Transition Pasadena
  • Home
  • Our Projects
  • News
  • Get Involved!
  • Calendar of Events

Throop Learning Garden

Picture

Throop Memorial Church  •  300 South Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena

Throop Learning Garden is an example of how we can transform our environment through community. We worked together to found a garden based on permaculture principles. We began with Bermuda grass and hardpan clay. We now enjoy a garden that includes a raised bed food garden, a fruit tree food forest, a drought tolerant native garden, demonstrations of water harvesting techniques, soil building, uses for “urbanite” and other recyclables, and comfortable places to congregate. We also host a wealth of birds and beneficial insects, including praying mantises, many moths, and butterflies.
Garden work days are most Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 10:30.

~ 2013 Pasadena Green City Award for Urban Nature ~


Notes from the Garden

8/3/2013

 
Picture
Every so often one finds great inspiration from the smallest of events. Today, I came across two; a years old magazine and a website I did not know. Both gave me pause, but then spurred me to think.

First, I stumbled over a Tricycle magazine from 2009 as I cleaned my studio. I happened to open the magazine to “Out of the Skeleton Garden: On things that go flap in the night” by my favorite garden author, Wendy Johnson. In it she rejoiced that we have bats in the world, for pest control, pollination, and fertilizer. She eloquently described the important niche bats inhabit, and how each small bat action influences the well being of a myriad of plants, animals, and people around them. This led me to think of Throop Learning Garden, and the joy of seeing swooping bats at dusk. We are so fortunate to have them as denizens of our extended community.

The second happenstance involved a small UK website: myclimatechangegarden.com.
The very short article entitled “How Your Garden Can Help Beat Climate Change” offered four areas where urban gardens make a difference:
  • [Gardens] help control urban temperatures, mitigating the effects of extreme heat or cold.
  • They help prevent flooding by absorbing rainwater that would otherwise overload a drainage system.
  • They have effectively become some of Britain’s best nature reserves, supporting a range of wildlife including birds, mammals, and invertebrates.
  • They support human health by easing stress and providing physical exercise.

I would add a number of other benefits including: building community, providing food, and promoting a deeper sense of interbeing.
 
Both inspirations dovetail into our activities at Throop Learning Garden. We are in the process of setting up workshops for the fall/winter season. One of our key topics is attracting bats to gardens. This also ties in with our goal of promoting gardening across the city. Several regular gardeners are joining with other folks to form gardens for the Arroyo Food Co-op and a Woodbury neighborhood group. Each action draws us into a larger, interconnected web of life. Each small step brings us closer to healing ourselves and our environment.

— January Nordman

    Garden Co-Managers

    January Nordman
    Michael Kelley

    History

    Beginnings
    Creating the Vision
    Transitioning a Lawn
    Dedication Ceremony
    National Day of Service 2013

    Photo Gallery

    Picture

    Previous Posts

    June 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

•  Home
•  Latest News  /  Event Photos
•  Throop Learning Garden  /  History  /  Garden Photos
•  Repair Café Pasadena  /  Photo Gallery
•  Get Involved  /  Contact Us

Creative Commons License
Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Picture
Site design: Qrys Cunningham
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Jinx!, deege@fermentarium.com