The Learning Garden

The Learning Garden wants to build a garden at every school, church, empty lot, public library, traffic median and every home in Los Angeles. Over the ten years as one of the most vibrant school and community gardens in Los Angeles, The Learning Garden has learned that a garden is not just a place that grows wonderful organic fresh food which brings people to good health. It is not just a place that grows medicinal herbs which not only cure illness but teach health care practitioners how and why each plant creates health in people. It is not just a place where school children are exposed to nature, the knowledge of how to grow their own food, and learn about careers in nutrition, horticulture, science, art and ecology. It is not just a place where people learn to grow their own cotton and flax, dye plants and the traditional art techniques to create both utile and artistic materials. It is not just a place to save seeds from heirloom foods that are becoming extinct, helping to save our biodiversity. It is not just a place that beautifies a neighborhood, adds oxygen to our air and reduces waste. A garden is also a place that brings people together and even more profound – connects them to the earth. It’s a place to celebrate each other – to share both knowledge and food --- a place of “common ground” for young and old, rich and poor, men and women – a place that enriches the quality of life on every level. While we chose the Indicator of Environmental quality, this project also impacts education, arts and cultural vitality, health, and social connectedness. The mission of The Learning Garden is to bring back that connectedness to nature, and teach people the importance of plants in our lives. By creating an outdoor learning center in an underutilized area of Venice High School, The Learning Garden offers hands-on education in horticulture, permaculture, herbology, botany, nutrition, art, photography, and environmental science to students and community. It not only beautifies the community, but offers a place of peace and serenity in an often turbulent “concreted” world. In the ten years of existence, The Learning Garden has been instrumental in starting gardens in many other LAUSD schools by offering teacher training, workshops, starter plants, mulch and wood chips and volunteers. Seeing amazing results, not only in the creation of gardens, but in the creation of supportive communities within our city, we now want more gardens in our city. Gardens, Gardens Everywhere is a project to make that happen. With the funding we would receive from Good, we will facilitate the installation of a minimum of 10 gardens in interested communities throughout the city. We will train project leaders to assist communities to build what THEY need in their community, offering classes, supplies, seeds, mulch, plants and helping them find their community volunteers and local businesses. We will ask that groups fill out a questionnaire, commit to the project and to training and get a minimum of 20 people involved. We will offer free monthly classes to inspire the participants what needs to be done each month. We will supply tools for big work days and give each group funds for tools of their own. We will supply mulch, compost, seedlings, seeds, trees, and workday food and water. We will offer lifetime memberships to the Seed Library of Los Angeles so they will have access to non-GMO open pollinated seeds for their gardens. A project manager, together with the board of The Learning Garden, will design the application process, and criteria on which projects are chosen. The project manager will also design the protocols of the lending tool library and all forms, and be responsible for the inventory. A “propagation crew” will be hired to start seeds, transplant, propagate cuttings, graft trees, to create a huge resource of plant materials for the new gardens. Any participant will be able to “intern” with the propagation crew to learn how to do this for their own garden. A monthly class will be offered for all participants, and will be taught what to do in the garden that month, with hands on learning, and opportunity to have their specific questions answered by a highly respected horticulturist. Each project will have its own project leader who will guide them in the design, implementation and sustainability of the garden. We will also work with Good Karma Gardens, a pay-it-forward operation that starts gardens in individual’s homes, whether in their yard, on their patio or roof. The recipient of their labor would be expected to help install someone else’s garden in the near future. Again, all individuals will be offered free monthly classes, and membership to the Seed Library of Los Angeles. Good Karma Gardens will have access to the Lending Tool Library, seed, mulch, chips and plants, and a working fund for water and refreshments for work days.