Edible Growing Ground
Marquez’s Edible Growing Ground, originally established twelve years ago by a group of parents, has been revitalized this year in into an outdoor classroom to enhance nutrition and agriculture awareness along with science curriculum studies. The hands-on learning that takes place in the garden deepens the students understanding of where food actually comes from, the processes involved in plant growth, soils health and organic maintenance, vermicomposting, composting and harvesting and general gardening know how.
Parents, students and Paul Revere teen volunteers cleared the land, installed six new raised beds, compost, mulch over cardboard (weed control) built a large bamboo tipi for growing peas and green beans, assembled two composting bins and a vermiculture area for composting vegetable and fruit lunch waste.
Marquez’s Edible Growing Ground project dovetails nicely with the work of Marlene Canter, LAUSD school board member, who awarded Marquez, the largest public school in Pacific Palisades, a $100,000 grant to improve food safety, fresh food sanitation and to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for the lunch program. With this grant and interest in establishing a new, larger edible garden on the upper yard with 20-30 beds, a teaching area, greenhouse, storage area, potting area and drip irrigation the school can begin to synthesis a focus on the cycles of nutrition and growing some of one¹s own food.
On May 18, the 2nd grade and Lunchtime Garden Club will host an Edible Garden Celebration with the focus being on students sharing their new knowledge of gardening with the community. For example, kids will teach anyone in attendance how to compost and how to set-up and run a vermicomposting (worm) bin. Other students will make fruit salad and another group will make green salad. These are ideas generated by the students themselves. Oh yeah, and the kiwi on a spoon relay race and a tomato toss. Students will also be selling edible and flower seedlings in 4″ pots for fundraising for the garden.
