Now here’s a very nifty idea – check out MyFirstOrganics.com. Some smart folks have put together a beginner-friendly seed-starting kit. You can purchase kits for your fav garden vegetable(s), as well as organic seeds to re-use the kit’s greenhouse.

But wait: there’s more!

See, this kit isn’t just a great gift for a giver, not merely a cool tool for the seed starter, but it’s also a mechanism for schools to raise funds.

In fact, that’s how I learned about the program in the first place – my kids’ elementary school is selling the kits. Folks can order online with a special promotional code, and the school is credited money for every kit sold. At our school, the money raised will be sown right back into the garden - a big conversion is slated for spring. On the docket are theme gardens tied more closely to classroom science lessons. At the same time, they’ll teach the kids environmental stewardship. Imagine what can be learned with a pollination garden, a water‐wise garden featuring native plants, an organic vegetable garden – even a compost bin!

Surf City Growers(http://www.surfcitygrowers.com/index.php), the Aptos company behind the My First Organics kit, is certified organic by both the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Trent and Linda McNair are the couple behind Surf City Growers. (It’s like a multi-layered onion!) The McNair’s quit high-tech to embark on something they could put their hearts into. They ended up creating something we can all sink our teeth into: a healthy, earth-friendly, organic, educational, product that generates money for public schools.