The Gift of Flowers

Flowers are and always will be one of the Greatest Gifts of Nature!  It's no surprise when we think of holidays like Valentine's Day or Mother's Day that flowers are among the first things that come to mind - they always bring so much joy and cheer to sweethearts, family and friends!  However, this month we discovered another gift that flowers are bringing to the lives of students at John Muir High School in Pasadena, CA - The Gift of Education!

Meet Mud Baron, Director of Muir Ranch CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  Since summer 2011, Mud and an incredibly dedicated team of volunteer teachers and students have been converting 2 acres of the John Muir HS campus into an urban farm.  Any student of Muir can participate in hands-on learning at the Ranch by enrolling in one of three classes or applying for the after school internship program.  The vision is for the Ranch to be integrated into every discipline taught at Muir High School, including science, math, English, art, and environmental studies.  Muir's mission is to teach their students important business and life skills, provide them with meaningful employment, and improve access to fresh, affordable, locally-grown produce and flowers!

In January, Mud started an indiegogo crown funding campaign to raise $10,000.00 so they could expand the farm and create a 'Pasadena Rose Garden' featuring David Austin Roses as well as develop a floral busness social enterprise.  Pasadena doesn't have a proper, public rose garden or actual arboretum so Mud decided to combine their working farm with a public garden as a way to expand the school's garden program. Currently Muir Ranch employs about a dozen students year round and would like to double that in 2014. They needed $10,000 to buy and install more shrubs and expand the current irrigation system.  In addition, they want to improve their website and marketing materials that will eventually aid the students in their social enterprise efforts.  So, all of us here at Resendiz Brothers decided to jump in and contribute to the cause by donating some South African and Australian Native plants to the school's garden if they reached their campaign goal of $10,000 by the deadline on January 13th. Which they eventually surpassed at $11,540 with only eleven hours to spare!  Congratulation Muir Ranch! 

Protea, Banksia, Pincushions, Waxflower and more will soon become a part of this exciting new floral enterprise.

Mud's truck was filled to the rim and prepared for a quick trip to Pasadena.

He found a new friend - Arlan, our rooster, who was ready to help cleanup any lunchtime  leftovers.

  Mud even decided to try his hand at designing with Protea - definitely a new experience for this 'Dahlia Man'! 

Looking Good!

Oh yeah - there's always a little time for social media too!

"The act of giving something to others is an art of flowering your heart" - Vinayak