I'd like to also acknowledge that the entire project started as a Santa Barbara City College student group project in ENVS 200 [Environmental Studies] Projects in Sustainability under Dr. Adam K Green, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies Program Coordinator and Director of the SBCC Center for Sustainability. The students who worked with the church, chamber of commerce, permaculture groups, and the Mesa newspaper put in a huge effort to get everyone on board and initiate the effort.

In a message dated 12/12/2010 1:51:54 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, LBUZZELL@aol.com writes:

In the "Faith and Values" section of the Santa Barbara News-Press on Sat., Dec 11, 2010, a 2 page article by Ted Mills was published: "Garden of Eden: Mesa church plants to turn small plot of land into community bounty". Unfortunately the article is behind a subscriber wall, but the jist is that Holy Cross Church, on the Mesa in Santa Barbara, California, now has a new permaculture food forest called "Mesa Harmony Garden" which is "set to become several things: a way to feed those in need, an exciting example of permaculture and a gift from a local church to the Mesa community."

The project involves church members (including Holy Cross priest, Father Ludo DeClippel, deacon Randy Saake and the area bishop), local business people, Santa Barbara City College, and Permaculture Guild of Santa Barbara members. The food from the garden will be harvested by the local Food Bank and will feed those in need.

Permaculture guild member Loren Luyendyk, a local permaculture designer and teacher, put in three days carving out the earthworks for the project, which will have 300 fruit trees on berms above swales, and will include a banana circle. Guild co-chair Larry Saltzman and other guild members have been involved in the food forest design, fruit tree choices and land preparation as well. Permaculture guild, garden club, church and community members, plus SBCC students were all active in the digging and fruit tree planting.

Project members hope that this story will inspire other faith groups in our community to transform their extra land into community gardens and food forests.

Linda Buzzell

Member, Communications Team
Permaculture Guild of Santa Barbara
www.permacultureguildsb.org
lbuzzell@aol.com (805) 563-2089

"...the greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter."
~ Bill Mollison, co-creator of the Permaculture concept

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