News & Events 2020-2021 School Year
and More!
- 8/11/21
After School
Care returns -- this time for real!
Please see our After Care page for more information.
Limited pick-up and transportation available.
- 6/07/21
Summer Farm Camp
begins! After a year of maintaning a fixed
enrollment group LGPF is again welcoming newcomers!
MWF afternoons from 1pm-5pm. Masks required.
- 3/15/21 Spring
has sprung! Come see what's new at
the farm as we resume our outdoor-only play & learn
program. (LGPF will be closed for Spring Break)
- 12/9/20
Winter Closure.
The cold weather has come and the days are running
shorter. Little Garden Patch is closing for a long
winter's nap.
- 8/10/20
It's Endless Summer
at Little Garden Patch! Join us
MWF afternoons from 1-5 pm for outdoor play and
imagination, stories, games, and arts & crafts.
Masks required. Will continue throughout the Fall.
- 6/15/20
Little Garden Patch Farm reopens for Summer Camp!
Alumni and continuingn clients may join us MWF from 11am
- 3pm for fun in the outdoors at the farm. Limited
enrollment. Masks required.
- 3/16/20 Little
Garden Patch is closed until further notice
in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the county
order to shelter in place.
- 1/06/20 No
School Join us for a winter farm camp
day at Little Garden Patch! Summer farm camp alums
welcome. Priority enrollment for those in our after
school program. Little Garden Patch is
open full day from 8:30 am to 6 pm.
- 12/23/19
Winter
Break Little Garden Patch is
closed for two weeks of winter vacation.
- 11/25/19 Thanksgiving
Holiday Break Little Garden Patch
will be closed Wednesday 11/27 through Sunday 12/01 and
will reopen on Monday 12/02. We MAY be open on
Monday 11/25 and Tuesday 11/26 if we have sufficient
interest from our enrolled families!
- 11/01/19
Teacher In Service Day,
Soquel Unified Elementary schools!
- 10/21/19
Harry
Potter Week Begins! Little Garden Patch is open
early all week for the all grade minimum days at Soquel
Elementary and Main Street Elementary. 3 extra hours of
fun, Monday-Thursday -- regular hours on Friday.
-
10/17/19
Green Family Living:
Connecting Kids with Nature Be
sure to check out the editorial by our director Linnaea
Avenell in Growing Up in Santa Cruz. Includes
information about how and why we do what we do at Little
Garden Patch, as well as tips for sharing the magic at
home.
https://growingupsc.com/green-family-living-october-2019/
10/07/19 Halloween
arrives early at Little Garden Patch for a
whole month of silly spooky fun.
- 9/03/19
Back to school here means
back to the farm! This Tuesday we
kick off a whole month of farm immersion with our County
Fair theme! Parents, don't forget to take the
kiddos out to the
Santa Cruz County Fair this month! The fair
opens Monday September 11th and runs through Sunday
September 15th!
9/02/19 LABOR DAY!
Little Garden Patch is closed
today for the Labor Day holiday.
- 8/27/19
School resumes in Soquel
schools! Little Garden Patch is
currently FULL.
- 8/26/19
No School!
There is no school on Monday August 26th for
Soquel School District. All enrolled
families may contact us to see if there is space
remaining to join us for a fun Farm Camp Day!
- 8/16/19
Farewell Summer Farm
Camp! It all went by so fast!
See you all again next year.

PAST NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
- 4/01/19 New
Chicks! This is no April Fools -- 4 new
chicks have joined the farm! 2 golden Buff
Orpingtons, 1 white Brahma, and a lovely black with
white lacey Wyandotte.
- 3/29/18 New
chicks! Welcome brand new little baby
chickens Marshmallow, Cupcake, Brownie, and Francesca
(aka Franky). As the name might suggest,
Marshmallow will be a white chicken (Delaware).
But right now she's a yellow ball of fluff. Sweet
friendly Franky will be a black and white barred rock.
And Brownie and Cupcake will be black (update:
black with brown).
- 11/24/17
Farewell to Dawson. We are sad to
announce that our dear little black doggy Dawson has
passed on. Words cannot express the void he leaves
behind in all our hearts. Dawson was a long-haired
chihuahua and (we think) Dachshund mix
whose courage, sunny personality, patience, and charm
won him many admirers here at the farm.
Even the UPS carrier -- his professed arch
nemesis -- has expressed his sorrow at the passing of "the
little Alpha", our pack leader. Dawson was a pound
puppy whose real age was not known, but we believe he
was about 12 years old. We know
for sure that he gave our family 10
wonderful years of love, laughter, and courageous
loyalty.
- 6/01/17 Presenting
Cookie and Pearl! Mia the pony now
has two new friends, miniature ponies Cookie and Pearl.
- 5/12/17 Welcome
ducklings. Jellya Duck hatched out
her babies!
- 7/31/16
Farewell Friend On this day we lost
our wonderful male goat Elliot to kidney and digestive
tract problems. He was a loving gentle giant with
tons of personality and will be deeply missed.
Learn more.
-
10/26/15 A new friend has arrived
at the farm. It's Mia the pony.
Mia is an American Shetland, a breed supremely well
suited to pull a cart or carriage.
-
12/2914
Meet our newest friend, Lilly the baby minature pot
bellied pig.
-
1/25/14
Daphne's Baby Goats have arrived! FINALLY!
The adorable baby girls, Oreo & Penelope, were born
January 25/26th in the wee hours. It was a long
night, but well worth it! These sweet babies love
to play and love to cuddle with children. In fact,
they might not let you leave. "Waaaaait!
Come baaaack!"
Here is a highlight from the
article:
Local mom Linnaea Avenell and her family recently made a move that affects not only her own family’s connection with the land but also extends that connection to local children.
“For many years my husband and I have been very much committed to the idea that connecting kids with nature would help them become more caring stewards of our Earth and of the other creatures that share it,” Linnaea explains. “Our most recent project in this vein is transforming our home/property here in Soquel into ‘Little Garden Patch Farm.’ Our goal has been to provide a space where children who might otherwise be stuck indoors all afternoon can enjoy child-led time playing outdoors the way so many kids no longer do.”
Rather than sell the property in Soquel where she grew up and where her children and their friends got to roam, Linnaea’s family decided to move in and make it their business. Little Garden Patch Farm now welcomes children five and up for gardening and nature time.
“I love watching a child arrive here after school—tired, batteries running on empty—get thoroughly recharged from running about outside playing games of make believe, playing ‘farm’ with the toys in the sensory tables, shucking corn husks from the garden to feed the goats, laughing at the chickens, exuberantly chasing a ball, and giggling along at story time,” Linnaea says. “It makes all the farm chores and maintenance I do around here feel totally worthwhile!”

Come join us for fun, learning,
and reconnecting with nature!
We offer a small family child care
facilty set on an urban microfarm and homestead with ducks,
chickens, goats and more.
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