This article explores how school gardens can serve as practical, hands-on spaces for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Instead of rigidly aligning garden activities with specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the article presents the school garden as a setting where students can critically reflect on global challenges and their own actions. Through gardening, students engage with themes such as biodiversity, food sovereignty, fair working conditions, and climate-friendly practices. Specific examples include composting, cultivating regional and heirloom crops, minimizing plastic usage, and forming partnerships with schools in the Global South. These activities promote sustainable habits and social responsibility. The school garden becomes a “living ESD lab,” a space where learning extends beyond the fence and sustainability becomes visible and tangible. The article draws on experiences from Central Europe. The authors do not presume to speak for school gardens in other countries and on other continents. Readers from other parts of the world are best suited to apply the explanations to their own situations.