Gardens!  



Summer Farm Camp has drawn to a close. 
Enrollment for Summer 2024 opens on Friday March 1st!



Located on 3 beautiful wooded acres in Soquel, our play based, emergent program offers free access to painting, playdough, bubbles, fairy gardens, tree fort, swings, slide, trampoline, dress up, play kitchen, plus our covered outdoor art studio, gentle farm animals, and so much more!  Our indoor play room provides plenty of books, toys, games, puzzles, Legos, arts & crafts.  A good-sized country kitchen offers a space for baking and other cooking projects.

In addition, through observing wild life and participating in fun farm "chores" like milking goats, observing egg collection, gardening, and helping to feed the chickens, ducks, pony, and pigs children learn about and take joy in our natural world. 

Story time and hands-on craft and science projects develop creativity, self-confidence, social skills, and a deepening knowledge of science and nature.

A cozy home environment and nurturing staff completes a magical childhood wonderland that children and parents love.  Grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade.  Children must be at least 5 years old to participate.  Our programs include:

 

Summer Farm Camp

 During our Summer Farm Camp sessions we plan special projects each day such as baking our own muffins, learning to tie-dye, or creating a personal fairy garden to take home.   Each week features a new theme, such as Medieval Make Believe, Fairy Tales, Dinosaur Daze, or Sharks & Ocean Week.  Each of these exciting theme units incluces arts & crafts, hands on science and/or engineering, theme related stories and games, and snacks and cooking projects.
Learn what's  going on each week here at the farm this summer!

 

After School Program 

Contact us about joining the wait list for After School Care for kindergarten  and older TK students.

Little Garden Patch offers an extraordinary after school program  during the school year with pick up and transport to LGPF available for both Main Street and Soquel Elementary school students.

Learn more about Little Garden Patch Farm's After School Care  program,

 

Spring Break Care 2024

Little Garden Patch will open enrollment for Spring Break 2024 on February 1st 2024.

 

Home Schoolers On the Farm

Little Garden Patch is pleased to offer our program to home schooling families as well.  Currently homeschoolers aged 5 - 8 years may attend during our regular after school business hours.  Please contact us to find out what our schedule will be for Fall 2024. 

Does not include the week of Spring Break, 4/1-4/5 2024. Seperate enrollment required for Spring Break.

Learn more about Home Schoolers on the Farm.

 

 

     



 

 
     
 

Pet chickens! Hands on science!
 

Learn More...

 

About Little Garden Patch Farm

We are more than a licensed care facility, we are a second home and a place where your child can experience the natural world right in our backyard.    Read more about what makes Little Garden Patch so different from other programs.  Read About Us


Meet Lilly, one of our pot bellied pigs!
 She just LOVES to get belly rubs!
 



About Our Staff

Learn more about the staff and volunteers at Little Garden Patch Farm and the steps we take to keep children safe in our care.


Visit Us On Facebook

To see recent pics and happenings here at Little Garden Patch Farm visit our Facebook page. 




Contact Us

For more information about any of our programs, or about volunteer and employment opportunities, please drop us some email.


Read Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

 



See More Photos

See additional scenes from around the farm. 

 


Check out our mention in Growing Up in Santa Cruz !

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!” 



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