Results tagged “communitygarden”

North Hollywood: What do you do when the city owns a vacant lot that's being used by people as an unofficial trash landfill? Clear it out and make it into a park. On Monday, Councilwoman and Controller-Elect Wendy Greuel and others will make the first ceremonial dig on the Bellaire Pocket Park Project, located at the corner of Bellaire Ave and Strathern St.

If you're an area resident and ready to dig in and get your hands dirty (and grow yourself some tomatoes and the like), there's a morning-long (9 a.m. to noon) work day happening today for the Fountain Community Garden at 5260 Fountain Avenue. The garden is the fruit of the neighborhood's labor; they have been working together to transform this empty lot at the southwest corner of Fountain and Mansfield Avenue into a beautiful community garden. Activities today include tree plants, weeding, laying mulch between the garden beds, and meeting new neighbors. The steering committee has finalized an 'application of interest' form for those interesting in securing a plot. Email Edith Darling if you're interested.

Waiting lists for popular community gardens can be years long, but many have grown weary of waiting. As 21st Century "Victory Gardens" have come into vogue in our yards, in our neighborhoods, at our schools, at our state capitol, and on the White House lawn, many would-be green thumbs want to get their hands dirty and their veggies and flowers growing.

During World War II they were called "Victory Gardens"--home-tended sections of land yielding money-saving produce for folks without much money to spare. While "Victory Gardens" might call to mind PBS programming an older relative might enjoy, the impulse to plant and grown has taken root once again nationwide. Now we call them "Recession Gardens" but by any other name the rose--or tomato plant--will still smell as sweet:

Industry surveys show double-digit growth in the number of home gardeners this year, and mail-order companies report such a tremendous demand that some have run out of seeds for basic vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and peppers. (Daily News)

Gardening at home, or in a community plot, has a very clear bottom line: "The National Gardening Association estimates that a well-maintained vegetable garden yields a $500 average return per year. A study by Burpee Seeds claims that $50 spent on gardening supplies can multiply into $1,250 worth of produce annually."

Not everyone has a yard, so for many, joining a community garden can be a solution; local ones are experiencing a surge in popularity. Many Angelenos believe now is the time to set up more such resources, like in West Hollywood, where vacant lots seem to cry out with potential. Although for many would-be gardeners, cultivating a green thumb might require a little extra learning (especially if it's an old dog/new tricks scenario), many school-aged kids in LA are fortunate enough to be able to participate in educational gardening programs; with the state of our economy we could all benefit from their savvy so long as our economy lets us fund the programs.

Echo Park resident Erik Knutzen of the blog Homegrown Evolution was featured last night on ABC7's news broadcast. Knutzen and his wife Kelly Coyne recently authored "The Urban Homestead" that talks about urban gardening/farming and includes a chapter on sustainable transportation (Damien Newton talked Knutzen up in two separate interviews).