The garden at John Muir Elementary School is an inspirational, community effort to help children learn how to take care of the earth and to eat healthy food. Students, teachers, parents and community members all work together to keep the garden a vibrant and engaging place to learn at John Muir. Every student comes to garden class two times each month. They learn through directed, hands-on gardening experience, observation, songs, stories, artwork, and free exploration. Topics include planting, tending, harvesting, and tasting fruits and vegetables. 

We also learn about nutrition, seasonality, pest management, composting, animal husbandry and ecology. During class, students taste “ the harvest of the month,” which is seasonal fruits or vegetables. These same fruits and vegetables are also featured in the cafeteria and in cooking class. In this way we integrate and coordinate the curriculum with the goal of increasing the students’ exposure to healthy foods. If you visit a garden class, you might find a student excited about eating sour sorrel and dinosaur kale, looking closely at a ladybug larvae or feeding slugs and snails to the chickens. Garden class is a haven for exploration and discovery.