Steve List

 

Steve List, who is a teacher at Sylmar High School spoke about the horticulture he runs at the August 12 meeting. He and hundreds of students at helped launch a green revolution of flowers, fruits and vegetables across the northeast San Fernando Valley. They've done it by cultivating a year-round cornucopia of seedlings and giving them free to willing gardeners in the community.
 

"This is my dream, my calling," he said of the two acre paradise behind the main campus, where he teaches hundreds of students. He hopes to teach them the value of urban agriculture, nutrition and edible landscaping.
 

When Steve took over the program seven years ago, it was a weed-choked lot filled with junk under a canopy of pine, pepper, eucalyptus, and silk floss trees.

Since then, Steve, who is also the president of the Valley chapter of the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers, has transformed it into a leafy nursery of shrubs, vegetable beds with everything from Brussel sprouts to bush peas to baby lettuce....and fruit trees, all fortified by the school's own blend of enriched potting soil.
 

From their labor, Steve and his 200 students now donate thousands of organic plants each year to local schools, nonprofits, community groups, and low income residents.
 

His students have designed, built and given away 100 four-foot raised bed gardens for families without fresh fruits and veggies. Last year, they helped MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity), the Valley's largest social service organization, distribute another 100. They also lead best-practices workshops on planting, harvesting and nutrition for working families.
 

To date, Steve and his Sylmar High horticulturists have found homes for an estimated 100,000 trees, plants and seedlings, and has ensured that many families benefit from freshly picked produce. (Above photo: Steve List (l) and President Jeff Stern)