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 April
4, 2012
Spring is in the Air
Time to start planting seeds for Summer. This year GWA has a green house so
we can grow our own plants from seeds.
The wood shop is also ready for creating cabinets, shelves, and signs.
As you can see the broken concrete wall is nearly half complete so by this fall
the front will be ready to plant a dozen fruit trees. GWA also planning to
build several raised beds, a composting station and install a drip system.
January 2, 2012
GWA Board Members Elected for 2012.
The board met today and nominated Suzanne De Benedittis and Warren Montague to be
the board of Directors at Greener Way Associates, Inc. Both were re-elected
for 2012 unanimously.
 December 29, 2011
Rock retaining wall progress.
Work has begun on building the rock retaining wall. This improvement as with
all improvements to the property will be completed by volunteers and students.
If you wish to volunteer or help please visit the Contact Us page and let GWA know.
Students learn gardening, handyman, marketing, and computer skills and are paid
a weekly stipend to help with transportation. Students are also welcome to
breakfast and lunch.
October 3, 2011
Clearing work has begun on retaining wall.
The old concrete must be cleared before the retaining wall can be built. In
keeping with environmental ideals GWA has elected to remove this old concrete
the old fashion way. Not only does this help the environment but it also builds
strong
muscles and aids in learning the values of hard work. Anyone can rent some equipment
or hire a clearing crew but there is a much greater sense of achievement and satisfaction
in doing it yourself.
For those on a low budget or without power tools, this training teaches that nothing
is impossible with the right spirit and a little sweat. Once this old concrete
is removed we will be ready to survey the foundation so that it is placed correctly
according to the plans and level. GWA will then create earth forms and use
Portland cement, sand, and gravel to mix concrete at a significantly cheaper rate
than buying it pre-mixed or delivered by truck.
GWA now has a donation button. It will be placed at various places on
the website for those generous readers who wish to help by making a donation.
September 19, 2011
Crew built greenhouse from scraps.
While clearing vines from the back fence, enough lumber was discovered to build
a small 4X8 foot green house structure. The foundation is cynder blocks and
large beams. The floor was a sheet of plywood cut into planks. After
a recent field trip to Tuck Taylor's home we discovered clear tarp which we ordered
and used on the walls. To cellebrate the new green house GWA gave a greenhouse
raising party with plenty of good eats and smores around an outdoor fire pit.
August
14, 2011
Linda and Warren attended a seminar at the
Center For Non Profit Management
The name of the seminar was Setting the Right Course: Planning Strategies for
Dynamic Times, it was held on two Tuesdays and they brought back many tools and
ideas to help GWA get it's legs.
Linda, it turned out, used to work at the Center For Non Profit Management several
years ago and helped establish a rich library of books and pamphlets to help Non
Profit Organizations establish a plan of operation and to find funding. Linda
knew the teacher at the seminar and was able to contribute to the class on a few
occasions when she remembered a book or reference that might be helpful to some
of the other non profit attendants to the seminar.
We are very grateful and luck to have her as an advisor to GWA.
Linda is helping us set up our strategic plan and will also be positioning us so
that when GWA begins applying for funding it will have a solid foundation and strategy
plan which funders are looking for and require before making monetary decisions.
 July
21, 2011
Thank you Howard Lichtman
GWA loves the Site Drawings you had done for us. They will soon be used
to get a permit from Culver City. This retaining wall will be built using
broken concrete slabs and create a beautiful ECO way to level the front yard for
an orchard.
GWA now has a bank account and is working on filing paper work for it's 501c3 tax status.
GWA is open to the public and has several students already enrolled. Please visit GWA's mission page and
album page if you are interested in becoming a mentor or student.
You can sign up or volunteer today on the Contact Us
page.
June
21, 2011
Greener Way Associates, Inc.
Greener Way Associates, Inc. is officially incorporated and has a 501(c) status.
June
13, 2011
The Retaining Wall.
The broken concrete for building the retaining wall has been delivered and
sorting the large slabs from the small has begun. A conceptual drawing and any other
requirements by the City are in the works. This retaining wall will level
the front yard in preparation of planting an orchard.
GWA now have a couple of students and is looking for more. If you are
under 23 and want to learn how to earn money A Greener Way then please visit our
Contact Us page and let GWA know.
A new Album page has been added to
the site so thay you can see some of our progress.
May
16, 2011
Greener Way Associates, Inc.
The paperwork has finally been completed and submitted for non-profit status
in the state of California. In a month or so when the paper work is all signed
off a bank account will be formed and Greener Way Associates will be in business.
Once it is official GWA will be adding a corporate page with the complete structure
and meeting minutes. As a non-profit GWA is a public corporation and will
make available all records for public viewing by
clicking here.
Greener Way Associates, Inc. will be the umbrella name for various programs that
GWA wants to make available to everyone. Some of the projects will have names like
Rock Soup, The Urban Winners Group
and other descriptive name depicting the scope of each. GWA will teach gardening,
craftsmanship, cooking and ECO living to name just a few.
Brandy and Suzanne are hard at work making co-operative adventures with various
groups around Culver City and as these projects take form they will be reported
here.
Warren is pushing forward with the front yard to prepare it for fruit trees. And
continues work on computer and internet learning center.
April
20, 2011
GWA Organization
The name of any organization is always important for many reasons. Even the
acronyms that the name creates has an effect. Greener Way Associates GWA is
the overall name that nay work best for, obviously a name must be
chosen before incorporation. Rock-Soup.Com will be GWA's web presence name
because it so clearly describes the inclusiveness and spirit of community that is
so vitally needed in today's uncertain times.
There may also be several other related sub groups which will all have their own
names but the most important concerned right now is coming up with a name that relates
to all the various programs, classes, and community outreach projects which are
urgently needed by neighborhoods today.
One hundred years ago, community and neighbors were essential to survival and all
of us may soon be entering a time in US history where that sense of community and
neighborliness again becomes very important. Grocery stores must replenish
everything in the store every week or the shelves will become bare. There
is no large stock piles that you can easily walk to, so if gas becomes scarce deliveries
will drive food prices sky high at best, and deliveries might be impossible at worst.
But even if there is no gas shortage, individuals have become so separated from
community and simple eye to eye communications, that they can no longer benefit
from the true power and joy of life, and instead keep become more and more isolated,
powerless, and alone. Gardening is an excellent therapeutic tool which has the added
value of getting a person to eat better and become more healthy while lending itself
to all sorts of community involvement, like talking to a neighbor who will more
often be outside during the day instead of cooped up inside of his or her home.
March
6, 2011
Incorporation Progress
Well as you can see by the date it has been a while since I posted any
status or progress. It should be noted that while everything posted here reflects
current ideas and potential plans, those plans are constantly maturing and sometimes rethinking
organizational and preparatory plans becomes necessary.
An example of this was in the discussions about building a fence in the front yard.
There still is no decision about the final look and what materials should
be used. The idea
of the Rock Soup pilot program is to
create a model in the neighborhood that is affordable, practical,
beautiful, and something that will inspire others to want to duplicate.
I
do not mean to duplicate the non-profit, youth helping part, but the gardening and
landscaping part which the graduate of this program can help neighbors accomplish. These are two distinct goals - to help our neighborhood, then the
city, and beyond. The first goal is to help youth find meaningful work; the second is
to beautify and enrich everyone with edible landscaping while eating tastier healthy
foods.
Food that costs way less than at your local organic grocery store and where
most folks drive - polluting all the way. Not to be too political, but
electric cars use electricity that also pollutes the atmosphere at the generating
plan. Even windmills and solar have polluting components in their initial
manufacturing and hazardous waste at the end of their useful lives. So growing
your own food naturally and organically can save a lot of energy, cash, and pollution.
Enough commentary, things are really getting exciting at the Greener Way Associates. The
incorporation plans have forced GWA to be more organized and seek out expert board
members from a wide spectrum of skills and knowledge. On the board should
be a banker, lawyer, contractor, master gardener, and accountant to name a few.
Not only board members but a large advisory staff including - nutritionists, city officials and law enforcement experts, environmentalists,
marketing consultants, and fund raising organizers to name a few. It really
gives meaning to the
story of Stone Soup.
The skills of everyone working closely together will give guaranteed success and
rocket the Rock Soup pilot
program into a meaningful community improvement
tool.
As soon as the officers, board of directors and advisors are known and documented
in the incorporation process they will be make public along with the structure and bylaws
for all to see. If you feel you would like to be a part of this organization
then please
click on this link and let
us know. The Greener Way Associates is race and color blind and thinks anyone with a good heart is
worthy and should be given a part.
December
16, 2010
Startup Work
Even before accepting the first group of youth there are a few things to
be done in preparation. Plans to erect a green house and build a new
tiered fence in the front yard among other things. The green house will allow seeds to
sprout in a protected environment rather than buying the more expensive young plans from a garden center.
One of the first projects will be to remove the grass and level the front yard but
the retaining wall must be in place before this work can be done. This wall
might be molded concrete that will look like logs and planks.
With a product such as Composimold
a fence from concrete that looks like wood could be made. Since the building
of this fence is to be one of the first steps, the final plans for how it should look and
function has high priority.
Rock Soup needs to be a sub program of a larger non profit organization so that
it
can raise local money rather than relying on the state or federal government for
grants. In these times of uncertainty state and federal money may not
always be available for charitable community service. Indeed one of the primary
goals is to help the local communities survive and prosper in hard times.
By obtaining non profit status Rock Soup will be able to accept tax free donations. The
key to giving youth a sense of purpose is for them to be paid for work as well as
learning valuable skills that they can use through out their lives. So far
the name with the most support is Greener Way Associates,
this web site will remain
as Rock Soup for the time being, and Rock Soup will also
refer to the Youth Garden Pilot Program.
November 15, 2010
Getting Ready for 2011
Dr. De Benedittise envisioned using her home as a show case of efficiency and her
yard as a community garden that together will demonstrate the beauty and benefits
of home gardening. To that end she not only wants her home to be a model but
also to be a class room. Suzanne or Suzie, as her friends know her, is a great cook
and grows many vegetables, fruits, and herbs that go into wonderfully delicious
and healthy meals. Please visit the
recipes pages where you can see some of Suzanne's creations.
She determined that she needed a state of the art eco home and so has done a complete
remake of her house. The work is nearly complete but the master bath still
is unfinished. Until that work is done she cannot have the inspectors come
in and ok all the remodeling. And her home cannot be used as a class room
or model until all of the building permits are signed off and approved.
Suzanne intends to expedite the bathroom and have it done as soon as possible.
This means Rock Soup will not be able to start teaching until next summer. The
Greener Way Associates is still looking for volunteers, supplies,
and ideas, if you wish to comment or give us your ideas then please visit the contact us page.
The name Rock Soup comes from the story about stone soup
because the more volunteers and tutors with many varied skills are brought together,
then the better the pilot program will work. As in the fable, wonderful
exciting things can happen when a community comes together. It is easy
to see the negative results of youth when they are ignored. Working in the earth
and growing food has health benefits as well as self esteem and income benefits.
Once the garden begins to grow, the fruit and vegetables will be freely available
to everyone in the neighborhood. Cooking classes will be free for youth and
adults. Working in the garden will be a class room experience for the youth
but also serve as a hobby for neighbors who want to help out. There are many health related
benefits to working with soil and growing plants. There will be no poisons
or dangerous chemicals near the garden and everyone and anyone that
wishes to be part of it is welcome.
It is Suzanne's dream, that by showing neighbors how beautiful and wonderfully
health having a home garden can be, that many in the community will want to learn
how to start their own home gardens. These are not the gardens of our parents
but more like beautiful edible landscaping you can be proud to show off. And
the youth trainees will be more than happy to help teach and maintain gardens that
many busy neighbors want but do not have the time to maintain. That is how
they can make money and stay off the streets becoming solid tax paying members of
our community.
October 27, 2010
Wood Shop Tool Donation
Thanks to the generosity of Marge Gomme, Rock Soup now has wood shop equipment. Gardens
require many structures such as fencing, benches, trellises, storage bins and/or
sheds, forms, braces etc all of which are built from wood. This equipment
will allow students to create what ever is needed and gives the opportunity to teach general
construction and wood working techniques as well.
October 15, 2010
Fans of Our Rock Soup
There is now an open discussion group named
Fans of Rock Soup. This is a public group that anyone can join
so long as you are a facebook member. For those worried about security, facebook
allows you to have a membership that is completely private where only your name
is know. You do not have to give address, phone, interests or any other type
of information other than your birthday and email address. Both of which are
kept confidential by facebook should you want compete privacy.
Please join and share your ideas about Rock Soup or Stone Soup. Even though
the Rock Soup is a pilot program located in Culver City, CA, we would love to
see other such programs spring up everywhere. A major goal of the pilot program
is to show case how youth can benefit from mentoring and get paying jobs, keeping
them off the streets. Their increase sense of self esteem and the ability to
support themselves can mean the difference between incarceration and the American
dream.
October 06, 2010
Fruit Trees
At the top of this page is a before picture of the front yard. The
initial plans are to level this space with a retaining wall and plant fruit trees
parallel with the sidewalk. Modern fruit tree growing includes heavy pruning
similar to bonsai techniques. These small trees will then produce just enough fruit
to be eaten during their relatively short harvest season and many different varieties
will be chosen so that they are producing at least one type of fruit throughout
the year.
Unlike commercial orchards that grow a large volume of fruit to be shipped
to market, this orchard will be just right for sharing with neighbors, and the fruit
will ripen right on the trees. They will also take much less space with vegetables
growing around and beneath these trees.
Notes from our first brainstorming meeting.
Bermuda grass is very difficult to get rid of and competes with garden plants for
moisture and nutriments. The front yard is covered with this grass and needs
to be dug up and disposed of before a garden can be put in. There will still
be years of constant maintenance to eradicate it, but the job will be much easier
once most of it is removed from the property.
Deni, a master gardener, recommends a tier approach to the sloping front yard.
Right now the grass is holding the soil from erosion. Also, Suzanne, wishes
to have a place for neighbors and visitors to sit and enjoy the garden. There
may be a way to combine raised gardening with a fence/seating/tiered wall.
Currently, I have started this web site and will document the Rock Soup Pilot
project but as soon as there are youth to take over this job it will be handed to
them. My name is Warren Montague and you can read all
About Us here.
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