Sherrell is thrilled to be working with Enrich LA. She is a student of permaculture
and is eager to share her enthusiasm for sustainable living with others. She believes
it is important to feel a connection to the earth, and hopes to pass this along while
learning as much from others as possible.
New pictures are in from the LFCSA Garden! Things are growing lush and strong. We have a wall of sunflowers growing along the fence that Ms Heneise’ class started these from seeds provided by Prudence Burgardt.
At the far end of the garden we have scrumptious looking artichokes,
and in the raised beds brussel sprouts and AMAZING red cabbage!
Next Up: Native Resilience
The raised beds planted by Ms Heneise’s class have grown like gangbusters. We have swiss chard, red cabbage, red and green leaf lettuce, broccoli, Brussel sprouts and strawberries.
On the other end the kindergardeners have planted a scented garden in the shade of an incredible row of sunflowers, and the native grape we planted when we first started the garden is growing lush and healthy.
But most exciting of all is the news from our new principal Dr Stacy Block that she would like to expand our garden area to include a raised bed for each class. This will really help the teachers incorporate the garden into their classes. We have a Garden Community Build Weekend scheduled for March 24 and 25. We will be painting the concrete block wall, adding more picket fence, finishing the PTA-Donated shade planter boxes and moving the bamboo out of planter boxes. The bamboo has been with LFCSA since our first year at St. Ambrose and has moved with us from site to site. It will be great to finally give it a home at the Media Center.
So COME VOLUNTEER March 24 and 25th. And keep an eye on the garden. Coming soon tomatoes, peppers, and WORM TOWERS!
Yay Ms Heneise! And thank you fellow mom Prudence Burgardt!
Today Ms Heneise’ fourth grade class spent a fun morning planting in the garden. The kids planted a perennial artichoke, a passionfruit vine to climb up the arbor, and strawberries and basil in their raised bed. We are hoping to get some fall veggie starts for them to plant next Friday morning. With Prudence’s help the kinder and second grade classes will be planting their beds soon, followed by each of the other grades.
We’re also excited to be working on a combination dye and fiber garden for our art teacher, Ms Serrano . Thus far we have a California native basket rush, as well as California Sagebrush, and Russian Sage; both dye plants. Plus, we’ve got hard to find Indigo and Madder seeds on order.
BY TOMAS O’GRADY. We’re getting so close to finishing at Los Feliz charter garden. On Saturday we installed a new trellis, finished the wood fence and added two new garden beds. We also built a nice potting bench with a chalk board atop. We even hung the sign.
Things are finally starting to take shape at the LFCSA Garden. Last weekend we sealed the picket fence that Tomas built for us, and bagged up a ton of excess mulch. We will keep what mulch we can use, but the rest will be shared with other EnrichLA gardens. We are waiting to get a bid on a drinking fountain for the kids, and a fresh water connection for watering the garden. The rest of the Charter School landscaping will be converting to reclaimed water soon.
The master plan for the Media Center, where LFCSA is located has pretty strict rules regarding water run off and directing rainwater back to the water table. This weekend we plan to ensure that the slope of the garden meets the requirements of the master plan. We will also be moving a few plants to make room for some additional raised beds, and planting the grape that Petra has been nursing at her home. This will have us ready to build a few more raised beds, the potting bench, and finish the gate the following weekend.
The most exciting thing is that it’s actually starting to look like a garden. I was gone for a couple of weeks (thank you Prudence for watering!) and when I came back I was amazed by how much everything had grown! We had a tough start, what with a major underground water leak (our wonderful EnrichLA, and LFCSA volunteers worked valiantly dealing with either bone dry or waterlogged soil) so I was concerned that many of the plants wouldn’t make it. But I returned to find the fruit trees doing well and the natives grown large and flourishing. The two lonely laurels and manzanita we started with are now happily joined by a pomegranate, citrus, and numerous flowering native shrubs .
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Updated Charter School Plans
This past Saturday, July 9th, volunteers gathered to build the new garden at Los Feliz Charter School for The Arts. Even though it was hot out, volunteers worked hard to get this garden ready for the students.
Garden preparation included filling the raised beds with a 50/50 compost and dirt mixture, removing plants and weeds, and preparing the ground for plants. In addition to native plants such as Iris and Sage, we were also planting fruit trees including Persimmon and Tangerine.
On Sunday, July 10th, Founder Tomas O’Grady helped add the finishing touches to the garden by building and installing a picket fence around the garden space! Grape vines that were planted will be guided through the picket fence, creating a beautiful and delicious effect!
Thanks again to ALL of the volunteers who helped make this positive change at Los Feliz Charter School for The Arts. The children will definitely enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your labors.
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