An Email From Thomas Paccioretti

Note:  (I am amazed that anyone could have laughed at my greenhouse!)  I am reprinting Tom's email sent to those students for whom he has email addresses.  Please know I do not know, nor do I wish to find out!, who donates to our Garden.  The treasurer, Julie Mann, knows and respects a separation between my duties as the Gadenmaster and the man who assigns grades to UCLA students.

Thank you for understanding.

david



Hello fellow TLG classmates. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season, maybe even enjoying some of the fruits of your labors at TLG. Yum.

It was unfortunate that I needed to be out of town on pot-luck Sunday, our last class. I hear you guys cooked up a storm. I was really looking forward to seeing you all and participating as you’re really cool and fun to be with. It’s our connections with people that makes this life all worthwhile, no? You all have been and will continue to be a great connection for me. One other thing I missed out on was giving my “I’ll match-you” presentation ( I practiced it for three days). It goes something like this:

I’ve been involved with TLG and have known David King and Julie Mann for less than a year, but I’m here to tell you that I’ve seen a lot in my days and there are few that I have met that match their commitment and excellence. They are doing good stuff. They struggle with financing, but you’d never know it. They make loaves for the hungry from our scraps. They make a difference in many people’s lives every stinkin’ day and I’ve never heard them whine. And they have good reasons to whine. They need stuff. They need stuff to help more people. And to help more people is their goal and passion. And now, to help them, has become mine.

To that end I have redirected my charitable contributions this year to TLG instead of the national charities I have previously donated to. TLG, we have seen, does good things and they do them well. We need more organizations like TLG and we need to help TLG help more people. So . . . you recall that greenhouse, without the glass, we made fun of? And you know who you are (one was me, of course). Well I’ve decide to start GRP, the Green house Restoration Project, and help raise the $25K David and Julie need to rebuild the thing right. It will provide TLG and all who benefit from it, the kids, us and those that wander in to enjoy a break from a hectic day, the facilities needed to go to the next step - propagation, production and preservation of precious plants (love the alliteration eh?). They have earned the right and our confidence to do this project. But, of course, they need some cash. Not a lot, as they have begged and bartered (don’t ask) for much of the labor and some of the materials, but not everything can be bartered for.

I want to motivate you to contribute to this project. I am fortunate enough to be in the position to match all of your donations to TLG from now until the end of the year. And I will make sure that all contributors will be permanently thanked with a lasting memorial at TLG. I haven’t figured out exactly what, but it will be something you’ll be proud of. And of course you’ll know that your tax deductible charitable contribution has been given to people that will do good things with it. I’ve have been moved by your involvement in TLG programs and the benefit TLG provides us and our community. Hail, hail and long live TLG. And long live you all.

Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated. You can use the TLG website - http://www.thelearninggarden.org/donate2.html

All the best and happy holidays and here’s to wishing you a very happy new year.

So you signed up for the January propagation class, right? See you then there.

Cheers.

Tom Paccioretti
Grow what grows

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase!

The Learning Garden's patio is quiet on Thanksgiving morning getting ready for our annual feast.  Another sunny Thanksgiving and we are thankful for so many things - one of them is our neighbors here in Mar Vista - one of the most forward looking communities on the Westside.  And here, in the weeks just following Thanksgiving, we have even more reasons for our gratitude!

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase is showcasing The Learning Garden this week.  You can hop on over there and see a photo from this year's pesto festival of the Gardenmaster making pesto! 

david

Clases in the Garden - UCLA Extension

Even in the cold!  It was cold today and in the middle of Lorna Hall's expose on growing chickens in the city, it turned down right bitter.  

But here, the Gardenmaster holds forth on the patio in front of UCLA Extension's fall class held at The Learning Garden, Modern Backyard Food Production.   Already there are a lot of folks lined up to take the winter class, Plant Propagation for Gardeners.  We'll have to figure out how to stay warm.  Maybe we'll have to retreat to a class room part time.  But we'll have to stay warmer than we were today - that's for sure!

david

Thanksgiving In The Garden

Thanksgiving 2009 at The Learning Garden!  Like the world we live in, this Garden is composed of so many different people of different sizes, attitudes, ideals and cultures.  Yesterday's Thanksgiving was a lovely affair with lots of food, conviviality and joy.  A Native American drummer provided the beat and chants for one young lady to take up a Native American dance and show it to several others. 

Our fifth Thanksgiving in the Garden.  We had a lot to be grateful for and we pray you do as well. 

Our next holiday will be Winter Solstice, we hope you can make plans to join us.

david

Tomorrow Is Thanksgiving But This Is Christmas

Christmas Lima Bean, that is!  Called 'Christmas' for its lovely red and white markings, this is a prolific lima bean.  It needs a sturdy trellis to climb on and produces gobs of nice thick pods (like the one shown) with three or more beans per pod.  I believe these seeds came from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa.

Lima beans can be enjoyed as a fresh 'shelly' bean (you shell the beans from the green pod while they are still soft) or you can dry them on the plant (until the pod is thoroughly brown and dry) and save them until winter when you would revive them in water just like a dried soup bean. 

Dried beans of all kinds are easy to store and can provide a household with a good deal of homegrown protein.  They come in a myriad of different shapes and sizes and flavors!  I will grow a LOT more next summer, and I will especially include a lot more 'Christmas' lima beans 

Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving - if you are in the LA area and looking for a place to go, please come by The Learning Garden 11 AM to 2 PM for our potluck Thanksgiving hosting the Program for Torture Victims.  This is one of West LA's best community events this time of year held on the patio of The Learning Garden on the campus of Venice High School, Walgrove Avenue and Venice Boulevard, 90066. 

God bless us, one and all, and I pray your Thanksgiving is one of wonder and blessed with the bounty of the earth! 

david

Let There Be Light!

Mark Gibney, our volunteer electrician, shows Julie Mann, TLG co-founder and Treasurer, how the new solar light will light our sign at the intersection of Walgrove and Venice Blvd.  Through a grant from the Venice Community Council, The Learning Garden has been able to purchase several security lights, a light for our sign and several flood lights for the patio when we have events.  The solar collector is placed just behind the sign on an angle that nets it sufficent sun to power the light.  The light itself is an LED so it doesn't need a lot of juice.  

This just another step in the evolution of  The Learning Garden as a beacon of change for the community.  

david

Spring Is Springing in Southern California

If we need more convincing that Fall is really Spring in Southern California, this should silence all remaining doubts!  A lovely paperwhite blooms on the west side of The Learning Garden's shade house.  There are only about five fully opened paperwhites, others promise to open soon.  Unfortunately, the Unified School District painters are here to paint the shade house (along with all the other buildings on campus) and a lot of the paperwhites are getting trampled because they are underfoot.

Almost all the gardening books published tell you that paper whites (along with other narcissus) bloom in Spring.  That is true for folks living in more temperate climates, but that is not Los Angeles.  We are a classic case of a Mediterranean Climate and for us, Fall is our 'other' Spring with paperwhites blooming now and the other narcissus and daffodils will bloom soon after.  The freesias (one of my most favorite scents) will bloom in about a month.  It's a very exciting time for scent in the gardens of our area now.  Inhale the breath of Spring. 

david

david