At Montessori de Santa Cruz, the gardening program offers a unique environment that fosters our students’ academic, social, and emotional development. The students learn practical aspects of organic, sustainable gardening, and enrichment in the sciences. Being aware and caring for our ecological surroundings is a core value our students practice each day. As we gather in our outdoor classroom, we plan and nurture our vision of a welcoming, productive, and peaceful place. Students are also encouraged to use their creative and artistic talents to develop and implement community-building goals.
Some of the subjects we will study this year are:

• Soil composition and health
• Composting
• Vegetable bed preparation and supplementation
• Propagation (seeding, division, bulbs, rhizomes, etc.)
• The influence of agriculture on societies
• Germination
• Herbs and their uses
• Companion planting
• Life in the soil
• Crop rotation
• Natural pest control
• Ecosystems and insect life
• Crops and their seasons