All that May Brings

Saturday, May 5 was another great Big Sunday Event.  Thank you to all the families and community members that came from all over the city to join us on that day.

Skyler Lima from Boy Scout Troop #50 just completed his Eagle Scout Project in the garden.  He chose as his project to landscape the outlying land around the newly completed seating area installed previously by Boy Scout Troop #915.  Take a stroll back there and have a seat.  Let this corner help you imagine how the garden will continue to keep growing.  Thank you Skylar and your team!

The LAX Chamber of Commerce recognized the Emerson Avenue Community Garden Club for making their contribution to Orville Wright Middle School in the garden.  With their vision and organization, the student garden is thriving and the community continues to gather and build the community garden.  Dorothy Stone and John Tikotsky accepted the award presented at the Annual Eddy Awards.

Hannah and Joanne Poyourow came and mentored Room 54 6th graders in harvesting various crops, especially artichokes.  Thank you Joanne and Hannah for sharing with us your great knowledge.  

             

Room 54 in the Garden

The garden at Orville Wright is growing strong! The crops in our student garden have been harvested, and with them, a sense of accomplishment has filled the spring air. Ms. Cohen’s lucky classes have been stuffing themselves, testing out recipe after recipe- chock full of veggies- grown exclusively in our school garden. After a few weeks of perfecting, we’ve decided to set them out on the world! 

Whether you prefer carrots to potatoes, or artichokes to onions, we have something for everyone. And it gets even better! No animals were harmed in the making of this meal. All of meals are vegetarian, yet they still cater to the most carnivorous man’s (or woman’s) palate.

Our Community Dinner will happen on April 21st. It will take place from 4:00 until 7:00; we can promise that the food will be delectable, the garden will be in bloom, and you’ll have a blast!

by Kaitlyn Bishay  8th grade

Special Thanks to Adrienne Turner, fabulous parent and garden advocate, who helped mentor students for the Community Dinner and United Healthcare  whose generous grant through YSA made the dinner and cookbooks possible.  Wright from the Garden to the Kitchen, our by students, for students cookbook is on its way!

Room 54 Students reading their cookbooks Wright from the Garden to the Kitchen.

The Mayor's Day of Service "Good Food Day"

The day started out drizzly and ended even wetter, but a brave and dedicated crowd of 130 people came to be a part of Westchester's first community garden with plot membership on a school campus. There was music, food, and great people coming together for a great cause. Take a look at the many things happening in  the garden.

                  

Otis Professor and artist, Tom Walker standing with  one of the
 5 trellises he created from student designs.

The Community Garden is official with the unveiling
of  it's new sign  created and painted by artist Steve O'Loughlin.

UCLA volunteers helping break
 ground on the first community plots.

Americorp Vista volunteers clearing space for our new
"living  laboratory" that will house  a compost study area.

Robert Redecker and crew working on the
 flooring of the outdoor classroom/amphitheatre.

And a big daikon radish harvest!

As the garden grows...

March 3, 2012 was another successful Garden Workday with students, parents and community.  Thanks for everyone coming and joining in!

Jeanine Giesregen teaches us about soil testing.

Look who is building the outdoor classroom!

A Day On and In the Garden to Celebrate Dr. King

 

Students and families and staff of Orville Wright alongside community members came out on MLK Day to work in the garden.  Together we prepared many of the beds in the student garden, mulched and ended the day with a big planting.  Throughout the morning, we collected seeds from plants, painted new signs and  learned a new method of planting using triangulation that maximizes how much we can grow.  Jeanine Geisregan, an OW parent and master gardener, demonstrated how to compost for us. It was a joyful, energetic day.  We posted our favorite quotes from Dr. King on ribbons that we hung on the fence for our community to read.  Our next work day is February 4.

The Garden Keeps Growing Community

The last couple of months have gone by so quickly, so we will have to backtrack and share all the great things that have gone on in the garden.

On Saturday, November 19, the Emerson Avenue Garden Club (the non profit that will be overseeing and managing the community garden) held a yard sale for the garden.  It was a very successful fundraiser on many fronts.  They collected items from community who emptied out their closets and garages and donated them in support of the garden.  We had the Austism class from Westchester High selling their beautifully hand crafted reusable bags.  There was even a delectable bake sale.  Folks stopped by and bought items, learned about the garden, and reconnected with the school.  So many people made this a successful fundraiser and EACGC raised over $700 over the course of the sale.

Also the Boy Scout Troop 915, just finished a beautiful seating area in the southeast corner of the garden.  Joshua Ohnstad made his Eagle Scout project constructing a seating area that was made from urbanite (recycled concrete pieces) and decomposed granite.  They also built a bench that they installed.  A big thank you to John Tikotsky for organizing and supporting the project.

Picture of the completed space coming soon.

The Orville Wright Garden Club with the help of Joanne Poyourow planted  a demonstration garden in front of the main office.  It has a mixture of edible plants, herbs and flowers.

 

And last, but not least, our own Orville Wright parent, Jeanine Geisregen, submitted a grant with her other Sony employees for the garden and we received it!  The grant form Sony's " A Greener World Green Grant Program" is  for $7500 to continue to establish the student garden and build the community garden with an additional 38 plots for neighbors, OW families and community members.

The Spiral Butterfly Garden Planting

The community  came out on Saturday, November 12, despite the dire warnings of rain to plant the native species in the spiral butterfly garden.  A special thanks to community member Karen Shaeffer for organizing the design and palnting and going all the way to the Theodore Payne Foundation to purchase the plants.  A big thank you to the Orville Wright PTO for allocating $250 for the planting.  After Thanksgiving holidays, Karen is coming back to work with students on seeding the area.