Volunteers of America Los Angeles's Boyle Heights LEAD students broke ground this month on a new community garden. Teens, parents, and even children as young as 2 all got dirty together as they dug holes to plant a cornucopia of different vegetables and flowers. Veggies will include staples like peppers, cucumbers, jalapenos, tomatoes, and eggplant, and will change with the seasons. The rows of the garden are marked by yellow yarn attached to colorful pencils staked at the ends - a creative use of school supplies.
The garden will be maintained by homeless families from the Strengthening Families program, who will also share and eat the fresh produce. Once everything is up and running, they also plan to bring their bounty to sell at the farmer’s market.
As everyone waited for the planting to get started, Serafin Seranno, who runs the LEAD program and coordinated the garden, addressed the crowd. He was amazed by the large turnout, he said. All the gardeners gathered in a circle and held hands, and Serafin reminded them that the garden was about more than just growing vegetables. “The garden is about doing something positive with your neighbors, people you might see all the time, but maybe have never met. It’s all about the community coming together,” he said.
Check out a slideshow of the garden planting below!
