Tualatin Elementary Sustainable Garden

10/13/2026

10/07/2026

🌱🍂 A Garden Adventure I Almost Forgot to Share! 🍂🌱

I realized I missed sharing two of our garden visits from September 28th!

🌻 Davis – Kindergarten
🌻 Craft – 1st Grade

For many of these kiddos, this was one of their first opportunities to really explore our school garden!

We started by learning the important garden safety rules and how we can take care of ourselves, each other, the plants, and the wildlife that call our garden home. ❤️

As we explored, we talked about the beginning of fall and all the changes we were starting to notice throughout the garden. 🍁 We also talked about something pretty special—the majority of the plants growing in our garden were planted by students just like them! Every class gets a chance to leave a little piece of themselves behind for future students to enjoy. 🌱

Of course, these younger gardeners were VERY eager to start digging! 😂 Since this visit was all about learning the garden, exploring, and getting comfortable with our rules, we saved the digging for next time.

Now they know the garden and they're ready to get their hands dirty during their October visit! 🪴🧤

I can't wait to see what these little gardeners accomplish this year! 💚

10/07/2026

🍂🌱 October in the Garden! 🌱🍂

Yesterday we had FOUR classes come out to learn, plant, harvest, and help prepare our garden for the cooler weather!

🌱 Wharff – 5th Grade
Mrs. Wharff’s class worked hard cleaning up our banana tree, while a specialized team took on the big job of digging it up so we could move it into the lunchroom and protect it from the cold weather ahead! Students also cleaned up one of our garden plots and harvested some of the remaining tomatoes. 🍅

🥦 McConnell – 3rd Grade
Mrs. McConnell’s class planted our cauliflower starts! We talked about how vegetables have different seasons when they thrive and how many plants in the brassica family—like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and kale—actually love the cooler temperatures of fall.

💧 Rakiecki – 5th Grade
Ms. Rakiecki’s class picked up where the previous class left off and finished planting our cauliflower. They also made sure everything received some much-needed water to help the new plants get established in their new home. 🌱

🌸 Mann – 2nd Grade
Mrs. Mann’s class learned all about violas! We looked at how, after a viola flower finishes blooming, it can produce tiny seeds that have the potential to grow into brand-new plants. The students planted violas throughout the garden to add a little extra color and happiness during the cooler months. 💜💛

I love that every class gets to contribute something different to our garden. One group may start a project, another finishes it, and together the students get to see how caring for a garden is an ongoing process—and how much we can accomplish when everyone does a little part! 🌱❤️I especially like that last connection for this round of visits because McConnell and Rakiecki literally got to continue the same project—it reinforces that the garden belongs to the whole school.

🧤🌿 REMINDER: GARDEN WORK PARTY!
Our next garden work party is Saturday, October 17th at 11:00 AM! We’d love to have students, families, teachers, and community members come out and help us tackle some fall garden projects. Many hands make light work—and there’s always plenty to do! 😁🌱

09/18/2026

🌱 Garden Adventures with Mrs. Lapore’s Class! 🌻

Mrs. Lapore’s class came out for their first garden visit today, and they were ready to get to work! 😂 They had lots of enthusiasm and were eager to jump right into projects, but with our limited time today, we focused on learning our garden rules and then headed out on an adventure to explore everything growing throughout the garden.

One of my favorite parts was hearing the students already coming up with ideas for what they would like to add to the garden! We had requests for more bright orange and yellow flowers, so maybe some Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed Susans) are in our future! 🌼💛🧡 I love giving the kids a voice in what we grow—it helps make this garden feel like their space too.

We also spent some time exploring our native plant area and noticed some things that have us concerned that people may be entering the garden outside of school hours.

❤️ A quick community reminder: Please do not enter the school garden outside of school hours. If there are designated times when the garden is open for families or community activities, please make sure children are supervised and that plants, projects, tools, and garden spaces are treated with care. So much work from our students, teachers, families, and volunteers goes into making this a special place for kids to learn and explore.

I’m excited to see what projects Mrs. Lapore’s class tackles on their next visit! 🌱🐝🌻

09/18/2026

🌻 More garden adventures today! 🌱

We had two more classes spend time learning, exploring, and getting their hands dirty in the garden today!

🌱 Ms. Rakiecki’s 5th Grade
Ms. Rakiecki’s class has become a group of garden regulars! Today they planted violas throughout our garden plots to add some beautiful pops of color. 🌸 They also worked incredibly hard breaking down our compost pile and helping all that plant material along in the decomposition process. 💪♻️

Of course, there was plenty of exploring too! Students discovered spiders, investigated what was growing, and some even found a few strawberries ready for a garden-fresh snack. 🍓🕷️

🌱 Mrs. Page’s 3rd Grade
Mrs. Page’s class started with our garden rules and a tour, but while walking through the tunnel, some students began asking about our towering sunflowers—and their curiosity turned into the perfect spontaneous lesson! 🌻

What made it even more special was that many of these students helped plant these very sunflowers with their buddy class last year! Now they were able to see another stage of what they helped grow.

I cut down one of our large, drooping sunflower heads and passed it around so everyone could feel how heavy it was and see what the seeds look like before they are fully developed. We then compared it to a smaller, more mature sunflower head where the seeds had turned black and were much easier to remove.

Each child got to hold a sunflower seed in their hand and see exactly where it came from on the flower. From planting the sunflowers last year to holding the seeds they produced this year—it was such a neat full-circle moment! 🌻💚

These are some of my favorite garden lessons—the ones that aren't planned, but happen because a child notices something, gets curious, and asks a question. The garden truly is a living classroom! 🌱🐝🌻

09/18/2026

🌱 Three classes, lots of helping hands, and another productive day in the garden! 🌻

On Tuesday we welcomed Mr. Michaels’ 4th grade, Mrs. Havens’ 4th grade, and Mrs. Wharff’s 5th grade classes out to get some real garden work done!

Mr. Michaels’ class divided into three teams: soil movers, composters, and planters. Our soil crew moved fresh soil to the front garden entrance, while the compost team tackled our ever-growing pile of plant debris—learning that even the things we pull out of the garden can eventually become something valuable to put back into it. ♻️🌱

Mrs. Havens’ class came ready to explore and was especially on the lookout for native plants. Along the way, we found our rosemary and connected it to something they had recently learned—rosemary was historically used in preparations for cleaning teeth! We also stopped at the compost pile to talk about decomposition and what happens to plant material as it breaks down.

Finally, Mrs. Wharff’s 5th graders returned for their second garden visit this month! They moved the last of our soil into the plot, planted lettuce and violas, and continued the work on our compost pile to help all that plant material break down. 🥬🌸

I love watching the garden become an extension of the classroom. The kids aren’t just learning about soil, plants, decomposition, and ecosystems—they’re getting their hands dirty and helping care for a space that belongs to their whole school community. 💚🌻

09/14/2026

Today we welcomed two classes out to the garden: Mrs. Fossati’s 2nd graders and Mrs. Yamanaka’s 1st graders!

Mrs. Fossati’s class started by learning our garden rules and then headed out to explore. This group was VERY eager to get their hands in the dirt! 😂 We had a little extra time, so they grabbed some shovels, practiced their gardening skills, and helped remove weeds from our walkway. I love seeing kids so excited to work! 💪🌱

Mrs. Yamanaka’s class got a surprise garden visit today! After learning our rules, we explored together and noticed some of the changes happening as we move toward fall. We talked about how so much of what they see growing in the garden was actually planted by students just like them—and, of course, we had to count the pumpkins! 🎃

But the highlight was an unexpected visit from our little frog friend! 🐸 The kids circled around and became perfectly still “statues” so we wouldn’t scare him. Everyone patiently took a turn getting a closer look before letting our garden friend continue on his way.

Digging, discovering, practicing patience, caring for wildlife, and seeing firsthand what other students have grown—this is exactly what our school garden is all about. 💚🌻

09/14/2026

Yesterday we had a successful garden work party! 🌻🌱

A little rain certainly didn’t stop this crew! Our families came prepared with rain gear, rolled up their sleeves, and dug right in. Together we tackled weeds, moved soil, cleaned up beds, and made some great progress getting our garden ready for fall planting. 💪🌧️

Of course, hard work deserves good fuel! We enjoyed a beautiful spread of healthy breakfast foods along with beef & bean burritos to keep everyone going. 🌯🍎

I’m so thankful for the families who gave up part of their weekend to care for this space. There’s something pretty special about kids and adults working side-by-side, sharing a meal, and making our school garden better together. ❤️🌻

Thank you to everyone who showed up and dug in—rain and all!

09/11/2026

🌻 Another beautiful day of learning in the garden! 🌱🍅🎃

Yesterday we welcomed three classes out to explore the garden:
🌿 Sy — 2nd Grade
🌿 Mann — 2nd Grade
🌿 McConnell — 3rd Grade

One of my favorite moments was hearing just how many of our students are already growing some type of food at home with their families! ❤️ We talked about how special it is to grow your own food—from the incredible taste and nutrition of picking a fruit or vegetable at just the right moment to knowing exactly what has (and hasn’t!) been used while growing it.

As we explored, we looked for signs of the garden transitioning from summer into fall. 🍂 The clear favorites were the towering sunflowers 🌻, pumpkins 🎃, and our garden arch that everyone got to walk through!

Of course, a garden visit is even better when we get to taste something. 😋 We sampled fresh cherry tomatoes and talked about how tomatoes come in so many different varieties, colors, shapes and flavors.

I love watching the kids slow down, look closely, ask questions and get excited about where their food comes from. Every visit gives them another opportunity to see that a garden is constantly changing—and there is always something new to discover. 🌱💚

Grow it. Taste it. Learn from it. Share it. 🌻🍅🌿