About Us
Our Mission
To be a center of peace and beauty in the community where the cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers as well as creative ideas, artistic expression and neighborly values may take place.
The Milagro Allegro Community Garden integrates urban farming, art and education in the heart of the Highland Park neighborhood. Garden plots will be available for interested community members. A community gathering space will host classes, workshops and events. Local schools may incorporate the garden into curriculum or after-school activities.
Click here to read more about the significance of our name
Location and History
The Milagro Allegro garden is located at 115 S. Avenue 56 in the Northeast Los Angeles community of Highland Park. The garden features 10,000 square feet of land divided into 32 raised plots for cultivating fruits, vegetables and flowers. The garden also features a gathering circle for hosting classes, workshops and community events.
Milagro Allegro is located behind the historic Highland Theater, on 10,000 square feet of land belonging to the City of Los Angeles. Before Milagro Allegro began negotiations for a community garden, the land had remained vacant for 30 years—full of weeds and surrounded by barbed wire.
Thanks to the tremendous efforts of several community members and the support of Los Angeles City Councilmember Ed Reyes, Assemblyman Kevin De Leon, L.A. Department of Transportation, L.A. Community Garden Council, L.A. Conservation Corps, Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council and Home Depot, the Milagro Allegro Community Garden was able to open its doors.
The Milagro Allegro Community Garden is organized under the Los Angeles Community Garden Council, which supports 70 community gardens throughout Los Angeles County. Collectively, the gardens serve nearly 4,000 families and have become a vibrant part of their communities aimed at reducing poverty, mitigating global warming and benefiting the environment.
Timeline
• February 5, 2009: The lease was signed with the City of Los Angeles for the Milagro Allegro Community Garden
• February 21, 2009: Councilman Ed Reyes performed the ceremonial groundbreaking of the site. That same day, 37 fruit trees, donated by Tree People, were planted at the site.
• May 9, 2009: Milagro hosted its grand opening. Native American spiritual leader John Funmaker, of the Ho’Chunk Nation, blessed the land. Speakers at the event included Robert Gottlieb, PhD, director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College; Katherine Alexander, PhD, and Emily Ventura, PhD, MPH, from the Deparment of Preventative Medicine at the University of Southern California. Councilman Ed Reyes and Assemblyman Kevin De Leon also attended the ceremony.
• Late May 2009: Lottery took place to determine garden plot assignments. We had twice as many applications as plots available!
• May/June 2009: First group of Milagro Allegro gardeners began working on their plots.
Who We Are
Of the community, by the community, for the community.
Moving forward the organizers of the garden prefer not to have the garden be personality oriented. It is for this reason we choose not to use titles, and photos for the purpose of rewarding credit to individuals, but rather to let the community take credit as a whole.
The community garden is currently in a transitional period. Please bare with us for any inconveniences regarding communication and other garden activities. We are excited and look forward to what the future of our community garden holds.
Any questions can be addressed to garden organizers at (323)206-0689.
