Community Garden

Who We Are

Located at 681 N. Venice Blvd., Safe Place for Youth’s Community Garden addresses food inequality by creating a sustainable food system for unhoused youth in West LA. Organic produce grown in the garden is distributed to our Access Center and five housing sites. SPY's Garden also offers paid internships and workshops for youth to develop life skills while cultivating self-esteem and self-sufficiency in a safe, healing environment.

The SPY Community Garden, in partnership with Beyond Baroque, hosts compost bins operated by LA Compost. These compost bins are open to the public! 

Social Enterprise

At our SPY Youth Farmer’s Market, we have plants, youth-made products, art, and produce for sale. Through this endeavor, youth experiencing homelessness gain paid work experience, have the opportunity to engage with community members, and practice their entrepreneurial skills! Find more information on what's for sale here

What We Do

For garden volunteer shifts of two hours we try to vary the activities and do a combination of physical and creative activities. Activities are based on the needs of the garden and vary depending on the needs and the weather.

 

Physical activities include:
•sifting or moving the compost from one bin to the other
•weeding beds and pathways
•transplanting seedlings or direct sowing
•cleaning up the sidewalk areas (sweeping, bagging leaves, pulling weeds)
•mulching the pathways (moving wood chips)
•fighting pests (insecticidal soap)
•compost tea watering
•and any other projects necessary to maintain the garden space

 

Creative:
•almost always harvest vegetables and make a snack to share
•start seedlings
•paint inspirational bricks
•tie dye items (depending supply/needs)
•make slave
•harvest and make bouquets (depending on needs)
•harvest flowers and prep for dehydrating
•prep a meal for a housing site