PRESS RELEASE
March 22, 2010
Vice Mayor Val Lerch, 9th District, Announces Joint Efforts of 9th District Office, Long Beach Organic & Grant Neighborhood Association In the Opening of a New Community Garden on Saturday, March 27, 2010
What: Vice Mayor Val Lerch, 9thDistrict, Long Beach Organic and the Grant Association will host a work party and barbeque this Saturday.
The day will begin with volunteers and future gardeners and the help of CSULB students, we will spend the morning removing trash, moving stones, and digging trenches for irrigation pipes. At noon we’ll enjoy a buffet lunch LBO-style as we sign up gardeners for the spring and summer season.
The garden will host over forty individual plots, giving as many families an opportunity to grow healthy organic produce in an urban environment. It will also eventually feature a small orchard, a grape arbor, a pond and butterfly habitat, and a demonstration garden to grow food for charity. We hope it will become a verdant community meeting place.
We are grateful for the help of Jerry Caligiuri from the office of Vice Mayor Lerch and Councilmember Val Lerch for their help with this project, as well as the support of the Grant Neighborhood Association. We also wish to thank local businessman Francisco de Los Santos, who will donate the use of his property for the garden, and Timothy Collier, The Green Plumber, for contributing to the irrigation system.
When: Saturday, March 27, 2010 from 9 A.M. to 12 Noon.
Where: 2813 South Street (east of Paramount)
Contact: Jerry Caligiuri at (562) 570-3315 or Joe Corso at joe@longbeachorganic.org or call (562) 438-9000.
*Photo courtesy of Signal Tribune Newspaper
Awesome!
How can we bring more community gardens to Fullerton and Anaheim? There are a lot of middle income and low income families around here who live in apartments and could really use a plot of land to grow their own food. There is all of ONE community garden in the area (at the Fullerton Arboretum) and it has a two year waiting list. It also has ridiculous hours (I think it’s 8am to 4am) that are not friendly to working folks.
I love where you are going with this Fern. Step One – Have you noticed any vacant lots throughout your travels? Working with a grass roots organization like Long Beach Organic helps but if there are enough people in a community that want a garden it is possible.
This is so wonderful!!! I live in South Long Beach, but attend a church in North Long Beach on South St. just East of Paramount called Destiny House Ministries. I am definitely going to swing by and check out your location. At Destiny House, we try to reach out to the local community in North Long Beach by having food and toys at a local park in the area one Saturday each month. I am so excited to hear that an organic garden is moving into the neighborhood. I hope it will bring the community together even more!