SCHOOLS
Get a garden + the Ranger program in your school now. We have built over 100 in Los Angeles. We move rapidly. We take care of the permits. We make it ridiculously affordable. We are frugal. We can take on existing gardens and we know how to fix things.
You want your group volunteer day to actually mean something? You want lasting impact? We are so busy, we can guarantee almost any date you choose. You want to see results.
HUMANS
It is easy to help out. We are in 100 Los Angeles schools weekly and we care for our 100 gardens 332 days per year. If you want to help , we will put you to work. We are growing so rapidly that no matter what you have to offer, we likely need your talents. Engage today. Volunteer tomorrow.
Summer 2018
The EnrichLA City Farm Camp is back for another summer! Learning the valuable, life-long skills of square foot gardening, healthy eating, and community enhancement are the cornerstones of this summer camp opportunity.
SCHOOL GARDENING?
OUR VALUES
Since the students have been studying pollination at Weemes, we took the time this week to learn more about our special pollinator friends, the honeybees. We talked about the complex hive democracy that honeybees use and how they work together to find nectar and make honey. Since honey bees can’t talk, they communicate with a…
On Tuesday March 6th, VBGC members made HUMMUS!! I brought along with me many ingredients, the canned garbanzo beans, tahini, spices, and of course a food processor. The members learned what ingredients and how much goes for a little small batch of hummus. Members enjoyed it so much, that they didn’t leave without writing down…
Plenty of helping hands doing some spring cleaning at Dominguez, before we harvest and prepare a quick in-class snack! We are doing well, keeping our stone fruit trees happy while they spring back up. We love seeing the volunteer fennel pop up by the compost bin. It’s magic when chamomile pops up after 3 months…
The students have been asking where seeds come from and how they are made, so this week we went investigating! I helped point our classes in the right direction, but telling them that flowers make seeds, but they had to figure out how that happened. Each student got a flower and we dissected it to…
St. Patrick’s School retuned this week after a Spring Break and had we had our work cut out for us. There was much weeding to do and lots to harvest. The upper grades worked hard weeding and harvesting peas from our three massive pea vines. They beat the heat with cucumbers, tajin and hummus.…
On Tuesday March 6th, it was all about greens! First, we planted some seedlings that were green, celery and lettuce. Then together we made a nice green salad with greens from the garden, some sorrel and lettuce. Students also learned some of the nutrients that greens contain, like fiber and calcium! -Ranger Cindy
As the seasons change, we are starting a lot of new seeds, so this week we took some time to understand exactly how a seed starts growing. Our classes grew sprouts in the classroom and observed the process. Then, when we gathered in the garden, we dissected a few seeds to see the tiny embryo…
They said, “No way!! You can’t eat that flower Mr. Y” And I said CHOMP! Edible flowers are very nutrient dense and are a great value, combining beauty and edibility. Nasturtiums weren’t as much of a hit as our former taste test edible: Lemon Sorrel. But some of the kids really dug the spice and…
The Kindergarten classes at Weemes are studying the four seasons, so to celebrate the first day of Spring we talked about the different plants that grow in each season. While our broccoli and cauliflower plants are nearing the end of their growing season, an exciting new fruit has started bearing- strawberries! So our snack that…
The primary grades at Mayberry are very good at making compost. They know the right ratio of browns to greens, they add water and spin the tumblers every chance they get…BUT, what happens when you have a full heavy load of compost? You feed your garden, of course! And the students at Mayberry…
Spring is approaching!! You can smell it in the air and see it in the garden.. Plenty of bugs doing all that bugs do, in preparation for one of the busiest garden seasons! And we have some spring cleaning to do! Weeds need to be pulled, veggies need to be harvested and herbs need…
The sixth graders at Hollenbeck Middle School are starting to study argumentative essays, so for their first writing assignment, they came to the garden for inspiration. The garden at Hollenbeck is especially green from the rainy season and all our fruit trees offer peaceful shade to write under. While we were in the garden, each…
On Monday March 5th, students at LFCSA learned that cucumbers like growing in the warm weather, and radishes like growing in the cool weather! We made a list on the board, giving the students the chance to make up the list as I wrote it on the board. I also had the chance to read…
Took me a while to get these kids to savor the flavors of the garden… BUT LET ME TELL YOU.. Now, there is a shortage of sorrel and we almost can’t keep up with the demand! When they say no food or drink in the classroom, the only exception is sorrel! Lol! Down below you…
The kids are so excited to add a pond to the school garden! We are digging out an area to place a water barrel pond. It will contain mosquito fish and water plants to keep the water clean and free of mosquitos. The birds and bugs will appreciate having the water and it will bring…
The flowers are in full bloom at Weemes this spring and they gave us a perfect chance to talk about pollination. Our classes discussed the honey bees that have been visiting our sunflowers and Nasturtiums and we learned the importance of pollen for making new seeds. While we explored the garden, students were able to…
Cooking with these young adults gives me so much joy. Today we harvested and went straight from garden to table, with recipes that were created on the spot, and prepared within an hour. Our cauliflower, fava beans, kale, tomatoes and other garden grows were harvested and used to create brilliant, eye catching meals..…
As part of the ongoing project to turn Luther Burbank into a bird sanctuary, we completed this project to turn milk cartons into birdfeeders with the help of Ms. Cummings’ special ed class and the advanced art classes. We filled them with birdseed that we purchased and also some bird-friendly sorghum that we grew in…
On Monday, March 5th, students at CWC had the chance to do some seed saving with calendula flowers! After saving the seeds, we saved a few, and also sprinkled some of the seeds around the garden. We talked about how summer is near, and it is time to plant warm season veggies! Students had the…
One fun way to talk about syllables is by studying haikus. Haikus are poems with a set number of syllables for each line. For today’s garden activity we reviewed syllables and read a few examples of haikus. Some are thoughtful and some are silly, but they are all only three lines long. At first students thought…
You know why they call them strawberries? Because these delicious fruits of the Earth have a tendency to draw even the quietest of creatures to feast upon their goodness. At every single one of my four schools, rollie-pollies love to munch on our beloved strawberries…I’ve tried Dr. Bronners, I’ve tried weed liner…we are now trying…
What a gorgeous day! With the sun shining, the breeze gently blowing and the air cool, we really enjoyed sitting in the garden today. I pulled a baby plant out of the ground — one of the fava beans that we planted from seed a few weeks ago — and show the kiddos the different…
South Gate Middle School on a rainy day. Never seems to keep the kids away. The garden is where we all want to be. The soil is where we want to play. But we had to postpone because the rain was just too much. So I went out and brought in a basket of…
At Frank Del Olmo today, we had a blast discovering all the bugs in the garden. Because of all the rain and moderate temperatures around Los Angeles, the insects are happy and healthy and ready to say hello! We had not explored the garden in a few weeks due to Spring Break and the rain,…
Back from Spring Break, the students at Dayton Heights Elementary came out into the garden buzzing. The kinder kids observed all of the spring seedlings that have begun to sprout from our generous rainfalls. Older students spent their last garden class of this session writing haikus and sharing them before snacking on tomatoes, basil…
Students are preparing the garden for Spring and Summer. they carved pumpkins to save the seeds, washed them and plant them later on. They are also making compost for the beds and taking care of the strawberries patches which get invade by foes who love too much on juice and sweet strawberries. KIA students are…
Spring is here! Rain and cooler days are here too. Rain and cooler days have arrived a bit late, flowers are sprouting, herbs and few warm season crops are making their way too. After garden maintenance, students harvested flowers and herbs to celebrate Spring and all the beautiful flowers that bloom around this time. Many flowers…
Spring is in the air and KIPP has an explosion of colors, leafy greens, and herbs ready to harvest, smell and appreciate. Students have planted seeds, made compost, tilted the soils and watered the beds during the unusual past warm winter. All their hard work produce a beautiful Spring garden with aromatic herbs and leafy greens. Cheers.
Today was the first day for the new cycle of students. They came excited and ready to eat something. The garden welcomed them with a fresh leafy green salad. Students are working the soils and getting the garden ready for Spring and Summer. They tilt, cultivate, rake and water the beds and lots of healthy…
Kinder, 1st, and 2nd graders had their lesson about seeds and seed saving at Kipp. after the lesson, the busy gardeners went to plant carrot seeds, wildflowers, and a few pumpkins seeds. They also looked seeds ready to be harvest after the plant finished its life cycle.
Today was the last day of garden class, students said ended their class with a fresh tasty spring salad. This cycle was a lot more hands-on, students planted seeds and kept track of them, pulled grass and weeds and watered them.
We are getting ready for Spring and summer at Eastman. Students are helping tilt and mix the soil before planting warm season seeds. Student dug lots of grub worms. Grub worms are larval stages of different types of beetles. Grub worms feed off the roots of the plants, too many of them will stop plants…
Students are making compost. Green, brown, air, water, and soil will get your compost started. Students are saving their leftover fruits and vegetables to get the compost pile going. Wilshire Park has ample green spaces. The goal is to make enough compost to share with rest of the plants. After class students help add soil and…
Love Nature
Valentines Day at Gardener School Love Nature. We showed our love for nature at Gardener School. The students were allowed to pick the most interesting leaf in the garden from any place in the garden and they had to write something to it like a poem or a love letter. Ms. Thaviphone class created leaf…
Because an edible garden is to be eaten. Spring salads are fun receipts and easy to make. Students like to make salads and discover new ingredients, sprinkle salt and pepper, squeeze a lemon or an orange, toss and mix, and finally taste all these flavors. The parent’s workshop also had their spring salad. They learned…
Leafy greens, snow peas, fava beans, carrots, herbs, and flowers. These are some of the cool season crops ready to be harvested. The group of gardeners started their first they of class with a few things to sample.
2nd-grade class: We visited the three compost bins in the garden. Finding Mr. Brown carbon examples and Mr. Green Nitrogen examples to put in the bins. They gathered brown leaves from the ground and picked three things to identify which it was carbon or nitrogen. We also looked at a compost thermometer, talking about the…
Today’s class was about the weather and planning your garden around it. Plants thrive and grow according to their season, healthy soil, seeds, and water, inconsistency in weather affect the way plants grow. for example, February is a winter month, normally cool season crops are in full bloom enjoying the cool and rainy days. But February…
Eastman had an open house. Thank you to the teachers and students who found inspiration in the garden to do their project. VALENTINES DAY. Students harvested herbs for someone special in their lives.
3rd, 4th, and 5th graders started their first garden class with an icebreaker. speaking in front of people is a nerve-racking experience. With practice, one becomes more comfortable and better speaker. students used their public speaking skills and shared about themselves. Some of them showed their talents, athletic skills, sang, acted and performed comedy skits. Students…
Talk to the class about pollination today. The kids identified the stamen and pollen on the flowers in the garden. They also took herbs from the garden lemon balm, mint, lavender, sage. They also identified the pollen on some herb plants.
Van Ness Deep in the Dirt
We cleaned up the beds and Ms. Chelsea and Udie pulled weeds together. The students in the VI part of Vaness got their hands deep in the dirt. Pulling out weeds from the beds especially in areas where we have overgrown vegetation. We have eaten a lot of Romain lettuce with Hummus because the kids…
Students had a lesson about seeds. In pairs they discussed how seeds travel, the parts, and what they need to sprout. As they continue to observe and record the growth of their seedlings, knowing about seeds will help them understand the needs, challenges, and care the new plant will need.
This cycle ended on the first day of Spring. To welcome Spring and end this cycle, students played a game of jeopardy. two teams competed against each other and tested their knowledge about the garden, compost, soil, friends, and foes and they had to name the crops growing inside the beds. The winning team took…
Hello Garden Friends, Today we all transformed into bees to help us understand hows bees work together for the benefit of the hive. First we walked around and looked for some bees doing work in the garden. And then we decided to turn into bees, using straws as our bee tongues and finding flowers represented…
Today students had their lesson about compost. They understood that compost needs water, air, and soil, green and brown materials, bacteria and microorganisms that will help the compost pile break down faster. Students are recycling uneaten fruits and vegetables from the cafeteria to start a compost pile! 10th St. has plenty of green spaces that can…
Compost Learning at Van Ness School
New group of kids learning about compost. We took a poll as to what [a cup of worm castings] worm poop was just by looking, touching and smelling the worm castings. The students really were interested in what they could put in the Darth Vader like compost bin
Van Ness School making seed bombs with the VI kids
This was a great exercise for the kids especially Udie. Chelsea the OT specialist at Vanes and I partner to play with our students at Vaness. Udie also helped to crush roasted eggshells for the compost.
Hello Garden Friends, Today at Rio Vista I brought some tomato seedlings and several other varieties of seeds to throw in the soil, also we found a grasshopper! After a quick lesson to remind the children the proper form of planting a seedling I mentally prepared the students for my next lesson: “We come from…
Today was the first day for the new group students. The garden experience started with a tasty leafy green salad with mustard leaves, lettuces, arugula, herbs, edible flowers, olive oil, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, dates and lemon juice. After the salad receipt and learning the 3 rules of the garden, (2 finger touch, do not…
Seed Bombs teaches about Soil at Gardner
Teaching the students at Gardener how to make Seed bombs. This was great to teach reinforce the types of soil clay, sand and loom or silt. The kids were able to make seed bombs with natural clay and soil from the garden and pollinator seeds that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. This exercise is one where…
2nd Street Garden Lovers
2nd Street School Not many students but plenty of Beneficials in the garden. Recess always brings out the true garden lovers. 3rd graders with a heart and love for anything and all garden. They ate radish leaves and then the radish from the garden.
Today’s garden lesson was all about the blossoms- what is a flower, why do they blossom and who the heck cares? A colorful and fragrant flower, aside from a great byproduct of being alive, is a signal a plant gives a pollinator- it is communicating that it is ready to to offer its nectar and…
Students learned the parts of the seed, and how to find them when plants have finished their life cycle. They observed sunflowers and bean seeds to identify the following parts: the seed coat, embryo, and cotyledon. At the end of the lesson, students had their garden activity. The bugambilia bush in the garden drops lots of flowers,…
What a fun day! We talked about composting and how it’s the way that earth recycles plants. The old plants and our food leftovers like apple cores and banana peels can be put into the compost bin and the bugs inside will eat it up and decompose it into lovely soil to feed the plants.…
Van Ness Pollinators
Reviewed reproductive system of a plant. Taught on root systems pulled up long grass and put down cardboard in beds. Kids planted flowers at end of beds to act like pollinators in the garden.
Gardener school – 15th The kids came over and we reviewed what I taught them this year, composting, root system, pollination, and parts of a plant. Then the kids looked for how much growth had taken place in the garden. They also picked from the garden to take home to eat later.
Hello Garden Friends, Today at Calvert we took some oregano and rosemary from the garden and studied its super powers. The fragrant oils on the surface of the leaf hold in water and keep the plant moist in hot/dry socal weather. In addition, the little leaves reflect sunlight with small white hairs that cool the…
Plant Reproduction at Van Ness
We reviewed the reproduction of a plant at the start of the day. Then worked together to put the new compost bin together. The students gathered dead leaves and put in scraps of fruits and vegetable. The class really worked together with gathering the leaves using the wheel barrow we just got.
Before Spring Break, I decided to have a festive St. Patrick’s Day-themed lesson at Micheltorena, because we have a few clover patches that were ripe for weeding. I love our clover patches. They are pleasing to the eye, and so green and soft, even though they’re considered a weed. They’re also a wonderful cover for…
I’m so proud of my little preschoolers at Sullivan! They are getting so good at being gentle with the plants and bugs in the garden. Week to week we practice slow walking feet, one finger touch and calm bodies. So when it came to sharing one of my favorite garden friends with them today, it…
Spring is here and the garden is looking great. Colorful nasturtiums are beautiful and edible. The purple tree collards are getting ready to take off. We have green and red lettuce that we snack on every week. The students love working in the garden and eating the yummy veggies.
Rain!! Finally, finally, Los Angeles has entered, even if briefly, the rainy season. What a relief! With just a little bit of precipitation, the landscape changes quickly from brown to saturated greens. The flowers on the sides of the road begin to bloom. And the air is so fresh! Water really gives life to our…
Van Ness Students Learn About the Garden Through Touch, Smell, & Taste
Worked with the Visually Impaired students who were all so eager to learn about herbs and the parts of the plants. They held and felt pine cones that I bought in. I also picked from their garden basil sage which they got to smell and taste. They also felt the roots of a onion from…
Bruschetta is an antipasto (starter dish) from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and salt. The wonderful kids and I at Kingsley Elementary made this classic dish today. Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe Prep time: 15 minutesCook time: 20 minutesYield: Makes 24 small slices, serves 6-10 as an…
We have grown a lot of seeds at Weemes Elementary this past year and it’s always exciting to see the new plants pop out of the ground a few weeks later. But after awhile, we couldn’t help but wonder, “what’s going on underground before our little seedlings appear?” So this past week, each class took…
Elementary students across Los Angeles have to memorize the various parts of a plant each year. At Weemes, instead of learning from pictures in books, we get to study living plants while outside in our garden! After reviewing each part and it’s role, we played a scavenger hunt type game and everyone found examples of…
The rain is bringing out beautiful colors at ALC. The poppies are blooming and the red and green lettuce looks great. The banana tree is soaking in the extra water. Today we planted asparagus and strawberry crowns.
One of the greatest shocks in gardening class to students is that broccoli–the “tree” part of the vegetable, anyways–is a flower. “Whaaaat?!” “It’s a flower that just hasn’t bloomed yet.” There’s a pause. Then sometimes before tasting the broccoli from the garden, someone asks worriedly, “Will it bloom in my stomach?” Rest assured that it…
As a child it can be hard to feel like you can contribute to the world. We often tell children they aren’t big enough or they don’t know enough. Students with special needs are especially limited in how they can contribute. One benefit of the school garden is that it gives young people a chance…
As spring starts to get closer, it is time to prepare a new area in the school garden for crop rows! This part of the garden was left empty after an overgrown fig tree was removed last summer. So, I had sprinkled some cover crop of rye and peas a couple months ago, just to…
The rain has made the garden very happy. Today we explored the garden and saw lots of beautiful things. The fava beans are booming, arugula is flowering, and the purple tree collards are as beautiful as ever.
“Where do seeds come from?” This is the question of one student a few weeks ago that we set out to answer. We started by talking about seeds we know about, for example, apple seeds come from apples, watermelon seeds come from watermelons. Based on our past experiences we were able to conclude that a…
One of my favorite questions that students ask is, “Why are their dead flowers in the garden?” Ahh, to the untrained eye, they are dead flowers; but to seed collectors, these “dead flowers” hold a wealth of specimens inside. They know that the whole purpose of flowers–why they smell so alluring and look so striking–is to attract…
A plant is what?!
When teaching about gardening, it is impossible to engage students if they don’t know what part of a plant I am talking about! For this lesson, I covered the parts of a plant. I discussed the roots, stem, leaves, fruit and flowers. I brought in a dug up mallow plant (to show roots, stem, leaves),…