Pacific Elementary Life Lab - School Garden Program
"You're at a special place. With FoodLab, Pacific's Life Lab, the school orchard, kitchen herb garden, flower cutting garden, and native landscape you are at one of best school sites in the nation for school meal and garden programming. I can say this with certainty cause I have worked in this field for over 20 years and I have seen thousands of school gardens across the world and trained tens of thousands of school garden and school food educators."
- Former Parent and Life Lab Garden Instructor, John Fisher
- Former Parent and Life Lab Garden Instructor, John Fisher
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Life Lab Garden Summary
Pacific School has been a leader in school gardening and nutrition programs since our Life Lab garden program was founded in the fall of 1983. The coordinated Life Lab (school garden) and FoodLab (school lunch) programs have received numerous rewards and national and international attention. Together, the two programs teach students of all ages nutrition, gardening, life science, healthy eating, and cooking skills. Below, read more about the Life Lab program. Or click here to learn more about our FoodLab/school lunch program. Support Please support our garden program by making a donation to Pacific School Parents Club, or send a check payable to PSF to: PSF Parents Club, PO BOX 358, Davenport CA, 95017. Be sure to note Life Lab on the check. 
Garden Updates
Pacific School Received a Donation of $25,000 from the Ronald Wayne Bengston Revocable Trust
Ron was devoted to the Davenport community and although he had no children of his own, he was a raving fan of everyone else’s kids, and he had a special place in his heart for Pacific Elementary. Ron was an avid gardener whose yard and greenhouse in New Town were constantly full of flowers and birds. Additionally, he was a fine craftsman who was always ready to take on a new project. Using these funds for garden upgrades will be a perfect and fitting use of Ron’s bequest. His sister is confident that he would heartily approve of the construction of an ADA ramp, a redesigned entrance, upgrades to the greenhouse and shed, and the support of the continuing needs of the garden beds. History of Accomplishments
Garden Program OverviewProject Life Lab is Pacific School's gardening program, where the children learn nutrition and natural science in an integrated curriculum with gardening activities. The full cycle of composting, planting, and harvesting - and then cooking their harvest in the food lab - helps the students to understand where their food comes from and how it nourishes their bodies. By becoming deeply involved in the growing and cooking of their own food, the children learn to be more invested in what they eat. Our garden is a wonderful and functional workspace that is supported by the Pacific Elementary community! With fifteen raised beds as well as fully-renovated sheds and teaching facilities, students get to learn about water cycles, how plants grow, and how soil gets built in an environment that supports learning to its fullest. A bounty of fresh soil and plenty of space mean the harvests will be bigger, so the children will have a better chance of tasting their own efforts at lunchtime. Thanks to so much community and parent support, our Life Lab program is flourishing. Pacific School began Project Life Lab in 1983, and was endorsed by the National Science Foundation. Beginning in September 1984, Project Life Lab took on a new importance as children now plan and plant in cycles, according to the needs determined by our Food Lab program. In the summer of 2010, the Parent's Club donated the money to have the Life Lab garden completely upgraded, and these funds, along with much hard work by dedicated volunteers, have worked their magic. Welcome! Who: Preschool through 4th grade students receive approximately 1-hour classes every week, except in the off season, mid-December through mid-February. Classes are taught by our gardening expert Kris Kifer. Additional instruction is provided by classroom teachers and/or parent volunteers. We are one of a few school programs in the nation that has year-round weekly gardening classes for our students. What:
How:
Grants and Awards The Life Lab garden program at Pacific School has won numerous grants and awards, totaling multiple thousands of dollars for the purchase of plants, tools, irrigation systems, facilities improvements, native landscaping, etc. In March 2022, The California Fertilizer Foundation awarded us a grant to refurbish several of our aging garden beds and to support the monitoring and maintaining of soil fertility. A special thank you to the sixth grade class for writing letters of support to include in the grant application! Also in March of 2022, KidsGardening.org awarded us the GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant. This is two grants in one! We received the general grant to fund infrastructure projects in our garden. The second grant, the Pride Specialty Award, was awarded to only five schools in the country and is to create an after-school Rainbow Garden Club for LGBTQ+ and gender expansive youth, advocates, and allies. Participants in the garden club will work together to create a Diversity Garden to celebrate the importance of diversity in our garden and community! In 2018, Pacific School's Life Lab Program received $1,500 from the California Fertilizer Foundation for various supplies, and $4,000 from NOAA's Ocean Guardian Schools program for native plants, orchard trees, supplies, and consulting time to help students continue to expand the native garden. Pacific School was excited to receive an additional $4,000 for a continuation of the Ocean Guardian Schools program in 2019-20. In 2016, Pacific School was one of six districts in the state to be awarded the top prize of the California Farm to School Network's Golden Seed Award for demonstrating staying power in gardening, local food procurement, and nutrition education. Other awards to the Life Lab program can be viewed here. Visit Pacific School's Life Lab Google Site To view photos, lessons, announcement archives, and more. Site Archive Photos Lawn Irrigation Installation 2016 Green House Irrigation 2016 |
Life Lab instructor Kris Kifer
Archives and MoreVisit our google site to find:
Weather StationsIn the play-yard and in our school garden we have a weather station based on a design from Life Lab. Find more information, links to spare parts, and download a data log and cloud key at www.lifelab.org/weather-station
Learn to use the weather station in the video below. Orchard Care
Our Orchard was planted in 2017. The Jonagold, Hudson Golden Gem, and Kumquat were added in 2019. View Tree Map & Harvest Schedule.
The best way to care for our orchard is to find a community member who knows about growing fruit trees in our coastal area and ask them for their help. Here are good resources to refer to: CommonVision School Orchard Care Resources UCSC Farm & Garden Orchard Resources Orchard Keepers Care Sheets Orchard Blog Posts November 2016 - Getting Started March 2017 - Planting Day September 2018 - Summary Video Irrigation Our irrigation is controlled by the Rainbird Controller on the south-west side of the Multipurpose Room. Valve 6 controls the orchard and area above the retaining wall. There is a valve that can turn off the retaining wall if needed. In rainy winters turn off irrigation during the winter. Refer to the irrigation notes at Orchard Keepers to estimate watering rates. Each tree has a drip line that emits ~ 10 gallons per hour. Irrigation repair and replacement parts may be in our garden shed or they can be ordered from Dripworks.com. A local garden company may also carry parts. See components of our irrigation system from Dripworks.com Orchard Signs
Find our orchard and native signs in this folder.
PhotosFind many more photos on our Google Site
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This beautiful handmade railing was created by a Pacific School aluma as a Girl Scouts Silver Award project.