School Garden at Explore College Preparatory Middle School, East Oakland

In collaboration with Mandela Marketplace and West Oakland Youth Standing Empowered (WYSE), Planting Justice is developing a perennial food forest and organic vegetable garden at the Explore College Prep Middle School in East Oakland. In April 2009, along with eighty 6th and 7th graders, we planted the first 30 fruit trees at the Burbank Garden hillside right next to the school. Each fruit tree was planted on contour, down-slope from three water harvesting swales that were dug in a January community work-party led by Planting Justice. Check out our pictures and video below! This garden is providing the students with hands-on educational experiences in growing food and understanding nutrition through their after-school program. In collaboration with WYSE and the YMCA after-school program, Planting Justice leads the Food Justice and Culinary Arts class every Wednesday. We will continue this Spring and Summer to develop the perennial food forest at Burbank Garden by holding community work-parties and free permaculture workshops, helping to empower local residents with the skills and inspiration to develop this garden as a vital community resource. Check out these pictures and Mandela Marketplace's website: http://www.mandelamarketplace.org/ as well as WYSE's blog: http://www.myspace.com/wyse_youth . Stay tuned for our next community work-party, curriculum we've created for the middle school students, and further ways in which you can participate!