School: Herman Ridder JHS 98
City: New York, NY
Teachers: Mrs. Avery

Project:  I am so excited to grow plants with my students. At the workshop I attended, we did these same experiments. We took such pride in the plants we grew. We were invested in our experiments, and we learned a lot about the scientific process. I know my students will feel the same sense of accomplishment and love this project. This project also enables students to use their measuring and reading skills as they record data and do plant research. This project is very real-life, practical and fun!

→Donate to Mrs. Avery's students on Apartment Therapy's Donors Choose page.

Now that we're almost at the end of April, we can really start seeing the light at the end of the cold, dark and rainy wintertime tunnel. It seems like a good time to look back at all of our coverage of outdoor furniture. Dig in, find your favorites and take it outside!

School: Abraham Lincoln High School
City: San Francisco, CA
Teachers: Ms. Ziegler

Project:  Help us make the most of our school garden. The last three years my students have helped build our garden from the ground up. Now we have food to harvest but need a place to do it. We want to expand our garden to include a work station for food prep and a sink for cleaning our harvest.

→Donate to Ms. Ziegler's students on Apartment Therapy's Donors Choose page.

If you are planning to plant a garden this year, you probably have some garden supplies that need organizing. Here are some creative storage ideas for a variety of spaces using things you might already have at home. 

One of my earliest memories of spending time with my grandfather was watching him stand over an array of small pots in the dining room, carefully checking their growth. He explained to me that soon they would be ready to go outside in the garden, and eventually they would become vegetables. Not being super keen on some vegetables as a child, I had to squelch the desire to sabotage his budding collection waiting to be moved to the big plot outside. 

This woman brings her Pomerian to the park and feeds the squirrels every morning.

When I first moved to my new city, I commuted two hours, which involved being driven to the train station, riding the train for an hour, riding the Metro, and then riding a bus. It was ridiculous and fortunately short lived. Now, I walk a mile to work, mostly through a city park that is blissfully quiet in the morning and bustling with happy activity in the evening.

While white seating inside the house may feel like a risky proposition, especially for the butterfingers among us, white outdoor seating is a safe bet. The finishes on all of these white seating options are washable so there's little risk of red wine and chocolate stains. Plus, they're all so nice looking you may want to use them indoors, too. Go ahead, you rule breaker, you. We won't tell anyone.

I'm fortunate to have a house in the city with a backyard that receives lots of morning sunlight and a front yard that basks in the strong afternoon sun.  I get to experience the best of both worlds, but many of my friends aren't as lucky, and their gardens and yards often show it.  Last week we gave you a few ideas for shade-loving plants — this week I'm going to round off the list with a few suggestions for shade-loving trees (and for an added bonus, they're also perfect for compact spaces!).  

School: Tarver Elementary
City: Temple, TX
Teachers: Mrs. Young

Project: Your donations will allow my students as well as other students in our school to see how soil and its composition can create a whole new environment. Being gardeners will give the students a real world skill that they can take away and apply in their own homes. They will have a sense of accomplishment when their plants have flowered or produced fruits or vegetables. Not only will they take away science concepts from our project but also a sense of responsibility.

→Donate to Mrs. Young's students on Apartment Therapy's Donors Choose page.

Q: Can I recycle a slate counter from our kitchen island to an outdoor table surface? We're renovating our home and I'd like to salvage and re-use as much as possible. The 7' x 2'6" honed, black slate slab topping the island is the perfect size and shape for an outdoor dining table.