VOTE FOR US!! We have applied for the Buscaino Community Grant and with your VOTE, we can get this amazing grant! How? It's easy ... click on the link below and VOTE for our PLANT THE PARK project to revitalize and beautify Anderson Park!
Proposal Description: Anderson Park is one of the best kept secrets in town. One of the only parks in Central San Pedro, it has been underutilized for years and some of its greatest features forgotten. The beautiful rolling lawns are shaded by a grove of massive California sycamores. A handball and basketball court, playground and one of LA’s only Senior Centers provide multi-generational amenities.
With the support of Rec and Parks and the Park Advisory Board, our proposal is to bring back to life two neglected parts of the park: the terraced planters at the northeast corner and the large, fenced patio on the south side of the main building.
The three walls of tiered planting beds that bracket the park are a remarkable piece of infrastructure that hold 1380 square feet of potential. With this grant, we intend to restore what is currently an eyesore to the glorious landscaping feature it was built to be. Once cleared of weeds, the soil organically amended, and a drip irrigation system installed, the tiered gardens will bloom once again as we plant them with low maintenance, native flowers, shrubs, and edible plants. Sunflowers will reach skyward on the top tier and provide privacy to the homes that border the park. The mid-level will be home to super pollinators like California Redbud, California Fuchsia, Eastern Mojave Buckwheat and California Poppy. We will fill the bottom tier with cascading edibles like nasturtiums, strawberries, rosemary, oregano, sage and mint.
In the paved, multi-level southeast patio we propose to construct and install eight raised planter beds, fill them with soil and provide them with an irrigation system. Some of these beds will be raised to table height to allow wheelchair access and to make working in the beds easier for older gardeners. Together with free instruction and seeds from Feed and Be Fed, these beds will be open to neighborhood children and seniors to grow rewarding crops of fresh healthy lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and more. Over the course of a year, we will lead a free cooking class featuring vegetables raised in our beds stressing the health and culinary values of fresh produce.
Aside from the beauty created by the revitalized “living wall,” pollinators planted there will benefit birds, bees, plants and trees in the entire neighborhood. This grant will also “pollinate” the human community by nurturing vital partnerships between Feed and Be Fed, Beacon House (bed clearing), POLA High School (planter construction and maintenance), and The Palos Verdes Land Conservancy (plant selection).
Feed and Be Fed is dedicated to maintaining the terraces and planter beds and to evolve the project long after the initial grant proposal is fulfilled. When the gardens are once again a point of neighborhood pride, we imagine community engagement to spread like wildflowers as we welcome help planting and harvesting, host cleanups, share herbs with local restaurants, and implement resident wisdom on the cultivation of crops that honor the rich immigrant heritage that is at the heart of San Pedro.
Organization Description: The Feed and Be Fed garden at 429 W. 6th St., San Pedro is a non-profit organization which, from its inception, has engaged and empowered our neighbors, in part by the very act of planting and beautifying its green space, its eco-classroom, right in the middle of an urban block. It has become clear to us that the beauty of the natural process of growing wholesome fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers speaks eloquently to all who enter the garden, and teaches how much green good can be done in such a small space.
At Feed and Be Fed we garden and compost sustainably by operating off the grid with solar power; by growing vegetables organically (we are a registered organic farm), and by practicing phyto-remediation of the soil through selective planting.
We believe that building strong local communities is an essential component of the process of healing the dysfunction of our economic, social, environmental and justice systems. We seek to develop the local community through education and recreation for families and youth. We provide classes in sustainable agriculture, host “Little Sprouts” – young children and their parents/caretakers – who meet every week to learn the wonders of growing things; we teach sustainable gardening through hands-on experience to students from local schools; and we hold an educational film series for families on summer evenings in the garden. The garden serves the community as an urban sanctuary where persons can relax, enjoy a lunch break, or just sit quietly and listen to nature.
Our many events, live musical evenings, participation in First Thursdays, gardening classes, documentary films and “Little Sprouts” gatherings for children help to draw neighbors into the Garden who may not be interested in growing vegetables but who are receptive to our message: build community, provide a place of natural beauty, encourage urban gardening, restore our connection with the earth.
Future plans for deeper engagement in our community include growing vegetables used by specific local minority cultures and engaging members of those communities to talk about their food and cook examples of typical dishes; and making organic vegetable seedlings available to the low-income members of our community free of charge. In an exciting development, we have recently entered into an agreement with LAUSD to help revitalize their Science Center campus in northwest San Pedro.
To take a deeper look at our organization, please view the 13 minute film “GROW” on our website: feedandbefed.org.
Proposal Categories: City Services/Beautification, Non-Profit/Community Investment, Recreation/Youth Programming