Nice to meet you – let’s take TEA together! The Lady of the Land/The Girl behind The Garden: I’ve been posting this past week about my new “baby,” The Edible Apartment, but I’ve yet to actually introduce myself. My name is Jill Volat and I’m an LA native (my son is 3rd generation). I began gardening along side my dad at about 6 years old. I started my own landscape and floral design business abou
t 12 years ago. I have served as director of the edible school garden program at my son’s school for the past 5 years. I am also a writer of poetry, novels, short stories and children’s books. My passions are plants, flowers, gardens, growing food, healthy eating, cooking, tea, coffee, beauty, inspiration, good people, good humor, kindness, boldness, generosity, curiosity, writing at 4am, possibility. The Edible Apartment started from a tiny seed. I was married for a long time and moved out of my single family home three years ago (we are still buddies and happy co-parents to our wonderful son). While I love apartment living (so easy and free!), what I DO miss is waking up in the morning with messy hair, a cup of coffee and getting my hands in the soil as the sun comes up. How do you do this in an apartment when you want more then a potted patio plant? I asked the owner of my apartment building, Henry Ealy, if I could take over an unused corner in the front yard and grow a few veggies. He’s such a sweetheart, he said yes. “The Little Corner That Could” exploded and in a few weeks the tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, herbs, greens and kale were jumping out of the ground (I added a lot of homemade compost to the soil). Something really interesting and unexpected started happening: because of the garden, a community organically began to form. People started talking to each other. We slowed down to pick kale and share stories about childhood farms in Georgia and aunts who grew their own chilies. This inspired me to think bigger and be bold. So I asked Henry if I could just do away with the entire lawn and expand the edible garden to the entire front yard. So here we are, putting this project together as a community. The busy resident donated cash to purchase soil. The injured resident offered to help plant seeds while on the mend. The strong resident helped dig. The ten-year-old resident is good at taking photos and planting peppers. The Edible Apartment is right in the middle of LA – in Miracle Mile, in a concrete jungle of multi-family residences and commercial buildings. This page will serve to document our project, what we are growing, what we are sharing and hopefully to inspire you to be bold in your own life and dreams. I should add that it has been my personal DREAM for ten years to have my own land to grow food. My mind told me that I had to leave my hometown and go “off into the hills” to make this happen. When I got quiet and listened to my heart, I realized that I could make my dream come true in the most unlikely (yet perfect) place: right here in the middle of the city where we could build a community, a mini-farm, a place to gather, share, explore, experience, grow, eat and enjoy simple beauty. So glad you are here.
