Latimer Garden

Latimer Garden construction continues! This fall, the Moreland School District installed a fence around the garden and a timer for the drip irrigation system. Small groups of masked volunteers have been weeding, trimming bushes and spreading wood chips. Thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Whole Kids Foundation and additional funding from the Latimer Home & School Club, Tuff Shed installed a large garden shed.

We've planted eight garden beds! SDC students planted and are helping care for a scented and a tactile garden. Students have also planted two cool season veggie beds, a square foot garden, a native pollinator garden, and a bed filled with CA poppies. In October, Miss Lee led a planting session for the Second Grade garden bed, transplanting milkweed (to support monarch butterflies!) and sowing peas.

Thanks to SummerWinds Nursery in Campbell for donating organic soil and compost, and to the California Native Plant Society and Grassroots Ecology for donating native plants.

If you have questions about the Latimer Garden or are interested in volunteering, please contact amycody@gmail.com.

Background

Latimer is a STEAM-focused K-8 school that uses Project Based Learning (PBL) as a key instruction method. We teach Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards through in-depth project study and exploration, helping students learn in an engaging, integrated manner. A new garden and outdoor classroom space will enhance hands-on, PBL instruction at our school.

A garden planning committee spent the past year researching school gardens and considering uses, curriculum, funding and maintenance for a garden at Latimer. We’re planning a large outdoor space with 13 raised beds: nine to support PBL instruction across nine grade levels, two for our Special Day Classes, one for our Extended Day Program, and one for a soon-to-be-established Student Garden Club.

Plant and pollinator life cycles; health and nutrition; soil chemistry and biodegradation; ecosystems and adaptations; perimeter, area and arrays; collecting and analyzing data are just a few of the concepts that our “living classroom” will help to convey.

Click here for a Latimer Garden presentation from November 2019.

Get Involved!

We’re building a team of volunteers to assist with garden maintenance.

If you’re interesting in planting, weeding, or helping with other garden-related activities, please contact Amy Cody at amycody@gmail.com.

School Garden Donors & Partners

A big THANK YOU to the many organizations & individuals providing monetary or other support for the Latimer Garden & Outdoor Classroom:

— Big Creek Lumber

— California Fertilizer Foundation

— Latimer Home & School Club

— Life Lab

— Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County

— Moreland Community Garden

— Moreland Education Foundation

— Moreland School District

— Office of San Jose VIce Mayor Chappie Jones

— Oster Elementary School Garden

— Raphdesign.com

— Saratoga Elementary School Garden