Garden Science

TK & Level I (K)

Garden crops are planned as a tie-in for curriculum cross levels.

• Tomatoes: (given the seasonality of tomatoes) in the spring, Level I grows from seed and plants tomatoes for next year’s Level I students to harvest as August treats.  They, in turn, save the seeds from those tomatoes in August to plant under grow lights in January, then transplanting out to the garden.

• Kindness Carrots: a tie-in to a classic Level I social-emotional learning lesson; acts of kindness translate into water for the carrots to grow. These are a big hit every year!

• Popcorn: another “gift” to next year’s class… and what a fun one!

• Lettuce: easy to grow, fun for snacking. We grew “rainbow lettuce” in connection with Desmond Tutu’s Rainbow Nation: planted different colors of lettuce to create a rainbow, with big purple cabbages as the “clouds” at each end.

• Peas: great winter crop and yummy snacks.

• Wildflowers: Level I voted to plant wildflowers as a Native Californian option.

• Strawberries: Always growing, spotted at the first hint of color, and another yummy, healthy snack!

Level II

Garden crops are planned as tie-in for curriculum cross levels.

• Masa Corn: to be ground into flour and used to make corn tortillas.
• Sweet Potatoes: sprouted 4 different varieties in a variety of conditions - light, water, temperature, etc to study different climate effects. Side lesson on George Washington Carver and his many sweet potato “inventions.”

• Wheat: wheat-to-Bread Project: Planted & harvested wheat ears. Experimented with creative methods of threshing. Winnowed with bowls and fans. Ground with rocks, morter/pestle, coffee grinder, and blender. Made into dough (using garden herbs) and baked focaccia!

• Beets, carrots, cucumbers: for fresh snacking & studying fermentation. Pickles!

• Yerba Buena, Deer Grass, Yarrow, Coreopsis, Miner's Lettuce: tie-ins to lessons on the Ohlone (native people of the Bay Area), studied with the historical and cultural context of their traditional uses.

• Pollinator Garden: Level II studied the environment (pollinator plants) created by Level I's native wildflower plantings.

• Hand-made paper: collected garden material (flowers, leaves, herbs, etc) to

Level III

Garden crops are planned as tie-in for curriculum cross levels.

• 3 Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash/Pumpkin + 4th Sister: Sunflowers: Sacred Native American planting; Level III learned how they grow together and help each other thrive. Students processed the pumpkin in the traditional way of dehydrating it & beans were shelled and stored to preserve for the winter. The corn was harvested, popped, and enjoyed as a snack!

• Beets, Carrots, Cucumbers: for fresh snacking & studying fermentation. Students harvest, compost, scrub veggies, pack jars with brine, herbs, spices, and watch and smell the fermentation process. Then taste! 

• Indigo & Medicinal Herbs: colonial American crops, tie-in to social studies and visual arts & design while learning about Colonial America. Harvested and used indigo to make dye.

• Lettuce, Garlic, Onions, Leeks, Scallions: connection to Ancient Egyptian societies, and also a math lesson in ratios when using them to make a salad dressing!

• Giant Papyrus: long-term grow with plans to make Egyptian papyrus paper!

Middle School

• Advisory Planters: over the Winter Garden season, advisories can “adopt” a planter (those taller irregular ones) to plant. They choose lettuce, carrots, kale, peas, onions, radishes, mustard, and whatever else to plant, tend, and harvest.

• Advisory Helpers: we sometimes call on advisories to help us in the garden when we need human-power. For example, pulling out and composting plants, turning over the soil of a bed, or finishing up a LS project like deep-digging for sweet potatoes. Also scraping the green moss that grows on the turf, and using it to boost nutrients in the beds.

• Garden Bed cleanup: snipping off dead flowers, leaves and branches; finding and removing non-beneficial insects; eating extra tomatoes.

• Scarecrow making: advisories created some scary humanoids to help keep the squirrels at bay!

• Tea time: it’s a popular activity to make herbal tea during snack or lunch, using the mint varieties, stevia, and other herbs.

• Taste Testing Herbs: a source of tremendous discussion and debate, such as peppermint vs. spearmint vs. chocolate mint vs. lemon balm. Also lots of nasturtium munching.

• Lunch Helpers: we’ve had lunchtime helpers over the years who are eager and happy to help us with whatever needs done!

• Sign Painting: painting crop labels for garden beds.

• Soil Testers: testing the nutrient values of several garden beds.

• Sift & Sort Compost: separating finished compost from plant material that is still intact.

• Seed Saving: while “deadheading” old marigold flowers, students learned how to find the seeds stored in the flowerheads, and how to save them for future years.

• Who Visits the Garden?: sitting quietly, looking and listening for birds, bees, squirrels, insects, etc. Hypothesizing why they come to the Garden, and what they get there.

• STEAM Visits: in conjunction with curriculum on the environment, biology, ecology, etc.

• Visual Arts Visits: life studies, botanical drawing, material collection, and more!

As any gardener will know, sometimes something just won't grow. There is reward in sharing these experiments with students as they learn to navigate disappointment and iterate on ideas.

Some garden Risks

• Cotton: attempted for Level III - the soil was too full of tree roots.
• Barley: another Level III crop - was growing well with delicious ears, until a bird ate them all.
• Bottle Gourds: planned for Level II to dry and make traditional instruments or functional tools - didn't take.
• Chia: Level II took notes on ideas to improve conditions and try again next year.
• Squirrels: the natural predator of all fruits and vegetables - Middle School students have helped experiment with multiple ways of keeping squirrels at bay.