Community As a Community Garden

Last time I was in the Palisades, I ran into one of the individuals involved in identifying a piece of land for a community garden. He is working many angles, but nothing has come into fruition. He is, however, optimistic land will be acquired, and I believe it will too. There is demand. All we need is luck and a lot of finesse.

Years ago I came upon a Ted Talk that inspired me very much. Pam Warhurst, a citizen of Todmorden in the U.K., tells the story of how she and a group of volunteers began planting edible landscapes throughout the town in the public spaces with no budget and no plan. The result of this very bold, out-of-the-box venture was an organic process that in the last several years not only has influenced the local high school in teaching agriculture and expanding the career opportunities for the students but also has improved the local economy.

Much like the concept of the Little Free Library in which books are public domain and can be taken by anyone; the fruits and vegetables from the public spaces in Todmorden can be eaten by anyone.

I cannot do justice to the story, so it's best you watch this 13-minute video and see for yourself. Sometime after watching that video I was talking to Joaquin Macias, the councilman's field deputy, about our obstacles in finding land for a community garden, then I told him about the Ted Talk. He had an awesome idea. What if, until a community garden can be established, we use the community as a garden as Todmorden does? I loved it.

My thought is such a venture might be a perfect partnership between Palisades PRIDE as a beautification venture with the Palisades Garden Club. In addition, people living in apartments and condos who don't have access to land but long to get their fingers in some soil could volunteer their time. Seasoned gardeners could teach gardening techniques community-wide to people unfamiliar with the art.

Already the concept of edible landscapes is a part of the educational experience at Seven Arrows Elementary School. Fruit trees, herbs, and vegetable gardens are part of the school environment, and children can, for example, freely pick an apple from an apple tree for a snack. Therefore, edible landscapes are not a completely foreign notion to our community. The idea of children relating to their food in their daily lives is truly profound. Why just limit this way of life to a small school campus when we have a whole community that could experience it?

I know this idea might be "out there" for Pacific Palisades today, but perhaps in the future the idea will be ripe for the picking. You just never know.

In my past posts I have often said I am planting seeds in this garden I call community, so what better idea than to plant a seed to make the community a garden. Why not? If it's good enough for Todmorden, why not Pacific Palisades?