Resilient Food Garden

  • Location
    Los Angeles, California
  • Status
    Active

The Problem

My wish for this project is that the students will be able to successfully divert water from a pattern of flooding the school or flowing into the storm drains, int less destructive and wasteful usage: watering the school garden.

Our Plan

Our group is working to prepare a resilient garden space. We have a small garden space currently, but are trying to expand the space by building bioswales to catch water and divert water from the upcoming El Nino. The students will plant seeds along the bioswale, and divert the water's path so that rather than flooding, the water can be used to water the garden. The project is a cross-curricular project that includes math, science, and environmental studies. Hopefully, the project will grow to include other classes. For the past few years, Los Angeles has experienced drought, and because of this the ground is hard, and plants have died. This coming winter, Los Angeles is projected to have one of the wettest seasons in recent years. Because the drought has left the ground hard-packed, and the plants whose roots prevented erosion on the hillside have died, our campus is in danger of flooding in several areas. We are working on a larger project because we found that our school sits on a covered arroyo that begins at the local high school. We will map the arroyo's path as part of our project. They will work with local historians and archivists to find the path of water as it would have entered our campus before it was paved over. The students will map the path of water on our campus, and use that to work on the bioswales. Several classrooms are prone to flooding, and the water, when it does rain, eventually ends up in storm drains. The students would like to divert the water to benefit the garden rather than having flooding and runoff. We need tools like shovels and spades to construct, seeds to plant, and a couple of cameras to document where water collects, and to take before and after photos.

Themes Addressed

  • term icon
    Clean Water
  • term icon
    Community Enhancement
  • term icon
    Food Choices

The Benefit

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