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 and Resources 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!
- Healthy Soil, Healthy Food Resources: information and resources about creating healthy soil to grow food, including home vegetable gardens, permaculture and farms
- 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
- Aquaculture Resources: information about aquaculture, oyster farms, oyster restoration and shell recycling
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
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New Pollinator Garden Takes Root at Barnegat High School
Students and teachers at Barnegat High School joined the Ocean County Soil Conservation District to create a new native pollinator garden that will provide habitat for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects while serving as an outdoor learning space for years to come.
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From Soil Science Student to Soil Conservation Professional: Danella Funk’s Journey with OCSCD
What began as a college class soon grew into an internship, an academic research project, and ultimately a full-time position with the Ocean County Soil Conservation District (OCSCD). Read about Danella Funk’s journey.
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Celebrating Earth Day at Whiting Elementary: Digging into Soil Science
Ocean County Soil Conservation District staff had a fantastic time celebrating Earth Day with students and teachers at Whiting Elementary School!
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Ethan Harding Named 2026 Conservation Poster Contest Grand Champion
The Ocean County Soil Conservation District is proud to announce that Ethan Harding of New Egypt High School has been named the 2026 Grand Champion winner of the NJ Conservation Poster Contest.
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Stratigraphy and Stewardship: A Chronicle of Conservation at Buck Mine of Millstone Township, New Jersey
This chronicle of Buck Mine presents the story of how a spent sand pit became a window into deep time, and how a group of scientists, conservationists, and community leaders worked to preserve what might otherwise have been lost.
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Digging Deep: The Past, Present, and Future of Ocean County Sand
Few people associate our local landscape with mining. After all, Ocean County lacks metallic ore or gemstones. What could possibly be worth digging up? The answer is quartz sand.
