McClellan Ranch Garden

Our focus is demonstrating and teaching best gardening practices for growing edible vegetables, greens, and herbs enjoyed in the food of the many Asian cultures represented in Santa Clara County and Cupertino.

Address: McClellan Ranch Preserve, 22221 McClellan Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014 (View map)

Directions: Our garden area has five large raised beds located on the northeast section of the Community Garden.

Visiting hours: The demonstration garden is open to the public when Master Gardeners are on site. Workdays are Monday and Saturday from 9:00 am until noon.

The Community Garden is open to the public when Community Gardeners are on site and the gate is unlocked.

View signage displayed in demo gardens

On August 19, 2021, the Cupertino Community Garden at McClellan Ranch Preserve opened. The UC Master Gardener Project at McClellan Ranch Preserve goes back to 1989 and our newly constructed demonstration area has five large raised beds located on the northeast section of the garden.

Our focus is demonstrating the best gardening practices for growing edible vegetables, greens, and herbs enjoyed in the food of the many Asian cultures represented in Santa Clara County and Cupertino. In particular, we grow a variety of uniquely Asian vegetables including bitter and winter melon, lemongrass, yulong beans, edamame as well as many leafy greens and herbs like cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon. What we grow is based on the mild California climate so we typically have warm-season and cool-season crops. As part of greater Santa Clara County, we have trialed tomatoes, peppers, chili peppers, summer squash, eggplant, sweet potatoes, beans, and corn to see what varieties do best. And we grow ornamentals such as sunflowers, chrysanthemums, and zinnias to attract beneficial insects as part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

The sustainable gardening practices we demonstrate are:

• Barriers for crop protection from gophers, ground squirrels, tree squirrels, birds, and insect pests
• Drought gardening, including shorter season crops, applying mulch, using compost, and weed removal
• Water conservation by using timed drip irrigation
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• Using regenerative gardening practices like cover cropping as a soil amendment
• Planting ornamentals to attract pollinators and to encourage beneficial insects
• Companion planting (Three Sisters Garden). Watch this video for details.
• Being part of a growing community by sharing seeds, donating harvests, and learning from other’s experiences and knowledge

To learn about the best practice of growing and digging in a cover crop, see our how-to video Using a Cover Crop that was filmed at the McClellan Ranch Project before the reopening.