February Garden Activities

• February 4th 6pm: Garden committee meeting

• February 21st 10am-12pm: Butterfly garden planting day! We'll have snacks and crafts to celebrate.

• February 24th-26th: In class seed ball activity. Students will create native wildflower seed balls to bring home. Volunteers are needed! Stay tuned for a sign up sheet or contact the committee.

Other Upcoming Garden Activities

• The garden committee meets this Wednesday, November 5th at 6pm in the parent room.

• We will be harvesting lettuce and hosting salad parties for the kids the weeks of November 10th (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and November 17th (Monday, Wednesday). We need volunteers! If you can help out please sign up here.

• If you can't make it to our butterfly garden kickoff (or you can't get enough of it), fret not! We'll have another garden work day the following Saturday, November 15th at 10 am where we will continue work on the butterfly garden.

Fall Planting!

September 20, 2025

Scenes from fall planting: transplanted starts in the garden bed, Asha enjoys an apple she picked, and Eddie transplants a lettuce start.

Students were in the garden September 17th-19th transplanting lettuce starts, planting pea and carrot seeds, and tasting apples from the school orchard. Later in the fall students will harvest their crops and enjoy a salad party with homemade dressing and kale chips. Thank you to all of the volunteers who came out and assisted students in the garden--we couldn't do it without you!

Thank you also to everyone who came out to garden work day to help get the garden ready for students! We weeded, added compost to the vegetable garden, and started prepping the future butterfly garden site while kids played and we all enjoyed snacks together. 

Upcoming Garden Activities

The next garden work day will be Saturday October 18th at 10 am. Bring cardboard (non shiny, free of tape and labels) for sheet mulching the new butterfly garden! We'll be adding additional garden work days this fall to install the butterfly garden, check the calendar for up to date information on upcoming garden work days and garden activities/volunteer opportunities. Next we'll be making native wildflower seed balls!

Garden Work Day and Fall Planting Activity

September 5, 2025

Garden Work Day 9/13: Call For Cardboard!

Mark your calendars, the first garden work day of the new school year will happen 10-12 on Saturday September 13th. Bring cardboard (non shiny, free of tape and labels) for sheet mulching when we install our new butterfly garden later this fall. We'll have more information on the butterfly garden and how you can help at the garden work day!

Garden work days are open to the public, no experience necessary! Come help us get the garden ready for fall planting and meet others in the community! Kids are welcome to join in on the garden work or just play together. Gardening equipment and light snacks will be provided.

Fall Salad Planting Activity 9/17-9/19

We are looking for volunteers to guide and assist students in planting out our fall salad garden and tasting fruit from the orchard the mornings of Wednesday September 17th, Thursday September 18th, and Friday September 19th. Students will harvest the lettuce, peas, and other vegetables from the garden later in the semester and enjoy a salad party together. Volunteers must have completed the SCUSD volunteer process to assist in this activity. If you are interested you can sign up here.

Welcome Back!

August 14, 2025

We are excited for another year of garden fun--there are many exciting developments and fun activities to look forward to!

Upcoming garden activities

• The first garden committee meeting of the year will be Wednesday September 3rd in the Parent Room at 6 pm.

• The first garden work day of the year will be held Saturday September 13th at 10 am. Subscribe to our garden calendar for up-to-date information on upcoming meetings and activities!

• Students will plant lettuce and peas in September. If you would like to volunteer please contact us to be added to the email list.

Garden news

• The garden is expanding! We have raised over $3,000 so far and are happy to announce we will add a new butterfly garden this fall. We'll be adding some additional garden work days this fall for site prep and garden installation--keep a lookout on the calendar for more information. If you have ideas or would like to contribute please contact us! 

Thank you so much to our community and sponsors!

• • • • • • Sacramento Perennial Plant Club

          • California Native Plant Society

          • Xerces society

          • Bret Harte pancake breakfast & plant sale

• We have been awarded a $3,500 grant from Whole Kids, the charitable arm of Whole Foods. Funds will go towards engaging a compost educator and installing a blueberry patch.

Ms Bunney's second delivered a collection of epic thank you cards, as usual! 

Kale Chips

• Kale, washed and dried with stems removed

• Olive oil

• Salt to taste 

Preheat oven to 260. Put kale in a bowl and add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Massage oil into kale until every part of the leaf is coated, adding more olive oil if necessary. Arrange kale in a single layer on a baking tray. Sprinkle salt to taste. Bake until thoroughly crunchy, about 30-45 minutes.

Salad Dressing

• Lemon juice

• Vinegar such as red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

• Dijon mustard 

• Olive oil

• Honey

• Salt and pepper

Combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice with 2 tablespoons vinegar into a jar with a lid. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Does the olive oil mix with the juice and vinegar?

Add 1 teaspoon dijon mustard and shake. What does the dressing look like now?

Add 1 teaspoon honey and a pinch of salt and pepper. Shake to mix. Adjust to taste. Too sour? Add more honey. Too sweet? Add more lemon juice or vinegar. Enjoy!

How to Make Seed Bombs

Ingredients:

Clay powder: This holds the ball together and protects it.

Compost: Provides nutrients to help seeds germinate.

Native Wildflower Seeds: Use California native seeds. Native pollinators love them!

Water: To bind the ingredients together

Mix: 2 scoops of native seeds, 2 scoops of clay powder, and 3 scoops of compost

1. Mix the Ingredients: In a small tray, combine and mix 2 scoops of Native Wildflower Seeds, 2

scoops of clay powder, and 3 scoops of compost.

2. Add Water Slowly: Gradually add a small amount of water while mixing the ingredients. You

want it to be just wet enough to stick together.

3. Form the Seed Bombs: Take a small amount of the mixture and roll it into balls the size of a

marble.

4. Dry the Seed Bomb: Dry your seed bombs in their tray outside in a shady and dry spot for 1 to 2

days. Drying them fully will help them stay intact until they’re ready to be planted.

5. Store or Plant: Once dry, you can store the seed bombs in a paper bag. To use them, just throw

or place them where you want flowers to grow. Plant preferably before it rains. When enough rain

has permeated the clay, the seeds inside will sprout and break open the clay ball. The compost

gives the seeds nutrients.