1630 Walgrove Avenue: Walgrove Elementary School (Calling All Kid Gardeners!!!)

  

Walgrove Elementary is established as a Certified Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation and features a variety of green spaces in which children can learn, play, explore and create. The garden program extends across the campus and includes:

· a flourishing organic edible garden

· individual classroom garden boxes

· The Walgrove Wildlands, a 25,000 square foot outdoor eco-lab

· a kinder "garden" that is an official Monarch Butterfly Habitat

· an orchard with flourishing fruit trees

Daniela Roveda with her gardening squad

In the edible garden, students work weekly with Master Gardener Daniela Roveda and local environmentalist Jeanne Kuntz engaging in seed-to-table learning. This unique program includes classroom instruction on the life cycle of plants, plant anatomy, the role of pollinators, and the needs of plants (air, water, soil nutrients and seasonal preferences).  In addition to horticultural science, the students learn weights and measures (metric and US), geography, climate and the concept of variables in any scientific experiment.

Hands-on learning in the garden includes growing plants from seeds, transplanting, cultivation, harvest, safety (bees and tools) and cooperation.  The students also sample the produce.  This runs the gamut from sharing freshly picked radishes in the garden to sautéing garlic and kale.  With very few exceptions, the students enjoy the healthy snacks and, thereby, establish a lifelong appreciation of healthy eating.

BFFs in the Walgrove Wildlands!

In the Walgrove Wildlands, students have the opportunity to become stewards of their environment by engaging directly with nature. This urban eco-lab is designed for on-campus curriculum-based science education including lessons about native plants and animal species, ecosystems, watershed issues and more. It also facilitates the practice of council and a myriad of outdoor projects that promote learning and discovery. It even hosts theater performance and functions as an art space!

To celebrate the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, Walgrove Elementary is hosting a free community gathering called Monarch Fest from 12-4pm celebrating the myriad outdoor education spaces. Activities include kids’ yoga, live music, nature mandala sculpture building, food, and special performances by Walgrove’s own Musical Theater and Strings by the Sea violin program.

The edible garden boxes were gifts of the Walgrove community, including volunteers, teachers, students, neighbors, and families and were constructed in 2016 by Walgrove families.

The orchard was founded by formerly co-located Ocean Charter in the early 2000’s, increased to its current size in 2016, and includes citrus and fruit trees as well as providing shade and creative possibilities for students on hot LA days.

The Walgrove Wildlands was conceived and constructed by parents, staff, students and volunteers from throughout Los Angeles. They work with the LAUSD, Enrich LA, S.M. Bay Audubon Society, Whole Foods, Loyola Marymount's  CURes program, Common Vision, Surfrider Foundation, Million TreesLA, Kids4Trees, Theodore Payne Native Plant Foundation, CA Native Plant Society, Venice YouthBuild and volunteer groups from UCLA, Pepperdine and Santa Monica College, just  to name a few of their many partners and supporters.  We owe possibly the largest debt of gratitude to our landscape architect, Ryan Drnek of Sodder Studio.

Photos by: Jay Sharman Photography 

NOTE: entrance gate is on Appleton Way at Redwood Ave.

12552 Barbara Avenue

I started the transformation of my yards the same year the financial crisis hit. I thought that if worse came to worst I could sell my high-value fruit at the corner of Venice and Centinela. It was also my bit part to stimulate the local economy and make the world more sustainable. All the hardscape materials were recycled from previous walkways, driveway and the chimney. The fruit trees were selected by my friends who committed to harvesting "their" trees each year. The native plants were selected by my landscape designer for their textures, colors and drought tolerance. Today, I enjoy sitting out in the front patio watching the world go by, greeting the neighborhood dogs and their guardians as well as the young families that frequent my patch of Mar Vista.

This year, I added three more fruit trees in the backyard. My landscape designer tells me "that's it", there is no room for more trees after these three grow up.  I hope to live in my house until I leave feet first. Before that happens, I hope my trees thrive and give many people a taste of their sweetness. Christie Kruse Landscape Gardening designed this garden. She came up with a plan to create an outdoor dining room in the front yard so that 20 people could be invited for a  sit-down dinner.  Irrigation is a combination of soaker hoses, drip, and sprinklers targeted to the fruit trees. In the winter, the irrigation is turned off.  In spring and fall, the garden is watered once a week and twice a week in the summer.  The composter was provided by the city for $20.

I'll have a special guest with me at my garden.  Naomi Curland of Pachamama Alliance, whose mission is to bring forth an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually fulfilling human presence on this planet. The core outreach of the Pachamama Alliance is the Awakening the Dreamer symposium, but recently they've been developing coursework based on Project Drawdown.  online. Drawdown is the most comprehensive plan ever to reverse global warming and offers the top 100 solutions to do this. Naomi will have information about how we can make changes in our lives and homes right now to become part of this movement to reverse global warming. 

3300 S. Centinela Ocean View Farms

Don’t miss this Mar Vista treasure! 

Come for the compost tips, stay to tour the gardens!  Visit Ocean View Farms between 10am and 1pm for a tutorial on composting from OVF’s resident compost guru Karl Lisovsky.  One of OVF’s most important long-term commitments is to continually increase its awareness of, and participation in, our neighboring community.  One example of this synergy is a cooperative effort with the City of Los Angeles to reclaim and reuse city-collected stable waste in conjunction with a vigorous internal composting program. Today, OVF's composting program entails mixing reclaimed stable waste with the green organic waste produced in the garden. Last year, over 200 tons of shredded soft green waste, 900 cubic yards of woody material and 80 tons of stable waste were combined to produce a virtually unlimited supply of compost for plots.  Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase visitors are invited to bring home some compost from OVF’s supply.

500+ garden plots overflow with organic veggies, flowers and fruit, all organically grown. From artichokes to agave, OVF has it all. This season gardeners are planting tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, potatoes, chard, lettuces, and onions. Several gardeners have cactus and native plants, and the perimeter of the garden is filled with fig, avocado and citrus trees, as well as pine, eucalyptus, black walnut and palm trees.  Organic Gardening Magazine donated a 1,100 gallon cistern to OVF and it sits at the top of the hill (at the far end of the parking lot) and is connected to one of the dugouts near the Little League baseball field. Just one rainy day collects over 600 gallons of water! The water is piped down to the composting area to be used on the pile. Ocean View Farms is on six acres of land owned by the DWP and under the jurisdiction of the Department of Recreation and Parks and is the largest of more than 60 community gardens in Los Angeles County.

3635 Grand View Blvd

One year ago most of this front yard was a concrete driveway (1400 sq.ft.) and now it's transformed into a two car garage surrounded by eclectic, self-seeding, drought tolerant and drought resistant gardens (1200 sq. ft.) utilizing lots of repurposed pots, bricks and broken cement materials throughout. Pinwheels and Nepalese flags add color and movement to the environment. 

I use a Do-It-Yourself approach and improve the yards as time, budget and energy permits. I built a small retaining wall in the front to address the slope of the yard and used broken concrete creates pathways throughout the property.

Many plants and flowers were started from free seed packets and seedlings from the Master Gardeners at the Mar Vista Farmers Market or from 99 cent store plants.  Neighbors contributed mulberry saplings to my endeavors. Large agave, some fruit trees, grape vines, and artichokes were transplanted from other parts of the property. 

Shade trees (some from City Trees), flowers, fruit trees, herbs, vegetables and vining plants invite lots of bees, birds and butterflies. Monarch butterflies frequent my milkweed plants. A layer of mulch (supplied by the City) keeps the soil moist. Water efficient drip irrigation is monitored by a Rachio Irrigation controller, accessible by my smartphone. 

There's also a beautiful mural on the side of the garage by local artist, Gus Harper.

13014 Morningside Way

Come sit on one of these bonafide Dodger Stadium seats.

There's a lot to see and learn in this garden!  

On an average residential lot, these garden owners have used every inch to incorporate chickens, bees, vegetable garden - especially heirloom tomatoes and herbs - succulents and mostly low water California native plants. It's their "urban farm."

About 15 years ago, one took a class at Theodore Payne to learn about California native plants and was hooked. They removed the backyard lawn and installed an all CA native landscape complete with a fountain for birds and other animals. Recently they replaced one section with succulents.

Seven years ago, inspired by the tranquility of their new backyard, the homeowners decided to transform the front as well, incorporating a dry-rock river bed that serves as a swale into the design. They left several existing trees and a few camelia bushes, then filled in with drought-tolerant plants. Ceanothus, manzanitas, fairy duster monkey flower and blooming sages grow along the dry river bed.

The parkway has less dense plantings and decomposed granite to ensure easy access from a car parked on the street. A six-inch wide rock drainage around the parking strip to control water run-off from the sidewalk solved an erosion problem and also adds a design element. 

The areas that were once thirsty lawn now use almost no water except in severe drought. Irrigation is almost completely by underground drippers and individual bubblers.  

The owners keep two compost bins going, utilizing the chicken manure. They have several bird feeders and big pots with milkweed for the Monarch butterflies. The house has solar panels installed by Sungevity.

The garden owners will have information about free mulch locations and can help with questions about chickens and beekeeping. They'll also have forms for certifying your habitat with the National Wildlife Foundation.  There will be a beekeeping demonstration, as the homeowner is part of HoneyLove, and strained and comb honey for sampling.