Wednesday, February 27, 2013

RootDown LA to the Rescue

Photo Feb 27, 2 40 05 PMPhoto Feb 27, 3 02 51 PM

Following a recent round of budget cuts, the garden program at Jefferson High in LA abruptly ended, and its 35-tree school orchard was in need of urgent care. That’s when
RootDown LA came to the rescue with ongoing care of the orchard. But first, we had to whoop out a busload of Common Vision-grade loving to bring this fledgling food forest back to life.

When looking at the photos immediately above, you may be asking yourself, “why is that guy watering cardboard boxes? Shouldn't he be watering fruit trees? What kind of tour is this anyway?” Well, the answer is, the triage plan for this orchard included a mulching of mythic proportions to rebuild soil, kick start micro life, and reinvigorate the orchard ASAP.


But wait, there’s more. It gets even better.

A junior at Jefferson High shared how “super stoked” she was that Common Vision came back. She also shared how hard she was working with fellow students to get their test scores high enough to get their funding back. Thankfully, the School Orchard Movement is starting to thrive throughout the state, and with a little collaboration between RootDown LA and Common Vision, this orchard’s future will be a whole lot juicier now.

beeinsocentral

We have to end this post by sharing a sweet story of synchronicity. Sadly, when garden programs get cut, kids miss out on learning many of the big basics of life on earth like the fact that fruit forms from a flower. We love seeing the awe on kids’ faces learning about this natural connection for the first time. Our visit to Jefferson High included one wonderful moment when a single bee landed in front of us, playing its part in the never-ending cycle of life, demonstrating pollination at the exact moment we were explaining it. Things that make you go, Hmmmm.

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