Roosevelt Elm + me

I'm very excited to announce that I will be working with Roosevelt Elementary on an ongoing basis. We were connected through the Connected Corridor phase 4 grant process. I had Wrigley Garden, which was a phase 3 grant recipient and Growing Green Roots applied for phase 4. I mentored, we connected, they were funded, we built a garden. Their campus is all concrete. Not just concrete I mean its asphalt and a dirt parking lot. That's it. Part of the grant was for beautiful garden murals to be painted. Its a lot cheerier now. So we built the garden boxes, filled them with beautiful soil and plants and then that was kinda it. The teachers did the best they could and I tried as best I could but we really didn't have a plan. Its difficult to coordinate busy teachers who are also parents and ask them to do more. Plus its not like I get paid for this either. But we are all dedicated and today proved it.

We met together as a group. We planned the rest of the year, we amended soil, we talked, we had a really nice afternoon in the garden on the asphalt. Last night while I was planing today's lessons I thought how much I enjoyed being there with them. I'm not with the students at Roosevelt, I leave that to the professionals. Plus there are way too many classes it could be someones full time job. ( I think people somewhere somehow must get paid for this. Lora from the Chicken Meet Up Group also donates tones of time to North Hollywood High). I just enjoy gardening with friends and talking about life. Its a really nice way to spend the afternoon.

Farm Lot 59 will still have its beautiful children's garden so no worries there. I'm working with Kathleen Irvine and CSULB to get that going. Its going to be amazing. I really hope the funding comes through for that.

So that's it. I'm sorry to all the schools that email me to come and help them. I wish I could. I'm going to just stay put with my little Roosevelt and make sure they succeed. I promise we will have classes at the farm to help you get going. We want every school to have a beautiful garden. Not a funded and neglected garden, one that actually thrives.

Thanks for the support.
Sasha Kanno