Fri, Jun 19 2009 04:57 PM Posted By:
Students and members of the community will be busy on Saturday June 13 at Farragut Elementary School in Culver City, starting a garden that will change the way kids understand food. With the inspiration of the Downtown Business Association and some of the city’s greenest restaurateurs, a garden will be reborn and the fruits (and vegetables) will benefit many.
In a compost pile left to rest, there are plants that come up spontaneously, sprouted out of whatever seeds went to rest in the layers of unusable food waste. These plants are called “volunteers”, and they often provide a strong and healthy start to a garden.
When the human volunteers gather this Saturday, June 13 at Farragut to provide a fresh start for an old garden plot, they will be providing a strong and healthy beginning for the kids who will learn about food in a new way.
With a great inspiration from Akasha and Alan Schulman, Emily Beretta and Ben Ford of Ford’s Filling Station, and the Downtown Business Association this long dormant garden plot will be the focus of a curriculum teaching grade school kids about growing food, caring for the soil, cooking, eating and selling their produce.
The call is out for volunteers and supplies, but the most important ingredient is the kids.
“We want the children to learn that food doesn’t just come from a store” said Ben Ford, who was introduced to gardening in first grade at Highland Hill, a Waldorf school. “Letting the kids get into the garden, get in the kitchen and really get their hands into it, teaches them so much.”
Schulman and Ford will be bringing the contributions from Earthbound Farms, soil, seeds and fertilizer, to get things started. The work this weekend will be preparing the soil and getting the kids familiar with the idea of the garden.
Ken Kaufman, president of the DBA, offered that "The Downtown Business Association membership is very appreciative of the continued support of the Culver City community, and wanted to find a way to show our appreciation for that support. Alan Schulman, owner of Akasha Restaurant, suggested the garden project, which was embraced by the DBA members, as an ideal way to involve many constituencies of the City in a 'seeds to sales' program that could be educational, pro-environment, and fun, while utilizing the special skills of so many of the DBA members. Along with Emily Beretta and Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station, first steps are being taken in what we hope will be an exciting and significant contribution to this great City."
Beretta, a major coordinator of resources for the garden, said “The students will use the garden to plant seeds and then raise, harvest and eat the crops, improving their nutrition, their knowledge of plant growth, and their patience. We’ll be integrating the food system concepts into the school’s core curriculum. We’re hoping to bring the whole community together to improve our schools and our future.”
Using the biodynamic gardening process first popularized by Alan Chadwick at University of California at Santa Cruz, the garden will be completely organic and scheduled to work with the cycles and seasons.
Shifts will be 2 hours, with the first going from 9 A.M. to 11 A.M., and the second from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M. Snacks and water will be provided. Farragut Elementary is located at 10820 Farragut Drive in Culver City. Any questions about how or when to volunteer can be handled by Emily Beretta at emberetta@fordsfillingstation.net, and to learn more about biodynamic gardening, go to biodynamics.com.
© 2009 Culver City News