Jardin Abundancia

04/11/2014

Hello Everyone
On behalf of all CESA Core-members we have unfortunate news to announce.
Our rental-agreement with the International Institute of Los Angeles (IILA) at 435 S Boyle Ave LA, 90033 has been officially terminated. Our headquarters will no longer be at this location and we also will not have the ability to share the space with Community Allies through our collaboration form.
CESA was able to maintain its headquarters at the ILLA by renting an office-space for almost 3 years (2011-2014)! And throughout this time we, along with your help & participation, were able to put on some amazing, successful Community Events that ranged from political-educational workshops, documentary screenings, Community Fitness Series (CFS), gardening activities through Jardin Abundancia, and of course the Gentrification Panel last summer that had over 200 attendees!
We thank you all who had the opportunity to attend & participate in our events or just were able to make a friendly visit to our space. Special thanks to all our Allies who we had the opportunity to collaborate together at the CESA headquaters that included the long hours of planning, discussing, and hosting wonderful events, especially at the beautiful courtyard.
Without your support we would have not been able to grow and develop CESA where it is today in following through with our mission to severe the Community.
Lastly, thank you to Robert Foss from the IILA's Immigration Legal Services Division for initiating the idea of CESA renting the office-space and making it possible by being our liaison representative to the board of directors.
Here is a list of the many great events hosted at the ILLA!
2011
July - Jardin Abundancia Inauguration Community Event - Food Politics & Gardening 101 Workshops
August - The People Need Mass Transit: Destruction of Street-car System in Los Angeles Workshop
September- Blowback: US Foreign Policy in the Middle East Workshop
November - Dia De Los Mu***os Event Honoring The Struggles of Immigrants
December - Thanks-taking: Colonialism, Racism & Genocide Workshop
2012
January - Hyper Consumerism: Politics of Inequality & Exploitation Workshop
February - Community Gardening Day with the USC Latino/a Social Work Caucus
February - The Attack on Public Education Workshop
March - CESA Celebrates International Women’s Day Event
March - Hike to Griffith Park (meetup at IILA)
April - Express Yourself: The Arts and Activism Workshop
June - The Labor Movement: History of Labor Struggles in the US Workshop in Preparation for the Largest Protest Against Wal-Mart in Chinatown-Los Angeles
July - General Labor Strikes & Worker Co-operatives Workshop
July - CESA Field Trip to the Great Wall of LA (meetup was at IILA)
July - Summer Crops Gardening Event
September - Community Fitness Series (CFS) Month Long Activities that included: Yoga & Stretching; Food Labels and Healthy Eating workshop; Boyle Heights Urban Walk; History of International Institute of Los Angeles; Boyle Heights Community Street Cleanup
September - Screening of “The Murder of Fred Hampton”
October - Mass Incarceration & Police Brutality Workshop
October - Winter Crops Gardening Day
November - Dia de Los Mu***os - Save Ethnic Studies Community Event
2013
February - Screening of “Finally Got the News” - Detroit Revolutionary Union Movement
March - Boys and Girls Club Visits Jardin Abundancia for Green Smoothies Day
April - Screening of “Uprising: Hip Hop & the LA Riots”
June - Boyle Heights Primavera Festival with a Green Smoothies workshop at Jardin Abundancia visited by Youth on Bicycles
July - ‘Gentrified LA: Reclaiming Communities, Empowering Neighborhoods’ Panel with guest-speaker Laura Pulido
August - ‘GuateMaya’ Oral Testimony by Maria Elena Bustamante Ortiz on Human Rights in Guatemala
November - Dia de los Mu***os Community Event with Immigrant Youth Coalition
CESA will continue to move forward on our journey to find a new headquarters location! Any ideas please share!

01/09/2014

Thank you to all those beautiful peeps that were able to make it this past Saturday to the Jardin, Your help was much appreciated. Here are some last minute pictures :)

12/10/2013

"These foods we trust to give us nourishment are slowing killing us a sweet venom que corre por nuestras venas and though they tell us to read the labels how...

11/28/2013

FROM OUR GOOD FRIENDS COMIDA NO BOMBAS
https://www.facebook.com/CNBxLA
Rise and shine Compxs!

A few of us went knocking door to door last night around Mariachi Plaza introducing how CNB sees the problems of lack of access to food and the different strategies we have been using to combat them!

Our goal was to start building community and collective consciousness by inviting folx to the Viernes Trueque instead of participating in Black Friday which is incredibly exploitative! Those aren't the kinds of relationships we want to have with one another.

We'll be continuing these dialogues with the community today.
11am - La Plaza del Mariachi corner of 1st and Boyle Foot soldiers will be provided with coffee and possibly pan dulce!

11/09/2013

http://www.viralnova.com/lawn-garden/

This man is my new hero. Hands down.

10/19/2013

Share this if you think every school should have a garden.

09/23/2013

Supporting another great community garden in El Monte!

09/12/2013

Starting to germinate seeds for winter season! =)

09/09/2013

we have verdolagas at the garden! yay =)

Verdolagas (Portulaca oleracea) is a common w**d. It is also a highly nutritious food and was considered a delicacy by the ancestors (ask your oldest living relative). The English word is "purslane" but it is also known as pigw**d.

It is usually described as having origins in the Old World, having been known to the Egyptians and grown in China and India for thousands of years. However, verdologas was also known in the Americas well before the arrival of the Europeans: “the archaeological evidence establishes that [verdolagas] was in the New World before historic times and indicates early prehistoric introduction or indigenous development” (Chapman et al 1974). Coe describes this green as eaten by the Mayans at the time of European contact. In northern New Mexico, it is a popular dish during Lent. In our Oakland neighborhood verdolagas appears in the sidewalk cracks on the sunny side of the street and it is also easy to get going in your garden by scattering seeds.

Verdolagas

•is higher in omega-3 fatty acids than other vegetable sources (see also Chia).
•is antibacterial and antifungal,
•has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, and wound healing properties (Oh 2002, Chan 2000, Perry 1993, Rasheed 2003).
•is protective of the liver, especially in cases of liver damage from medications (Anusha 2011) or from a high fat diet (Chen 2011).
•ameliorates kidney damage caused by diabetes (Lee 2012).

We are at the tail end of the season. Look around to see if you see any in your yard or around your neighborhood. If you pick a plant now, it has seed pods! The seeds are tiny, round, black spheres. Each plant produces thousands of seeds. Snag a plant and put it where you would like some to grow next Spring.

Also, for those of you near Berkeley, one of the vendors sells verdolagas at the Saturday farmer's market. I'm sure they sell them in LA, too.

09/02/2013

"strawberry fields forever!"

08/11/2013

Hello Jardin Abundancia friends! We are working on revitalizing the garden by cleaning it and are planning to build raise beds to use more of the space. We will need some help starting next weekend! Thanks =)

07/15/2013

Look! Artichoke flowers!!