A Grand Gathering of the Gardens!

The 7th Annual Gathering of the Community Gardens was a tremendous success. We hope we got to see you there, but if we didn’t, here are a few of the highlights. The event was held Saturday, October 19th at the gorgeous Garden School Foundation in the West Adams district, and thank you to Executive Director Julia Cotts for being an extraordinary host to us.

We had lots of great exhibits, from beekeeping and chicken raising, to how to make great compost (and even biodynamic compost), and developing your inner garden nerd. It was a true feast for the gardeners’ soul!

Attendees got to choose from a dozen informative workshops. The topics were wide-ranging. The head of the Master Gardener program Yvonne Savio gave instruction in the basics of how to transplant and propagate your plants. We had instruction in biodynamics from Steve Wynbrandt, and some great ideas about how to use your school garden to teach science to young students from Christy Brigham. We also classes in cooking, crop rotation, caring for your fruit trees, and of course, how to get started with bees and chickens!

Our lunchtime keynote speaker was the inspirational Robert Gottlieb, who is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban Environmental Studies at Occidental College in Eagle Rock. His message was that food access, food justice and food education are the basic rights of any civilized society. We were reminded how important the work of community gardens is. It goes well beyond growing a few vegetables and making some new friends, it is really about creating a just and healthy society.

It was a great time. Thank you to all who attended, and to all of the incredible volunteers who made it possible.

We’ll see you next year!!