Boyle Heights Tree Giveaway is Fruitful Experience
By Gloria Angelina Castillo, EGP Staff Writer
A young Boyle Heights resident takes home fruit and citrus trees thanks to TreePeople’s giveaway event on Jan. 24. (EGP Photo by Gloria Angelina Castillo)
Rain clouds and light sprinkles didn’t stop people from lining up last Saturday to get a free fruit tree courtesy of the organization “TreePeople.”
The event, held at Proyecto Jardin, a community garden located behind White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights, drew individuals of all ages, as well as families.
“I came because I want to plant a persimmon fruit tree, and I want to see if they have one,” said Olivia Buenrostro, a senior who lives a few blocks from Proyecto Jardín.
Buenrostro enjoys the gardens and says the gardener gives her tomatoes whenever she comes by. She said her children are grown now, but were active in the garden when they were younger.
Father and daughter Francisco and Rocio Naja live a few blocks away on Soto Street and said they didn’t have a specific tree in mind, they just want a tree that won’t take too long to give fruit.
“They say apple and peach trees come-of-age quickly,” said Francisco, a first time tree giveaway participant.
Rocio said she learned about the tree distribution from her school, the East Los Angeles Skills Center. Her family happily received both a lemon and a peach tree.
The night before the giveaway, Melissa Gutierrez, a Proyecto Jardin master gardener, and four others picked the trees up from TreePeople, bagged the tree’s roots and transported them to the Boyle Heights garden.
“In the winter, the trees are in hibernation and that’s why we can transport them bare-root,” Gutierrez told EGP. “Only the lemon trees come in a bucket.”
Gabriela Garcia and her daughter Metzli helped out on Saturday. Gabriela said the garden is always changing and so are participants. As White Memorial Hospital continues to expand, Gabriela said she hopes the garden will be spared from development.
“It is a very special place for me,” Gabriela told EGP. “One of the founders of the garden is a doctor at the hospital and he delivered my daughter when she was born,” she said.
Metzli, who has grown with the garden, said what she enjoys most about the garden is watching things grow.
The Robles family, father Rodolfo, mother Angela and daughter Evelia, received two lemon trees. Evelia, 16, is a volunteer at a garden in Hollenbeck and said the free tree giveaway benefits the community is several ways:
“They [trees] improve the quality of the air,” said Evelia referring to the pollution created by nearby freeways. “They also give people food and they’re nice to look at, especially the flowers.”
Armando Padilla and his wife Hortensia have participated in the giveaway before, and while some of the trees they received dried up, new trees that sprouted besides them survive.
“This is the fifth generation [of the giveaway],” said Armando about the Mexican lime tree they received.
Armando said he is pleased that Bridge Street Elementary School students participate in the garden. His six-year-old son Marcus Andrew has learned a lot because of his involvement, he said.
“He has learned to be more responsible,” Armando said. “He waters the plants and picks up the leaves [in our yard].”
The garden, on land donated by White Memorial, was established in 1995, according to the Proyecto Jardin website. Today, the garden has multiple purposes. In addition to providing fresh fruits and vegetables for consumption, Proyecto Jardin also offers a medicinal garden, a monthly “farmer’s market,” and a variety of exercise classes, including aerobics and Capoeira, according to Jesus Soto, master gardener and volunteer.
According to the TreePeople website, this month they expanded their fruit tree giveaway program to include East Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and the South Bay. Community groups interested in participating in the fruit tree giveaway can apply by visiting their website at www.treepeople.org.
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January 29, 2009 Copyright © 2010 Eastern Group Publications, Inc.
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