Our summer program is now accepting applications! If you are a high school student or young adult in the Hollywood area and are looking for something fun, rewarding, and focused on community service and outreach, Just Food is the place for you.

Please email me at corrine@justhollywood.org for more information and to obtain an application.

Just Food is happy to announce our partnership with the Los Angeles Community Garden Council and the up and coming Madison Ave public garden in East Hollywood. Stay tuned for more about this project and our summer programs.

Check us out on Facebook: Just Food.

and Twitter too!

Bountiful Gardens Seed Order 2011

VBE-2328 Pinto Beans
VBE-2420 Envy (Edamame Soy Bean)
VBE-2465 Early Wonder Tall Top (Beet)
VBR-2540 Di Cicco (Broccoli)
VCA-2750 Primo (Cabbage)
VCA-2980 Shin Kuroda (Carrots)
VCO-3315 Anasazi (Corn)
VEG-3499 Black Beauty (Eggplant)
VKA-3910 Lacinato (Kale)
VLE-4200 Jericho (Romaine)
VLE-4110 Amish Speckled Butterhead
MBO-6240 Bolt Resistant Lettuce Mix
VON-4627 Valencia (Yellow Onion)
VON-4589 Mill Creek Red (Onion)
VON-4540 Chives
VOK-4500 Clemson Spineless (Okra)
VPE-4790 Alderman Pole (Peas)
VPE-4885 Habanero Peppers
VPE-4900 Jalapeno, Early
VBR-2580 Spring Raab (Broccoli)
VCH-3135 Fordhook Giant (Swiss Chard)
VPE- 4950 Yolo Wonder Bell (Red Bell Pepper)
MSW-6440 Sweet Bell Mix
VPU-5015 Winter Luxury (Pumpkins)
VSQ-5370 Crookneck, Early Summer Yellow (Squash)
VSQ-5410 Black Beauty (Zucchini)
VSQ-5440 Butternut, Waltman
VTO-5860 Pearson (Tomato)
VTO-5780 Brandywine (Tomato)
VTO-5842 Mortgage Lifter (Tomato)
VTO-5911 Verde (Tomato)
FSP-8610 Butterfly Mix
FSP-8600 Beneficial Insect Mix
HBA-7920 Sweet (Basil)
FCA-8660 Orange (Calendula)
HCH-8020 Chamomile
HCI-8060 Cilantro
HMI-8280 Mint
HSA-8350 Culinary (Sage)
HSA-8360 White Sage
HTH-8450 Thyme
FMA-8775 Lemon Gem (Marigold)
FSU-8875 Sunflower Mix

Baker Creek Seed Order 2011

CR111 Chatenay (Carrots)
CR112 Cosmic Purple (Carrots)
CU157 Solly Beiler (Pickling Cucumbers)
HPP102 Serrano Tampequino (Hot Peppers) <3
TP101 Cherokee Purple (Tomato)
HB119 Echinacea, Purpuea (Flower)
HB126 Dill-Bouquet (Herb)

It was such a great first event for our nonprofit and so may people came out to support the new garden space. The youngest attendee was 1 and the oldest was much older. What a great event to start the consecration of the garden.

Below are some pictures taken by a friend of mine at the festival. Enjoy!

It illuminates the streets so the lights are no longer needed. You can see it’s reflection in the eyes of my neighbors as they do their daily business, walk the dog, carry in groceries, run home from playing hoops at the park, talk outside their homes with second and third cousins from around the way, or sitting on the stoop listening and enjoying the cool fall air.

The sunset was stunning this evening. The sky lit up with bright pinks, serene purples, brilliant blues, and soothing yellows, and fiery reds. The clouds played their role in the revealing also. The majesty they declare is more than my heart can take and tears well up in my eyes as I hear the voices coming from below my second story street facing window. Just over the row homes in front of me, the sky calls goodnight to the sun and beckons us to watch as she reveals a new moon. The soundtrack, Spanish men, the scent, doesn’t matter anymore because the moon cleanses someplace so deep, so dark, and so scary that I wished all at once I could scream, cry, and dance under it’s light.

I wanted to ask forgiveness. I wanted to yell, “Be quiet! You’re missing it!” I wanted to dance to the moon’s invite. Come children of Camden, see yourselves in me, see yourselves in our Creator who loves and adores you, who never forgets and always hears your plea. Dear Creator of the moon, and the sky, of the brilliant colors, and the cool fall wind, of the Latino men outside my window, of my neighbors big and small, of this universe and everything in it, I see you. I see your grace everyday and I am blessed by your mercy. Continue to grow me up as a good neighbor and a forgiving friend. Build peace is the hearts of all creatures great and small. Thank you, for even the smallest reminder, that light shines in the darkest of places.

It is still relevant. Today. In Los Angeles.

I have lived in that place for many years. It has become a home of sorts. But life there is lonely. Life is dark in the occupation of my shadow. And so I asked her once, “Why is it that you exist?” With a coolness that carried up my spine, she replied, “To challenge your power.” My power? I thought for a moment, retracing memories of the two wisest people in my life. My mother had never described any inherent power or force. My Nana had never disclosed this mighty wisdom either. Could my shadow be deceiving me? My Papa had a power about him however, I felt censored in the presence of his power. The very thing that made me woman was stolen and choked out when his power breathed in its authority.

I weighed my options, of which I figured I had three. I could assume my shadow was a liar–for in her residence my world was less than real. Although this could be quite plausible, I felt this was not the right option. She had unearthed a wellspring within; something deeper was occurring in my spirit that called for discovery. I was becoming more awake. My second alternative was to do nothing, to continue as though the words she spoke had no effect or were spoken in an ancient tongue of which I knew not. But her words were clear and shook my very foundation with the same force that shook Northridge in 1994. My final option, the choice that made me cringe with distress and uneasiness, was to inquire further, to ask the source. Hesitantly, I spoke, and although the words barely formed in thought, I asked, “From where does my power manifest?” Her response, simple, concise, called me out of my own darkness and onto a new path. She responded, “From where do you manifest?”

Let the journey begin.

Oh Silence, teach me to be wild
And free and completely me.
Dear Silence, call me home
And I will run through your grove
While cello plays the song of my life.
And I will howl at your moon
While dancing around the fire of your heart.

Part of me longs for the Dream.
Part of me believes in the Dream.
But the heart of me
Is untamable.

The heart of me begins in my womb.
Point me home.
Guide me home.
Take me home.

Oh Wind, that I may know
The ways of mystery and stillness.
Dear Wind, call me home.
And I will dance in the ocean waves
While your breath swallows me whole.
And I will mark your sky with
my lips gently kissing your clouds.

Part of me stays firmly planted.
Part of me believes I’m planted.
But the heart of me
Is uncultivated.

The heart of me lies in an artists’ brush.

Point me home
So that I may walk on moonbeams.
Lead me home
To discover the end of a rainbow.
Call me home.

Point me home
And I’ll sail to the ends of the Earth.
Lead me home
And I’ll fly beyond the heavens.
Call me home.

The concept of the solstices was embedded in ancient Greek celestial navigation. As soon as they discovered that the Earth is spherical they devised the concept of the celestial sphere, an imaginary spherical surface rotating with the heavenly bodies (ouranioi) fixed in it (the modern one does not rotate, but the stars in it do). As long as no assumptions are made concerning the distances of those bodies from Earth or from each other, the sphere can be accepted as real and is in fact still in use.

As someone whose connected to the earth and therefore aware of the passing of seasons, the summer solstice is the time of year when the most work goes into the field. The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) that such a passage happens. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some languages they are considered to start or separate the seasons; in others they are considered to be center points (in English, in the Northern hemisphere, for example, the period around the June solstice is known as midsummer, and Midsummer’s Day is 24 June, about three days after the solstice itself). Shakespeare writes about this very day in his famous play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In many cultures, the solstice’s signify the midpoint of a season thus midsummer and midwinter. Since ancient times, June is the time for weddings, feasts, and revelry. For the gardeners out there, June is also the time to harvest strawberries, plant your tomatoes if you haven’t already done that, and tend to the weeds.

One of the most famous symbols in ancient history symbolizing the sun is the imagery of Tonatiuh. Tonatiuh was the sun god as is famously depicted in the center of the Aztec calendar. The Aztec considered him a leader of heaven, Tollan. The Aztecs were fascinated by the sun and carefully observed it. Tonatiuh was said to be the god of the fifth sun. Aztec people believed that each sun was a god with its own cosmic era. The Aztecs lived according to their solar calendar, a seasonal calendar, second in accuracy only to the Mayans’. The Aztec and the Mayan calendar were very similar. Where the Aztec’s differed most significantly from the Mayan’s was in their more primitive number system and in their less precise way of recording dates. Normally, they noted only the day on which an event occurred and the name of the current year. This is ambiguous, since the same day, as designated in the way mentioned above, can occur twice in a year. Moreover, years of the same name recur at 52-year intervals, and Spanish colonial annals often disagree as to the length of time between two events.

Other discrepancies in the records are only partially explained by the fact that different towns started their year with different months. The most widely accepted correlation of the calendar of Tenochtitlan with the Christian Julian calendar is based on the entrance of Cortes into that city on November 8, 1519, and on the surrender of Cuauhtemoc on August 13, 1521. According to this correlation, the first date was a day 8 Wind, the ninth day of the month Quecholli, in a year 1 Reed, the 13th year of a cycle.

The Aztec calendar kept two different aspects of time; tonalpohualli and xiuhpohualli. Each of these systems had a different purpose. The tonalpohualliwas the ‘counting of days.’ It originated by ancient peoples observing that the sun, crossed a certain zenith point near the Mayan city of Copan, every 260 days. So this first system is arranged in a 260-day cycle. These 260 days were then broken up into 20 periods, with each period containing 13 days, called trecenas. Each period was given the name of something that was then shown by a hieroglyphic sign, and each trecena was given a number 1-13. Each trecena is also thought to have a god or deity presiding over each of the trecena. They kept these counts in tonalamatls, screenfold books made from bark paper. The Aztecs used this as a religious calendar. Priests used the calendar to determine luck days for such activities as sowing crops, building houses, and going to war.

The xiuhpohualli was the ‘counting of the years.’ This calendar was kept on a 365-day solar count. This was also the agricultural and ceremonial calendar of the Aztec state. It was divided into 18 periods, with each period containing 20 days, called veintenas. This left five days that were not represented. These were called “nemontemi.” These were the five transition days between the old and the new year, and were considered days of nothing. This was a time of festivals. People came to the festivals with their best clothes on, and took part in singing and dancing. This is also when the priest would perform sacrifices, most of these sacrifices were human, but others were preformed on animals and fruit.

The solar year was the basis for the civil calendar by which the Mexicas (Aztecs) determined the myriad ceremonies and rituals linked to agricultural cycles. The calendar was made up of 18 months, each lasting 20 days. The months were divided into four five-day weeks. The year was rounded out to 365 days by the addition of the five-day nemontemi (empty days), an ominous period marked by the cessation of normal activities and general abstinence. The correlation of dates in the Gregorian calendar is uncertain, although most authors on the subject affix the beginning of the Aztec year to early February. A variety of sources were consulted in developing the following chart of some of the ritualistic activities associated with each month.

Many of the Aztecs’ religious ceremonies, including frequent human sacrifices, were performed at the Great Temple, located in the center of their capital city of Tenochtitlan.

Some helpful hints for the midsummer season:

Since the sun is at it’s northernmost point in the sky, make sure to protect your skin from UVA/UVB rays, use sunblock and cover up as much as possible. It’s time to dust off your favorite gardening hat and bring it with you while you pull weeds, water, and harvest those potatoes! Last week I harvested the last of the broccoli with some of my neighbors. The heads were full and beautiful! As the 4th of July is quickly approaching, pay attention to your potato plants. By now they should be turning yellow and dying. When you plants “die,” they are ready for harvest. My plants still need a few more weeks in the ground before the harvest.

May each of you find your northernmost point in your year and your season today and may you connect with your indigenous roots in the garden and in your life. Good tidings to you! And remember to face sunward every chance you get.

Advancing Urban Agriculture in Los Angeles by ALOUD.

Also, Occidental College has a wonderful program directed toward Food Justice policy in L.A. that you can view here:

UEPI.

Stay tuned for more on justHollywood’s community food assessment!

It took me about three months to fully adjust to being in my new yet old surroundings. Everything and everyone had changed, including myself. It seemed to me that not only did things and people change physically, but biologically, emotionally, spiritually, everything I had once known and called home had evolved, as I did. Things were not the same. I was uncomfortable. I wrestled with making the right decision. I tried to go back. I did go back in my head. Transplanting was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

What does this have to do with community gardening? As I notice those around me in the garden, the people that have rented plots, I realize that many of these people, my neighbors, have transplanted from native lands. Whether it be Russia, Armenia, Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, Guatemala, Austria, New Zealand, or Zimbabwe, my neighbors are in a foreign land. They come to the garden with hearts full of the weight of their immigrant life. Yet they come. We share, we smile, we commune over various foods and stories of farms in their native lands. Guermillo likes to speak of his family in Honduras and the tropical farming he did there. He has a banana tree in his plot. Stephan talks of the frost and indoor growing he and his family would do in Germany. Stephan and his wife Tatiyana have tomatoes and all sorts of herbs growing in their plot.

Last month I planted some vegetables from the Solanaceae family in little containers with a woman named Lucy. She’s a neighbor of mine in Hollywood whose loves to garden. This week, the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes were large enough to transplant into the community garden. I wonder if it is as shocking for plants to move from the only place they’ve known to a different land of different soil. I suppose this is why we must “shock” the plants by overwatering before we transplant them. In general, I think transplanting is a difficult process, but like the tomatoes and peppers, Stephan, Guermillo, and I have managed to find a way, to find peace, and to thrive among our surroundings.

Someone once told me, home is where my toothbrush is. I am beginning to learn that home is where I make it. So if you haven’t already transplanted your seedlings, begin that this week. Never transplant or water in the heat of the day. Your plants will thank you later for it.