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Gardening

Scouts BSA · Merit Badge · Nature

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Gardening is about growing your own food and flowers and learning how plants really work. You'll plant, tend, and harvest, test seeds, and learn about the bees and pests that share your garden. It takes patience, and the results are delicious.

Why it's worth it

There's nothing like eating a tomato or snap pea you grew yourself. Gardening teaches you how soil, water, sunlight, and insects work together, and how to fix things when a plant starts to wilt or bugs move in. It can feed your family, stock a food pantry, or turn a bare corner of a school yard into something people enjoy. A few containers on a porch or a community garden plot is enough to start.

Start this week

  1. Look out the window and find the sunniest spot you can use, whether it's a yard, a porch, a balcony, or a sunny windowsill.
  2. Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Gardening counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
  3. Look up your area's plant hardiness zone and last frost date so you know when to plant.
  4. Make a list of six vegetables and six flowers you'd like to grow, and circle the ones that do well in containers if space is tight.

Plan ahead: Requirement 2 takes a full growing season, so plan it first and plant as early as your climate allows. The seed test (4) and compost project (8) also take weeks; start them while your garden grows.

Stay safe

  • Wear gloves when handling soil, compost, and tools, and wash your hands afterward.
  • Let an adult handle any garden chemicals, read every label, and keep them away from food crops unless the label says it's safe.

Requirements · 9

Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).

  1. Requirement 1

    Safety and first aid

    Tips for this section: Think about hazards like sharp tools, sunburn, bee stings, and garden chemicals, and know the first aid for each.

    1. Requirement 1a

      Tell your counselor the hazards you're most likely to face while gardening and how to anticipate, help prevent, reduce, and respond to them

    2. Requirement 1b

      Discuss how to prevent and treat health problems that can come up while gardening, such as heat reactions, insect bites, anaphylactic shock, cuts, scratches, puncture wounds, and reactions to fertilizers and pesticides

  2. Requirement 2

    Grow the plants below, talking with your counselor about what you notice all along the way:

    Tip: Plan your garden early so you have time to grow. Containers or a small bed work fine if space is tight.

    For example: A small-space plan: lettuce, radishes, and bush beans in one bed; cherry tomatoes and peppers in buckets; herbs in pots; marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers, nasturtiums, cosmos, and petunias along the edges. Keep a log of planting dates, watering, and harvests.

    1. Requirement 2a

      Grow six vegetables to harvest: three started from seed and three from seedlings

    2. Requirement 2b

      Grow six flowers until they bloom: three started from seed and three from seedlings

  3. Requirement 3

    Give the nutritional value of each of these:

    Tip: Look up the vitamins and nutrients in what you're growing, and try a new vegetable at dinner.

    For example: Make a chart of your crops with one key nutrient for each, like vitamin C in peppers, fiber in beans, and vitamin A in carrots. Then add a recipe your family made with something from your garden.

    1. Requirement 3a

      Three root or tuber crops

    2. Requirement 3b

      Three vegetables that grow above ground

    3. Requirement 3c

      Three fruits

  4. Requirement 4

    Run a germination test on 100 seeds, figure out what percent sprouted, and explain why you think some didn't

    Tip: Count out 100 seeds on damp paper towels in a plastic bag and check daily. Record how many sprout.

    For example: Roll 10 groups of 10 bean seeds in damp paper towels, seal them in labeled bags, and keep them warm. Count sprouts each day for about a week. If 87 sprout, your germination rate is 87 percent.

  5. Requirement 5

    Visit your county extension office, a local university or agricultural college, a nursery, farm, botanical garden, or arboretum, and report what you learned

    Tip: Call ahead to a county extension office, nursery, farm, or botanical garden and bring a list of questions.

    For example: Bring questions to an extension office or nursery, like "What grows best in our soil?" and "Which pests are worst this year?" Write a one-page report of what you learned and how you'll use it.

  6. Requirement 6

    Explain to your counselor how and why honeybees pollinate food crops and the problems bees face today. Discuss what would happen to people if there were no pollinators

    Tip: Watch bees at flowers in your garden or park and learn why they matter and what threatens them.

  7. Requirement 7

    Identify five garden pests (insects or plant diseases) and suggest two ways to deal with each, at least one of them organic

    Tip: Check your plants often and use a guide or app to identify pests. Ask an extension office about safe ways to manage them.

    For example: For aphids, try a strong spray of water or welcome ladybugs. For cabbage worms, pick them off by hand or use row covers. Write two solutions for each of your five pests, starting with the least toxic.

  8. Requirement 8

    Do ONE project below, write down what you observe each week, and discuss the results with your counselor:. Choose 1 of 6

    Tip: Start a compost bin with kitchen scraps and yard waste, or try another project that fits your space.

    For example: A compost project could be a bin made from a plastic tote with air holes. Layer brown leaves and green kitchen scraps, keep it damp, turn it weekly, and write down the temperature and changes each week for 90 days.

    1. Requirement 8a

      Build a compost bin and keep it going for 90 days

    2. Requirement 8b

      Build a worm compost (vermicompost) bin and keep it going for 90 days

    3. Requirement 8c

      Build a hydroponic garden holding three ornamental plants, or three herbs or vegetables, and care for it through harvest or bloom, or for 90 days

    4. Requirement 8d

      Build a water garden, either in a container (12 by 6 inches or larger, 6 or more inches deep) or as a small in-ground pond (max 6 by 3 feet, 24 inches deep), and care for it 90 days

    5. Requirement 8e

      Get a honey super ready for a hive or colony, then take a full super out of the hive and prepare its honey for sale

    6. Requirement 8f

      Grow your own garden in soil, indoors in containers or outdoors, with at least three kinds of plants your counselor approves, from seed or plantings until harvest or 90 days, whichever comes first

  9. Requirement 9

    Careers or hobbies. Choose 1 of 2

    Tips for this section: Visit a farmers market and ask growers about their work, or join a community garden.

    1. Requirement 9a

      Name three careers that use gardening skills. Research one: training, education, certification, experience, cost to get started, job outlook, starting pay, and advancement. Discuss it with your counselor and whether it interests you

    2. Requirement 9b

      Find how gardening skills could support a hobby or healthy lifestyle. Research the extra training, costs, and groups to join that would help, then share with your counselor what you learned and your short- and long-term goals

Places to visit

Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.

  • A county extension office or Master Gardener help desk

    Volunteers and agents answer local growing questions and can test soil or identify pests and plant diseases.

    How: Have a parent call or check the website for help desk hours. Bring a photo or sealed bag with a problem leaf or bug.

  • A community garden or farm

    You can see many ways to grow food in a small space and talk with experienced growers.

    How: Have an adult contact the garden coordinator or farm and ask about a visit or a volunteer workday your patrol could join.

Where it can lead

  • HorticulturistGrows and studies plants for food, gardens, or research; often needs a plant science degree.
  • Farmer or market growerRaises crops to sell; many learn on the job or through apprenticeships.
  • Greenhouse or nursery workerStarts and cares for plants that end up in gardens and farms.
  • Extension agentHelps farmers and gardeners solve problems; works for a state university.
  • LandscaperPlants and maintains gardens and yards; a hands-on trade that can lead to running your own business.

Ask yourself

  • What do you hope to grow, and what do you hope to do with it?
  • When a plant struggled, how did you figure out what was wrong?
  • Who in your family or neighborhood knows a lot about growing things, and what could you learn from them?
  • How did watching bees and other insects in your garden change how you think about them?
  • What would you plant differently next season?

Good questions to ask a Master Gardener or extension agent

  • What do beginners in our area usually get wrong?
  • How can I tell if my soil needs something, and how would I test it?
  • Which pests should I watch for this year, and what can I try before using chemicals?
  • What vegetables are easiest to grow here for someone with a small space?
  • How did you get into gardening, and what keeps you doing it?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Help Scouts start early in the growing season, since this badge depends on time.
  • Find a community garden plot or school garden where Scouts without yard space can grow.

People & places that can help

Pairs well with

Into this? Explore more

Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.