BURBANK GARDEN

Upcoming EVENT!!!!

What: BURBANK GARDEN WORK PARTY

When: Saturday July 10

Time: TBA

Where: The Burbank Community Garden (Near the corner of 65th Ave and Outlook Ave)

The Burbank Elementary School Garden was developed by the East Bay Conservation Corps through 2003 Community Development Block Grant funds and was due to receive a major grant from the Trust for Public Land. It was abandoned when Oakland Unified School District closed the school the following year. In 2004, the Oakland Small School Foundation opened Explore College Preparatory Middle School in the abandoned Burbank Elementary School building. Sadly, just 6 years later, the middle school is slated to be one of 4 schools closed by OUSD in 2010. When it was open, Explore served over 300 students in grades 6-8.

How we got involved with the garden

Early in 2009 we met a man by the name of Bill Richie, who worked for the city of Oakland. He had been left in charge of the sprawling Burbank Garden. Bill offered WYSE the opportunity to revitalize the garden and reconnect the school and community to the garden. Our goal is to renovate the garden and grow pesticide-free produce there. We plan to organize the community around self-sustainability by growing food locally with their own resources and those available through Mandela MarketPlace. With obesity on the rise and more junk food surrounding us daily it is important to have access to healthy options. As the project moves forward we plan to get residents of the surrounding community involved in the process, allowing them to learn and take responsibility for what they eat and how it’s grown. It is important that they be part of creating something healthy and grand to share. Knowing how to grow food in an urban environment like Oakland is something that we should all be allowed to learn.

April 12, 2009 - Swale Digging!

WYSE, Backyard Garden Project and community residents join together to prepare swales for over 30 fruit trees to be planted at Explore Prep Middle School.

WYSE, Explore College Prep Middle School Students, Planting Justice and Common Vision have fun planting over 30 fruit trees at Burbank Garden in East Oakland next to Explore Prep Middle School.

Update!!!

While working in the Burbank Garden, WYSE and Planting Justice were approached by the East Bay YMCA After-school Program. They invited us to participate once a week in their Culinary Arts and Food Justice after-school program. We will create a small in-school garden that helps the students learn how to grow and cook nutritious meals.

Our project starts at the beginning of the Fall 09 school year.

October 21, 2009- Welcome to "The Domino Effect"

On this day we took a break from working in the garden to collectively name the school garden and create a sign for it.

With help from WYSE, Planting Justice led a brainstorming activity in which they asked the students to discuss what the garden means to them. The students mentioned that the garden was a sacred place, a place for them to grow food, become healthy, and the garden was there to help them be calm and focus. After the discussion the students were asked what the name of the garden should be. Several names were suggested and the most popular one selected was “The Domino Effect”. The student who suggested the name explained that her reason for doing so was because the raised beds in the garden looked like dominoes from above and the little plants we put in looked like dots on dominoes. After speaking in more detail about her reasoning the student said that she thought it was appropriate given the fact that the garden is one step in creating change in her community and it can spark other things to change.

April 29, 2009 - Backyard Food Project Training

Gavin teaches WYSE how to germinate and transplant at his roof top garden. WYSE will then teach students at Explore Prep Middle School how to germinate and transplant.