‘Three mamas’ keep Hermosa community garden in the green
by Garth Meyer
In the summer it’s squash, tomatoes and basil; in the winter peas, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower – and herbs grow all year long at the Hermosa Beach Community Garden.
Purveyors of the 54 planter boxes, opened in 2016 at South Park, donate 20 percent of their harvest to the food pantry at Yahweh House in Lawndale.
Space along the perimeter fences is managed by St. Cross Episcopal Church, with volunteers harvesting and weighing the trees’ output every Thursday. The fruit includes nectarines, figs, peaches and California native grapes.
A group of “Tree Mamas” take care of this area.
Workdays are the third Saturday of each month.
Box rentals run two years at maximum, when it switches out to the next person the waiting list. Then the original renter may get back on the list.
In April, workers finished a new automatic watering system for the greenhouse. In 2020, a drip-irrigation system was put in along the perimeter.
Roots in ground for Redondo
Alta Vista community garden
The just-about-to-open Redondo Beach community garden is still taking entries for its 26, 4x 8-foot plots at Alta Vista Park.
On May 13, volunteers will hold another workday, the day before the lottery closes for entries. Workers day get an extra entry.
Angela Klipp, garden lead for South Bay Parkland Conservancy, reports more than 100 names in the hat so far.
“It’s a good problem to have,” she said. “This is a great example of how much the community is looking for this.”
The garden is scheduled to open during the third week of June.
Those who do not draw a plot, may join as non-plot members, eligible for the compost program, community herb garden, educational events and more.
“We hope people plant whatever excites them,” Klipp said. “I never liked tomatoes until I grew my own: this is what a tomato tastes like.”
Will she be growing them at the garden?
“I am in the lottery like everyone else,” she said.
Those with a garden plot should expect to water their plants twice per week, Klipp said. Too much water causes shallow roots, she added. ER