The Green Gazette by Sophie, Jane, and Hannah
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Transcript of 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.”
Page 2
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
Page 3
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
Page 4
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
Page 5
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!
Page 6
Plant a garden, sprout a future!
Profile of a Westridge Tree
By Sophie
Page 7
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.”
Page 8
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!
Page 9
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
Page 10
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
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
YOUR WRITERS CREATERS, AND EDITORS!!!
HANNAH
JANE
SOPHIE