Smiling Roots

Smiling Roots Handcrafted Art, Garden Design & Education and Horticultural Therapy Programming

Highlights from middle school garden classes last week at Ocala STEAM Academy in Alum Rock Union Elementary School Distr...
09/05/2026

Highlights from middle school garden classes last week at Ocala STEAM Academy in Alum Rock Union Elementary School District :

🌻 Students and paraprofessionals worked together to remove sunflower plants from raised garden beds, harvest seed heads for drying, and create fresh cut flower arrangements for their school

🌵 Students and paraprofessionals worked together to amend soil and plant succulents

🌱 Students and paraprofessionals worked together to sow fall season seeds, fill empty raised beds with soil, and plant seedlings

🔨 Students worked together to refresh soil in raised garden beds in preparation for planting seedlings

🍅 Students harvested tomatoes and basil

👀 Curious classrooms took garden tours to familiarize themselves with their shared outdoor classroom and plan for upcoming classes

🪴 Container gardens with edible plants were delivered to enthusiastic classrooms

🍽 Students learned that their nutrition department wants to know what they want to eat from their garden in the cafeteria and placed multiple requests: grapes, kiwi, mango, strawberries, lychee, green apples, blackberries, raspberries, dragonfruit, passionfruit, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, french fries, chorizo tacos, coconut, hamburger fixings, pizza, sweet peppers, spicy peppers.

Today's garden harvest was all about the peppers.
08/22/2026

Today's garden harvest was all about the peppers.

08/21/2026

Garden classes at Ocala STEAM Academy this week were a good time. Middle school students:

🌱 explored their garden
🌱planted vegetables, fruit and flowers
🌱harvested corn, kale, zucchini, tomatoes, butternut squash, delicata squash, basil and sunflowers
🌱observed ladybugs eating aphids, learned what ladybug eggs look like, and saw freshly hatched ladybug nymphs
🌱observed native California bees as well as honeybees

At lunch, over one hundred students visited their garden to get fresh cut sunflowers to share with friends and family. Today was a good day.

08/19/2026

Strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and pumpkins packed up for a middle school garden class tomorrow!

Another fun nature & garden workshop with the kiddos at San Martin-Gwinn! We explored the flavor and texture of fresh s...
07/16/2026

Another fun nature & garden workshop with the kiddos at San Martin-Gwinn!

We explored the flavor and texture of fresh strawberries and for the adventurous there was strawberry powder available for sprinkling (or heaping). We talked about the health benefits of strawberries and overall the addition of strawberry powder was a hit! When the powder mixed with the juice of the berries, it became its own flavorful, natural syrup.

We also created aromatherapy bags with fresh cut African Blue basil for kiddos to smell whenever possible- not just when they feel stressed, anxious or in need of invigorating stimuli. Some kids said they would keep the bag in their room- yay!

Next up kiddos got their own bag of assorted polished rocks and crystals and had fun comparing their specimens to the specimens on our fossil & rocks display board.

Lastly, kiddos decorated compostable paper cups before filling them with soil and watermelon seeds.

Thank you for another fun nature workshop with these wonderful kiddos! Some of the activities kids had to choose from:-...
06/16/2026

Thank you for another fun nature workshop with these wonderful kiddos! Some of the activities kids had to choose from:

- decorate compostable cups and wooden plant labels, plant marigolds in them to take home

- create a nature journal using stickers and pressed plants, choose a real bird feather for a bookmark to take home

- use eye safety goggles and a hammer to smash open geodes to take home

- explore a worm bin and try to match live specimens and eggs to resin models

- explore a rock, mineral and fossil station, try to identify polished rocks

- explore insect and bird wildlife guides

- create a dance routine using sensory slug rattle toys.

Kindergarten through 5th grade students at Russo McEntee Academy enjoyed free time in one of their school gardens this l...
06/06/2026

Kindergarten through 5th grade students at Russo McEntee Academy enjoyed free time in one of their school gardens this last week of school. They were busy:

🐛 using for North American butterflies and caterpillars to identify Monarch and Swallowtail butterflies & Swallowtail caterpillars on parsley

🫐 Harvesting blueberries

🪴 Planting succulents in take home containers

🌊 Watering plants

05/17/2026

Happy moments for kiddos this week brought to us by access to nature.

Preschoolers in have been planting seasonal seeds and seedlings, harvesting carrots and tree collards, spreading compost and worm castings, and making art for their outdoor learning space.

In TK-5TH grade students at Russo McEntee Academy have been VERY busy: planting seasonal seeds and seedlings, creating aromatic bouquets, spreading compost and worm castings, watering plants, taste testing sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and working on a wildlife pond build. There was even a field trip to Hidden Villa!

Also in administration, teachers, staff and volunteers cane together to plant out 8 raised garden beds in the beautiful new outdoor learning space and community garden at Ocala Middle School STEAM! We planted tomatoes, cucumber, summer squash, winter squash, bush beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, chives, basil, cilantro, sunflowers, alyssum, California native wildflowers, salvia and rosemary.

Incredible how many moments of peace, joy, exploration, surpise, learning, practice and play can happen in one week when children are able to freely connect with nature .

New artwork for my wall courtesy of the sweet and outgoing preschool kiddos in my garden classes at Educare Santee. I lo...
05/08/2026

New artwork for my wall courtesy of the sweet and outgoing preschool kiddos in my garden classes at Educare Santee. I love it!

Morning harvest from a small container garden I have at home.
05/02/2026

Morning harvest from a small container garden I have at home.

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San Jose, CA

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Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

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