The Green Gazette by Sophie, Jane, and Hannah

2013

April Issue Jane,

Hannah, and

Sophie

The Green

Gazette

Special Organism of the Year Edition!

What’s

Inside: Digging Deeper

with Gardeners!!

Never Before Seen

Posters!

Beautiful pictures!

Learn about the history of Arlington Gardens!

Soil grows our food

and plants and provides habi-

tats for animals. Because of

ranging climates and soil

around the world we are giv-

en a wide range of trees,

plants, and food. These are

used to help us thrive and live

as the human race.

Since soil is so im-

portant and valued topsoil

loss is a major issue. Topsoil

loss is when the elements

cause the soil to get carried

away. When the plants are

not there to make the soil

stable, the soil will not stick

to the ground. This means

that our major crops could

be destroyed and communi-

ties would be devastated.

Our organism of the

year, the nematode, is devot-

ed to making the soil better.

The main benefit of nema-

todes is they will eat the nu-

trients in a place where there

is a lot and disperse them

around to places with not as

many nutrients. This makes

the soil healthier everywhere.

They also kill soil dwelling

insect pests making the plant

grow easier. The nematode

even though they may

be microscopic makes a

huge impact on the

quality of our soil.

Nematode Decoded: Organism of the Year

By Sophie

“Our organism of the year,

the nematode, is devoted

to making the soil better.”

APRIL ISSUE

I smell the sweet, intangible scent of the purple flowers surrounding

me.

The wooden bench I am sitting on smells like an oaky wine, but slightly

sweeter.

The flowerpots hanging from the arch above me smell like rusted

sugar.

The bench is smooth, but as I run

my hands along the planks,

I am reading Braille.

I look to my right, and see the pur-

ple buds and part of the arch.

I look back towards the house and the other arch, and I look at the

bird bath again.

It is made of stone, but it looks old

and wary.

A baby angel is perched on top, with his wings tucked in close to his

back.

His fists are close to his chest, and

he looks up.

He seems insecure, yet brave.

I stand up and walk throughout the

garden.

The hot sun beats down on me, yet the cool spring breeze sweeps over

my face.

I finally understand peace.

Spring

Above me, an arch entangled with purple flowers looms over the

bench I am sitting on.

The sun peeks through and I am

forced to squint.

As I stare out, past the flowerbeds

and honeybees, past the birdbath,

I see part of a house, and a rusted metal arch with flowerpots balanc-

ing on the beams.

All around me, birds are having a happy conversation in a language

that I will never understand.

In front of me, I hear a little girl

talking to her family.

They respond to her and talk about all the flowers and soon-to-be olive

trees.

The Compost

I walk up the dirty concrete stairs

into my backyard.

The cold evening breeze whishes

through me,

And I pull the sides of my cardigan

inward, so that it covers my chest.

I step on the overgrown grass with

my sore, bare feet.

The balls of my feet are tender

from wearing the wrong shoes on a

walk today, and I massage them in

the grass.

I think of the billions of little crea-

tures living right under me, and I

think they must feel very invaded

by us humans.

I tiptoe over to the garden that

never was next to the lawn.

The black compost bin sits in it,

embedded in the small rocks.

I flip open the top of it with the tips

of my fingers slowly;

I am afraid of spiders.

There were cobwebs on some of

the corners, and a dead spider on

the underside of the lid.

I shudder at the sight, but I don’t

close the bin.

I look down and see broken egg-

shells, and moldy fruit.

But under that was the dark, rich,

pure soil.

It is a deep mahogany color.

My mother used this to plant herbs

and vegetables in a different garden,

and sprouts started to peek out in

a matter of days.

It’s hard to imagine that it was once

pieces of apple core and banana

peels.

Now I remember looking in that

same soil years ago and seeing

worms crawling in the handful of it

in my hand.

I wondered how they managed to

get in there.

But now I know.

They’re doing their job.

Wriggling through the waste, de-

composing it until it is humus.

They manage to decompose every-

thing, even coffee filters.

They make it into soil that can

grow plants faster than any other

soil.

I think of magic shows.

The magicians, moving their hands

and making countless red balls mys-

teriously come out of their mouths.

This is better.

Poems by Jane

APRIL ISSUE

Goodness only knows where she found that here. A rusted metal ladder winds its way up the roof, to the white plastic house that sits there, a greenhouse. I love it here, with the smell of fresh dirt from the newly opened bags of soil that cover the greenhouse floor. I love the potted seedlings that are grow-ing on the roof, sheltered from any other life. But most of all I love the green I can see on both horizons, spanning the distance between L.A and San Cristobal, Mexico. Pods swirl around my head, dandelions and pollen from a jasmine plant dance on the terra cotta tiles of the roof. I walk to the edge of the roof, where the noise of bees drinking from the fragrant honeysuckle blossoms is easily heard. The wind takes up a chanting call as the sky darkens over Mexico, but I will not leave this roof, not yet. The butterflies, headed towards some-where or another, swirl past as though stuck in an orange and yellow and clean white whirlpool. My feet are almost off the roof now as I spread my arms wide, the wind buffeting me in the early night, and I call to the sky, as though in prayer “ thank you for this, for the wind, for the butterflies, for the flowers below, for my home, for the plane that took me here... and thank you, most of all, for this moment where I am truly feeling earth’s grander, for the first time ever!” And with that, I descended the ladder down from the roof to my home soil from which this world was born and it sud-denly occurs to me, the ultimate question: Why am I even here on this earth that needs no help from me to be beautiful?

Tethered but Free

I am tethered to it, like a boul-der to the stream, like a dog chained to a post. In the early years, I was rabid, always writhing away from the earth, yearning to fly, to swim, to do anything to get me away from the everlasting green horizon. I have learned to accept the fact that flying is saved for birds and those few times when I depart in a metal bird, reaching forever for the sun. Looking down, I see the rolling green of the hills and the im-passable wilderness that I fly over as easy as a dove, her wings spread in the joy of creation. Suddenly I long to touch it again, to whisper apologies of aban-doning the roots of my life, the earth that is my immortal foundation. But, like an eagle with his eye on prey, there is no turning back to touch the soil of home once more, to let it run through my fingers, the moist brown of home. The bird shudders and stops, its feet touching down in the wasteland of Tuxtla, Mexico. The air is warm and dry, and I feel my lips cracking as I watch the dust devils swirl in the distance, a harmony of dry. At my grandma’s house, the vibrant colors begin to form once again in her garden of honeysuckle and rosemary

and butterflies and all the other creatures that inhabit this rich soil.

The Song of the Trees

Have you ever heard the song of the trees? As though a winter wind has taken hold, they sway in time to the music only they can hear as the sun beats down on their exposed trunks like a machete. The tree that I sit under sings in harmony, creaking and groaning as

though in melody. I look up as the tree smiles down on me, its wild fronds shaking, weeping in the heat, trembling. Why am I here? The trees, the plants, the flow-ers are here to take care of the earth but we, we are nothing. These beings are enough to support the world, yet we are here to cut down the trees, tear up the earth, and never even stop to think. We pollute the air, we fill our water with oil without a thought. But here, in the garden, they grow without us, singing their own, unique song of life. So,

why are we here?

Poems by Hannah

Felt

From time to time I cradle my knees and sit in the grass, trying to keep myself occupied. I pick the flow-ers and grass and break them apart. Do you won-

der and destroy?

I slowly break the rock within me. So that my love can peek out, but when that love is dead, I use it to

nurture my next love.

The soil is made of me, my love and healthiness builds it up. My grandpa’s ashes will make our avocado tree grow. His life wills flourish new life. When I dig my hands in to the soil of the avocado tree, do I feel my

grandpa?

Am I here to be used, to

be felt by some child? I

want to be felt. I want to

resurrect.

Poems by Sophie

Nature Punch

Brisk breathing and unstable steps

I stomp past looking for something extraordi-

nary

A small bush of five flowers under an arching

bush

Not extraordinary enough

Walking away, then a solid gold butterfly

punches out of the bush calling me back to

the now breath taking flowers

I sit myself down brushing the wood chips off

my skirt

Above me a watercolor sky, some places not

gone over twice

The waterfall veins of the petals start a blood

red then fade into a soft orange

They bob around in the wind like bumper cars

The bush covering it has lamb ear leaves, the

baby lamb blocking the elements of its prime

jewel

But one streak of light hits its delicate petals

The wind hits but the flowers trudge on

I snap out of my focused faze not wanting to

know anything but the ways of those shel-

tered flowers

Cool Propaganda Poster!

Plant a garden, sprout a future!

Profile of a Westridge Tree

By Sophie

The Jacaranda grows well in Mediterranean climate. It ranges in size be between 2 to 30 meters. They are valued for their beautiful flowers.

As you walk into Arlington Gar-

dens, the cool clean air greets

you, carrying the smell of Jas-

mine and wildflowers. The sand

path crunches under your feet

as you admire the pepper trees

that loom above or sneak a

peek at the landscapes that the

artist next to you is painting.

Maybe you stop to watch as a

multi colored butterfly glides

onto a lupine flower to open its

orange wings. Either way, Ar-

lington Garden is a bit of para-

dise in the always busy city of

Pasadena, CA. But this garden

hasn’t always been here. This

property once belonged to a

wealthy area of Pasadena nick-

named “ Millionaires Row.” This

property, called “Arlington

Heights” was purchased by a

man named James Durand in

1902. The original house was

torn down, replaced with a

mansion modeled after a French

Chateau. The house was

adorned with hand carved

wood, gold, arizona sandstone

and more. This house on the

Arlington property turned out

to be 17,000 square feet with

three stories and fifty rooms.

This house was known as the

biggest in Southern California.

A lavish garden was planted in

front of the house, complete

with cacti, roses, palms and oth-

er “tropical plants” to create a

“tropical paradise” in Mr. Du-

rand’s garden. The home was

intact till 1960, then the furni-

ture and art and other compo-

nents of the house were sold

and the house itself demolished.

For 40 years, this property re-

mained inert and passive as it

waited for the construction of

the 710 freeway, which never

ended up happening. In 2003, a

conference was held on what to

do with the property, whether

to make it a parking lot of play-

ing field or to make it into a

sort of community garden. The

community garden idea won.

Betty and Kicker McKenny

started the Arlington garden

as a water-wise native gar-

den. Their work on the gar-

den has been outstanding.

When the property was va-

cant, there were only 10

trees, and sense the

beginning of the garden, al-

most 400 trees have been

planted in Arlington gardens.

So when you walk through

the meadow at Arlington or

sit and admire the maple

trees, remember that a man-

sion, the biggest house in

southern California once

stood at the spot you are

standing, or you are standing

in a place where a towering

cacti or a century plant once

lit up the streets of

“Millionaires row.” And now,

you can enjoy the climate

friendly, native garden called

Arlington.

The History of Arlington Gardens!

By Hannah

“...Arlington Garden is a

bit of paradise in the

always busy city of

Pasadena, CA.”

With exuberant pink hair

and bubbly personality, Leigh Ad-

ams stands out in any crowd. She

taught Spanish, Outdoor Education,

and Folk Arts at Sequoia Elemen-

tary School for seventeen years,

and loves children.

Leigh is also a resident and

a professional artist at the Pasadena

Arboretum. She specializes in glass

art and mosaics and has a wonder-

ful time doing it. She has made

friends with her co-workers, some

of which talked to us today during

our rotations.

Leigh is also very connect-

ed to nature and loves gardening. In

her backyard, she has more than 40

fruit trees. Some of the things she

grows are guavas, three different

kinds of oranges, grapes, avoca-

does, and peaches. Today she came

to campus and talked to seventh

graders during The Tree Walk ro-

tation. There she talked to us about

all the different trees around the

quad, and how you could tell what

kinds of trees they were. She said the best way is to

look at the bark and the leaves because each tree is

physically different. We looked at some of the Ginkgo

trees around the quad. They had little blossoms grow-

ing with the leaves. “You know how you can tell what

gender these trees are? Males have these blossoms,

and females don’t.” She also said that the female trees

grow fruits that smell absolutely horrible, “…so when

you’re planting a tree, do a little research on it first!”

Who’s Who in Gardening: Leigh Adams

By Jane

When you are building a house or

planting native trees, place them on

the side of the house that gets the

most sun in the middle of the day.

That way, the trees and/or flowers get

the most amount of sunlight possible!

Attention readers,

You may think this issue may be

much ado about nothing but it is

about embracing the beauty of soil

and the organism of the year. Dur-

ing the soil unit (our inspiration) we

visited the Arlington Gardens and

there we took soil samples and

took photos. We also did a lot of

planting and got very dirty. We

learned about topsoil loss and its

effects. Soil is not just that gross

and stinky stuff beneath your feet.

It is a whole food chain it is respon-

sible for our food and biodiversity.

Hope you enjoy the issue.

Sincerely

Sophie

Letters from the Editors

Dear “Green Gazette” Readers,

This week, I, your editor, had an amaz-ing experience in a Unit called “Soil Unit” in school. We learned about the importance of soil, native plants, water and other things that help our ecosys-tem. One thing that really stood out to me was our trip to Arlington Gardens. I loved watching the Lupine and poppies in full bloom and admiring the Pepper trees that surround the property. Col-lecting dirt from different places to see how many microorganisms live in one place was fascinating as well. Walking through the stone labyrinth was peaceful and meditational, and writing poems really helped me look at the gardens in a different way. I remember how we were instructed to look up while taking notes for our “One wild and precious life” poem, and when I did, I saw a beautiful orange butterfly, framed against the blue sky that I would not have seen other-wise. Also, I saw a red crested wood-pecker pecking at a palm tree, looking for some type of grub. It was amazing to notice the little things in nature that I

usually do not.

Another fun thing was when a few gardener from the Arboretum came and showed us different thing about gardening. For example one lady helped us plant an herb garden be-hind the campus commons. It was great to work in the garden as a team, hauling stones and digging holes and watering. We also learned about the different types of trees across campus, like the camphor tree in Raney court and the huge live Oak in

the quad.

Another thing that I liked in this unit was that I learned how to work in a team better. We worked in teams for almost everything: Making propa-ganda posters, making a magazine, doing our rotations and more. I usu-ally am not a big fan of working in groups, but in this case it was more fun and easier to have lots of peoples ideas involved. All in all, this has been a very fun unit. Learning about plants and soil were very interesting, more so than I thought it would be, and I

wish I could do it again!

Sincerely,

Your Editor

Hannah

Dear Readers,

Over the course of six

days, I have been in the Soil Unit at

school. It was half of a day, every day,

where everything was dedicated to

soil. Before the unit started, I

thought, “Soil? Really? What is there

to learn about soil?” I was wrong.

Not only did we learn

about all different kinds of processes

soil goes through, or how we need

soil to survive; we did hands-on activ-

ities and went on field trips to put

our knowledge to the test. This is

very similar to the water unit in a

sense that we are learning about

concepts that most schools don’t

teach in a hands-on, “down and

dirty” way.

I personally really like this

unit. It takes up all of our core clas-

ses (English, history, math, and sci-

ence), so it lightens up the home-

work load. It’s also nice to ease our

way back into school after a break.

Instead of going right back into all of

our regular classes, we slowly go

back into the curriculum. It’s also

nice to get out of the routine once in

a while. Having one routine that you do every day can be very unhealthy

for your brain. It’s nice to experience

a new way of learning.

I also like working in a

group. I heard some people saying

how they had to do all the work in

their groups, but I think my group

worked really well together. We

balanced out the work and we were

really organized.

The field trips were also so

fun! I loved heading over to Arlington

Gardens and walking through the

labyrinth. Not to mention that it was

beautiful there too! The Pasadena

community Garden was fun too. It

was very satisfying digging up the

weeds. This morning, we went on a

hike in Descanso Gardens. It was

great exercise and the views were

beautiful. It was a lot hotter than I

expected, and going down the steep

mountain was scary and fun.

I thought this unit as a

whole was the perfect way to learn

about interesting things and go out of

your comfort zone. I would happily

do something like this again.

Sincerely,

Jane

YOUR WRITERS CREATERS, AND EDITORS!!!

HANNAH

JANE

SOPHIE

The Green Gazette by Sophie, Jane, and Hannah

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