How to Start a School Garden

Germany (the first): In 1837 Friedrich Froebel (German educationalist) founded his own school and called it "kindergarten," or the children's garden.

United States: The first English-language kindergarten in the US was founded by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, who was born on 16 May 1804. Peabody opened her kindergarten in 1860 in Massachusetts, based on the premise that children's play has basic educational and developmental value.

Kindergarten: German : Kinder, genitive pl. Of Kind, child (from Middle High German kint, from Old High German kind) + Garten, garden (from Middle High German garte, from Old High German garto).]

You should do it as soon as school starts. Go to the office and ask to speak to the principal. Before you do go to meet with him/her, make sure you have a set plan. Think about what you plan to accomplish this year with the club, what activities you plan the club to participate in, and plan how many times a week or month you plan to have the club meetings at. When you have all this planned out, put it down on paper so that it is in a presentable form; this way when you do meet with the principal, you will have all your plans on paper. Bonus: your principal will see how organized you are and how ambitious you are about the club, which will most likely encourage the principal to say "yes".
To help you with your planning and what stuff the club can do after you get it started, i have a few suggestions and helpful tips:
– Encourage your cafeteria to stop using Styrofoam dishes and instead try using the ones that can be reused and washed (if its possible to get funding)
– Try having a tree planting day for one day a month or so
– Encourage reducing! Ask that a note be placed in the staff room around the photo copy machine to encourage printing on both sides of the page (which in turn reduces the amount of paper needed, and therefore saves your school money!).
– Bring up the idea of planting a natural garden in your school yard (if its possible). Anything can be planted, from beautiful native flowers from your city or area, to a vegetable garden filled with tomatoes, lettuce, etc (plus: if your school has a food and nutrition class, the kids can use the vegetables in the classroom; again saving your school money). You can raise money for the garden by hosting a "movie night" in the afternoon and playing environmental movies such as "An inconvenient Truth", "The 11th Hour" and "The Simpson's Movie".
-"Adopt" the street your school is located on and have a clean-up day once a month of the street.

I hope these suggestions help!

Where are you located? Each country and state has its own rules.

In most places, the only real restrictions I imagine you dealing with would be ones relating to what pesiticides you can use. In the US, if you're not planning to sell over $10,000 worth of produce you don't need certification to call it 'organic' as long as you adhere to the standards. Contact your state dept of ag, and ask if food safety inspections are required to use the produce at your school. I don't think you have much to worry about.