses so children can observe and learn about germination. Tomatoes, capsicum, pumpkin and corn are good choices. 

Towards the end of spring, and ahead of the summer holidays, you can regularly apply natural, organic garden solution to help your plants cope with heat and pests.  

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation has partnered with Seasol to inspire the next generation of Australians to grow bountiful crops in kitchen gardens right across the country.