Montclair Native Garden Grand Re-Opening

Last spring COMPOST was lucky enough to receive a grant from the California Department of Education to revive our existing California Native Garden! We quickly got to work: researching, re-designing and then re-planting the area across from our friendship garden.

And now- low and behold! We have a beautiful new green space with a plethora of flowers and plants (and hummingbirds!) growing nicely.

Now that the plants have had a chance to grow and settle into their new surroundings, we wanted to let the children in! So on Friday, December 5^th, we had an official opening in which each classroom had a 15minute guided tour. The day was a great success- it was wonderful to be able to walk small groups of children through our new space. The children learned about the different plants that are growing and about how they were used by native Americans. They were also taught that this new garden is a place for quiet play and careful feet- so that it can continue to grow and flourish and be shared by all.

The success of the day was largely due to the wonderful teachers at the UC Botanical garden who volunteered to help us with the classroom tours, as well as the wonderful parents who spent the day helping with introductions and explanations.

Now that this new space is open, please take some time to come check it out! Stroll on our lovely new boardwalk, check out the beautiful plants that are flourishing throughout the space, and ask your kids what they remember from their tour. There are maps available if you are interested in knowing what is planted where- just send me a message.
THANKS to all of our kind helpers for their support! The garden is a visible testament to what a community of people can do when they each take time out to work together. May it continue to grow and be a shared treasure for our school. A special thanks to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, Ploughshares Nursery, & our impromptu COMPOST committee: Eric Veldhuizen, Lara Jealous & Cathy Sharp - without all of their generosity the garden would still be bear.