Join our team! Life Lab is hiring!!! Open positions include Development Director, Bilingual Community Liaison, and Garden Instructors. More positions are coming soon!
40 Years of Growth: Growing a Career in Garden Education
Growing a Career in Garden Education Elena Steger, a recent UC Santa Cruz graduate and intern at Life Lab, is on a journey to pursue her calling. In high school, “environmental studies” was the “one class that didn’t feel like work” she [...]
A New Kind of Leadership and Shared Vision for Life Lab
A New Kind of Leadership and Shared Vision for Life Lab Amid the beauty of summer on the farm and the wonderful energy of our camp kids here, there was a different and very special Moment in July that we're excited to share with you. On July 8th, Judit Camacho jo [...]
Watsonville School Garden Crew – Spring 2017
June 7th - Hall District School Flower Planting and Irrigation Installation Today we planted flowers with first graders and continued irrigaiton installation May 31 - Hall District School Irrigation Installation / Popcorn and Dry Bean Planting Today we [...]
Watsonville School Garden Crew – Winter 2017
See what we are up to with our Winter 2017 Watsonville School Garden Crew March 8 - Radcliffe School Garden Clean Up and Redesign Today we repaired some garden beds, moved and filled garden beds to sunnier spots of the garden, and set up an outdoor seating area. [...]
Whitney Cohen on Garden Based Education – An Urban Farm U Podcast
Whitney Cohen on Garden Based Education Examining school garden support organizations to promote natural world learning. Whitney is a teacher, trainer, and author with tremendous commitment to, and expertise in, inquiry- and place-based education; strategies for en [...]
See Our New Blooming Classroom Site
Learn more about our work in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District at www.lifelab.org/pajaro. [...]
The Danes Are Here
We have been having a great time showing visitors from Denmark some of the best farm to school and school garden programs in the region. The Danish study tour group, organized by Life Lab, is composed of eighteen government ministers, university faculty and graduate stu [...]
Spring 2013 Newsletter
View The May 2013 Garden Times - Life Lab's Newsletter Program Updates What We Have Been Up To Since Our Last Newsletter Meet our Senior Program Associate - Amber Turpin and her baby Hazel Update on the California School Garden Training Program California Foo [...]
December 2012 Life Lab Newsletter
You don't want to miss our December 2012 Newsletter. In This Issue Garden Tips and Educator Resources Planting Fruits Trees and Vines in School Gardens Sustaining School Gardens - Funding Garden Coordinators Book Review: Our School Garden! Recipe: H [...]
“Food, What?!” Youth Maya Salsedo is named as Brower Youth Awardee
We are pleased to share that Maya Salsedo, one of our first FoodWhat youth participants from 2007, was chosen from hundreds to receive the 2012 Brower Youth Awardees. Maya was selected for her work empowering youth with tools to advocate for a just food system. S [...]
2011 Program Highlights
It has been another successful season of growth, learning and wonder for Life Lab and the thousands of kids, youth, families, teachers and schools we serve. Hear what our program participants had to say about our work in in our 2011 Highlights flier. 2011 by th [...]
Shared Adventures
Life Lab partnered with Shared Adventures, a local nonprofit which organizes recreation activities for people with special needs, to host an inclusive Farm-to-Fork Field Trip for 14 adults and 2 children from the special needs community. View the photos. Despite mobilit [...]
My 3,436 Mile Journey to Life Lab – Reflections from Intern Callia Wolfe
It is not often that we have graduate level interns, who have classroom experience, and are proficient with a video camera and editing. We lucked out! Callia Wolfe shares a bit about her path to finding us and her experience at the Garden Classroom. Callia writes.... [...]
Meet Our Chickens
The hardest working staff at the Garden Classroom are our hens. Us humans go home at the end of the day and these girls, and one boy, watch over the garden 24/7, 365 days a year. Here is the most recent bio page that we have on display at their coop and the photo alb [...]
Our Vision in Action
When we started planning the Garden Classroom, a bit over ten years ago, we envisioned days like this one. We have many days like this throughout the year, but on May 20th I kept my camera on hand as I worked with a group of community leaders from Mexico and Central Ame [...]
Santa Cruz Weekly ~ “Food, What?!” Strawberry Blast Serves Hundreds of Teens
The Life Lab Garden Classroom and UCSC Farm played host to hundreds of Santa Cruz Teens during the "Food, What?!" Strawberry Blast. The local press was there to cover the event: Santa Cruz Weekly Strawberry Blast An Eye-Opener for Students had this to say: Hosted by [...]
The Eddy ~ “Food, What?!” Wins Eddy Award
The Santa Cruz Education Foundation's Eddy Wellness Award was presented to Food, What on May 3, 2011. The Eddy Awards recognize excellence in education. Congrats to our five year old program that has gone from serving 5 kids in 2007 to 54 students this year! “We beli [...]
Good Times ~ “Food, What?!” Director Honored with a Nextie Award
Santa Cruz NEXT is committed to providing a fun, hip and diverse environment to discuss issues affecting the next generation of our community. They highlight and promote access to and development of economic, social and cultural opportunities, and are a catalyst for con [...]
English Language Development Bears Fruit in School Gardens
Life Lab's Language Acquisition and Science Education in Rural Schools (LASERS) program showed the positive links between language development and hands-on science using the Life Lab Science curriculum. This theme was recently revisited by the National Gardening As [...]
Santa Cruz Sentinel ~ Strawberries are a Blast
"Food,What?!" Strawberry Youth Blast coverage from the Santa Cruz Sentinel -- All things strawberry were the focus at the UCSC Farm and Garden Wednesday, as 300 county high and middle school students joined volunteers from Food, What?! for the 2010 Strawberry Blast. Te [...]
Life Lab’s Oral History
Four key figures in Life Lab's history have been documented as part of UCSC's Cultivating a Movement: An Oral History Series on Sustainable Agriculture and Organic Farming on California's Central Coast. This oral history project conducted by the Regional Oral Hi [...]
“Food, What?!” Youth Program
Eco Company TV created this video on Life Lab's Spring Afterschool Internship. It aired across the nation on over 100 TV stations. Check out more at Eco Company http://www.eco-company.tv/tvshow/episode-102-organic-growing More on "Food,What?!" [...]
30th Anniversary Year In Review
Our 30th year of brining learning to life in a garden was celebrated with many special events. Thanks to all who celebrated with us. Our School Garden Video Contest had 18 entries, see the winner here. Birthday Essay Series: The Garden: A Master Teacher was wri [...]
“Food, What?!” Harvest Fest in the Sentinel
The Santa Cruz Sentinel covered our largest youth Harvest Fest to date. The article "A field trip to chew on: teens run organic food festival"quotes this student participant: Lorraine Medina talks fast and waves her arms when you ask her about organic vegetables. [...]
2009 ~ Life Lab Turns 30
For 30 years Life Lab Science Program has been helping students and educators "Watch learning come to life in a garden". Life Lab has trained tens of thousands of educators in over 40 states. We have directly served over 35,000 students in garden-based science, n [...]
“Food, What?!” Harvest Fest on KSBW News
KSBW TV News was on hand at our 2008 Harvest Fest that served hundreds of Middle and High School Students from Santa Cruz County. Check out their news report and how the reporters were trying to get the right inflection on the words "FOOOOD.....WHHAT!!!??!!!" See fe [...]
“Food, What?!” Strawberry Blast
Taken from the Santa Cruz Sentinel Article "County students dig in at 'Strawberry Blast"": Nearly 100 students from across the county traveled to the UC Santa Cruz Farm and Garden Friday to learn about the social benefits and epicurean delights of fresh, organic and lo [...]
2007 ~ Food, What?! ~ A Youth Empowerment Program
From the early days of the Garden Classroom there were always visions of offering programming for teens. We focus on teaching young adults and children about where there food comes from and how to eat a balanced and nutritional diet. As we do this, we hope to fo [...]
2001 ~ Field to Market to You
New Leaf Community Markets and Life Lab team up to create a new program called Field-To-Market-To-You. For three years this food systems education program visited classrooms and followed up with a field trip to a grocery store. Students learned about local agricultural [...]
2000 ~ The Garden Classroom: Life Lab’s Model Educational Garden
In 2000 construction begins for the latest chapter in Life Lab's history. In collaboration with the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) The Garden Classroom annually serves thousands of pre-schoolers through adults in garden-based learning a [...]
2000 ~ The Monterey Bay Science Project
The National Science Foundation Grant which funded the Language Acquisition in Science Education at Rural Schools comes to and end but LASERS continues to thrive through the Monterey Bay Science Project (MBSP). Life Lab becomes a MBSP host site and receives funding thro [...]
1997 ~ A Garden in Every School
Delaine Eastin the Superintendent of Public Instruction of California Schools declares there should be a garden in every school. Life Lab attends the Garden in Every School Conference. Life Lab writes Getting Started: A Guide for Creating School Gardens which is publ [...]
1995 ~ LASERS
The National Science Foundation funds Life Lab, from 1995-2001 in the Language Acquisition in Science Education at Rural Schools (LASERS) project. Life Lab starts working with 7 school districts to improve science teaching practices for second language learners. UCSC pa [...]
1987 ~ Great Expansion
Going Nationwide and Beyond The United States Department of Education funds Life Lab to disseminate throughout the nation from 1987-1992! The project called the National Diffusion Network sends Life Lab Staff to 38 states Guam and Costa Rica. National Science Founda [...]
1986 ~ Life Lab Video
The following 14 minute video is a great summary of the impact that Life Lab Science Program has on schools. The power of school gardens has not changed much since 1986, but you will notice that hairstyles and clothing do! Are you one of the people in this video? Add a [...]
1984 ~ Statewide Dissemintation
The California Department of Education funds statewide dissemination of garden-based learning to 10 schools. Friends of the Harvest moves to the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and officially changes names to Life Lab Science Program. [...]
1979 ~ Life Lab Becomes a Non-Profit
Originally Life Lab was called Friends of the Harvest, a non-profit formed to support community programming. Around this time Gary Appel, co-founder of Life Lab was hired with Title IV C grant funding. An excerpt from the oral history of Robbie Jaffe: He [Gary] cam [...]
1978 ~ Green Acres School – Life Lab Blossoms
Early days at Green Acres Green Acres in 1978 and 1982 Life Lab project started at Green Acres School in Live Oak, California in 1978. Life Lab teachers transform a vacant lot into a thriving garden. They start developing cur [...]
