The garden is buzzing with life and connection between the grades – it’s beautiful to witness.
Our first graders have been wild-foraging sour grass, miner’s lettuce, chickweed, and cleavers. They made green juice with miner’s lettuce, apple juice, and fresh Meyer lemons – proudly tasting what they gathered themselves.They carefully recorded their plant studies and organized their findings in their garden boxes, filled with treasures from classes past.
Second graders propagated geraniums and salvias for the hillside, planted sunflowers, garlic, and potatoes, and made clover tea plus magical, color-changing purple lemonade with our Meyer lemons. They practiced stick-gazing (quiet observation), and spent time journaling and feeding compost to their food forest trees.
Third grade is hard at work on the hillside food forest – picking snapdragons (and listening to them “sing”), harvesting calendula for future lip balm, and building a lasagna compost pathway for a living fence (a skill they learned in 2nd grade!). They planted over 100 beauties: Icelandic poppies, tricolor sage, mums, and more snapdragons. Fifth grade will continue the fence, and 4th grade will help plant it – the grades are all linked.
Eighth grade is the steady support crew – harvesting lemons, processing lemon balm for tea, diving deep into nettle, making burn bundles, and building a new raised bed right where 3rd grade needed it. Botanical face wash is next on their list!
More collaboration with high school, a five-week intensive with 4th & 5th graders (compost & soil magic + live fence planting), and lots more planting now that the temporary enclosure is up (hardware cloth in place for safety!).
Dreams of a seed library are growing.
Volunteer spots open soon: silent mulching & chat, and weeding sessions – come join us!
With dirty hands and full hearts,
The School Garden Team
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Ollie2026-03-10 18:32:392026-03-11 16:10:56OGS 50th Featured in Ojai Magazine Article
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Ollie2026-03-06 05:24:252026-03-06 05:25:5250th Anniversary Weekend RSVP
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Ollie2026-02-27 14:49:112026-03-06 05:33:07India Night 2026
Registration is open for our 2026 Summer Camps. Check out the exciting variety of offerings for ages 3-18! ☀️🎉 (linktree in bio)
oakgroveschool.org/programs/SUMMER
#ojaisummercamp #oakgroveschoolojai #prekthru12 #fun #learning #creativity #friends
Thanks to Vitalant all who were able to come out Saturday and give blood in honor of Ruby Doss `15 and her one-year anniversary of needing five blood transfusions to save her life during childbirth. What a way to give back @rubydossequine !
Find a blood drive near you @vitalantca
#everydropcounts #blooddrives #gratitude #oakgrovealumni
Last weekend, a group of our high school and 8th grade students backpacked up Horn Canyon to The Pines campground on Friday evening and spent time continuing to restore the campground—pulling weeds, cutting back brush, leveling tent areas, and helping with general camp maintenance.
On Saturday afternoon, a group hiked up to the ridge and towards Chief’s Peak, enjoying incredible views of the Ojai Valley, and all the way out to the Channel Islands.
We headed back to town on Sunday morning with tired bodies, but energized souls.
It was a rewarding experience, a great adventure, and a lot of fun. We’re grateful for the students’ hard work and adventurous spirit, and we look forward to more opportunities for trips like this in the future.
Thanks to everyone who participated and supported!
#communityservice #backpacking #lospadresnationalforest #friendship #nature #theartoflivingandlearning #oakgroveschoolojai
"More than 50 years ago, in the spring of 1975, Fred Hall, then editor of the Ojai Valley News, asked philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti a simple but pointed question: In a valley already full of public and private schools, why start another one?"
We are so grateful to Ojai Magazine for featuring our 50th Anniversary in this compelling article written by Kerstin Kuhn. Enjoy the full article by picking up your very own copy or enjoy the full article online here by visiting the Lizard Blog (linktree in bio).
@ojaivalleynews @ojaifoodwriter #50yearsofoakgrove #theartoflivingandlearning #jkrishnamurti #education #ojaischools #ojaicalifornia
oakgroveschool.org
Our 2026 Summer Camps include woodworking, preschool camp, arts & crafts, music, film production, and more! Click on the sign up button below each
