Meet Ulli Our New Garden Instructor Ulli grew up in rural Austria surrounded and nourished by her father's organic vegetable garden and fruit orchard, and inspired by her mother's love for flowers. After spending many hours of her childhood helping her parents tend their garden, Ulli decided she needed a break from country life and went on to become a lawyer in an attempt to change some of the injustice that is facing our world today. After many years spent in libraries and court rooms Ulli started to miss the smell of freshly dug dirt and the company of her green friends. At the same time she realized that many of our environmental and social problems today are linked to our unsustainable and unjust corporate food system. Feeling a need to educate young minds about these issues and to teach them how to grow their own food, she worked for four years as a garden and outdoor educator. In 2006, Ulli graduated from the Program in Agro-ecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She went on to manage a small scale organic farm for a season. After the birth of her daughter Simone she decided to take a hiatus from farming and return to school gardening. Ulli is excited about all the possibilities the beautiful garden space at La Honda Elementary (LHE) holds, and with the help of the students, plans to fill the garden with abundance and beauty.

About Our Garden

In the past years, it has been a priority of the La Honda Elementary School teaching staff to create an instructional gardening program for our students. After expansion of the garden area in 2007, the staff, students, and greater La Honda community worked hard to transform the former grassy field into a fertile garden outdoor classroom. Raised beds were constructed, a shed, compost bin and sink area was built, and a sitting circle was added to the garden. With the help of different grants from Recycleworks and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, as well as private donations, a garden instructor was hired to help design the school garden as well as assist the teachers with instruction in our outdoor classroom.

In the past months many new beds were added, fruit trees were planted, an herb spiral was built and many new perennials were added to the garden. Every week the students come to the garden and learn important lessons about the concept and reason behind organic gardening. In addition, many science lessons are being taught through the garden. During their time in the garden the students might plant seeds, look for garden worms, work with our compost, prepare beds for planting or harvest vegetables to eat.

In the near future we plan to add a drought-tolerant bird and butterfly attracting perennial zone to the garden. We also hope to include a cob oven, so we will be able to eat pizzas made from the abundant fall harvest. In order to make our plans reality we need help from you - our garden community. Please come and volunteer in the garden or check our wish list for items you can donate. Community volunteer days are being held in the spring and fall and we hope to see more community members getting involved in the garden.

Our dreams are about to come true. We have recently received a garden grant from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation that has allowed us to expand our garden and turn it into a valuable outdoor teaching space.

Our goal is to use this space to teach math, science, nutrition, physical education and much more. We plan on doing everything possible to teach the students about sustainability and responsibility of our natural resources. A larger garden area allows for sustainable projects such as water catchment and grey water systems, solar power, and composting. The possibilities are endless.