Ocean County Soil Conservation District has made available numerous resources for educators, home owners, landscapers and curious minds to help you learn more about soil and create healthy gardens, yards and landscapes at home, at school and in your community.
Explore our online library of soil-focused resources by clicking on the topics below:
- Lesson Plans for Educators: curriculum guides, lesson plans about soil and other natural resources, student project and research ideas, schoolyard gardening and outdoor classroom resources
- Healthy Soil Resources: resources for understanding and achieving healthy soil, soil health fact sheets
- Bibliography of Soil Health Resources: a comprehensive bibliography of soil health resources in downloadable format
- Web Soil Survey: an app for learning about the soil beneath your feet!
- Native Plants and Home Gardens : resources about native plants, information and ideas about creating a native home garden
- Rain Garden Resources: resources, guidelines and examples for building a rain garden
- Healthy Yards Resources: resources for healthy lawns, and links to our Soil Health Improvement Project (SHIP) and NJ Agricultural Experiment Station
- New Jersey Fertilizer Laws : information about the New Jersey Fertilizer Law
Low Maintenance Landscaping Guide for the Barnegat Bay Watershed
This manual, created by Ocean County Soil Conservation District, is intended to help you achieve a healthy yard, garden and landscape by creating a foundation of healthy soil, conserving water, using less fertilizer, and building habitat for wildlife using native plants, all while saving time and money.
Educational Resource Guide
This comprehensive booklet was created by the Ocean County Soil Conservation District as a one-stop guide for all educational resources related to the Barnegat Bay watershed. What began as a simple directory has grown into a compendium of resources and organizations offering numerous programs, publications, field trips, and watershed information that educators can incorporate into their lessons and activities.
The Barnegat Bay Watershed Educational Resource Guide
Connect with other like-minded groups within the community.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Visit for Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibit plus games and other educational activities.
From The Ground Up, The Science of Soil
is a website that has many fun activities for families and interactive lesson plans for teachers.
Soil Education Articles and Updates from Our Blog
-
Spring Blooming Natives for Your Garden
Native plants are perfectly adapted to our sandy south Jersey native soils and local climate. Support pollinators, birds and wildlife by adding a few spring blooming native plants to your yard.
-
Life in the Leaves!
Green leaves of summer are ablaze in scarlet, crimson and gold, as trees and shrubs begin to wind-down for winter. Through photosynthesis, these mini food factories provided an essential service in turning water and carbon dioxide into sugars for their host. But their job duties do not end there. Leaves take on a new role…
-
Back to School and Back to the Basics: Soil Health Activities for Children
The National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are placing a renewed emphasis on soil health. As children get ready to go back to school, we will also be thinking about public outreach and conservation activities for children of all ages. The following information includes resources and ideas that you…
