Cultivating Gardeners

A high school ag teacher inspires sustainability values in a new generation

BY SUZANNE LUCE

PHOTOS BY CAROLINA KORMAN

There are three things that Steve List won’t allow in his classroom: Hot Cheetos, Cup o’ Noodles and soda. Instead, this agriculture teacher and diligent keeper of the thriving agricultural center at Sylmar Charter High School teaches his students how to eat what he calls “a proper salad,” one lightly dressed with lemon and olive oil or freshly made salsa rather than drenched with blue cheese, ranch or Thousand Island dressing.

“As we grow and process vegetables and fruits at the school, I try to teach them that they need to eat fruits and vegetables every day,” says List. “They are hesitant at first— but when they start to try it and see how fresh it is, they are interested.”

List occasionally goes out to speak at the nearby elementary schools in Sylmar, including the campus where his three grandchildren attend, and he says that the kids now all know what it means when he holds up his hand: “You need to eat five fruits and veggies every day,” they say, and they hold their hands up, too.

Encouraged by students’ curiosity, List continues to remind them to put more color on their plates. “They don’t know how to eat healthy, and many of their parents don’t either—so maybe if I teach them, they can teach their parents,” he says with optimism. Over time, and beyond changing eating habits, he hopes his students will find enjoyment and purpose in gardening.

Growing Lives In The Garden

List can’t keep himself away from the school’s agriculture center. He lives nearby and walks the mile from his home every day, even when school is not in session. He refills the 15 hummingbird feeders, checks on the chickens, and sees what there might be to discover and enjoy, from tasting new varieties of tomatoes to simply grabbing fresh chard and eggs for his breakfast.

It was List’s gardener parents who gave him the love and the skills, so he was able to work his way through Pierce College and UCLA with a nursery job, and he later started his own landscaping business. In 1998, at 38 years old, he was offered a teaching job and has been teaching ever since. He came to Sylmar Charter High School in 2006, where he has helped build up its on-campus agricultural center into two flourishing acres of gardens plus a full nursery. A visitor finds pollinator, medicinal and lavender gardens; a fruit orchard and stone fruit nursery; towering rows of tomatoes (they are weeds and do better unpruned, says List); a pepper garden with varieties ranging from sweet bells to the hottest in the world (Carolina Reaper); an antioxidant garden with jujubes, persimmons and pomegranates; and 30 chickens (for eggs and fertilizer). There are also spouts and barrels for rain harvesting and a large-scale composting operation.

List takes responsibility for maintaining the grounds, but he has limited resources, so digging deep with the youth every day serves two purposes: getting the garden work done and simply keeping the kids busy. List’s curriculum is fluid, and changes with the seasons and as opportunities arise with donations and partnerships. The principal and fellow staff appreciate that the students are happy and that the garden is thriving with plenty of produce to share.

Winter Into Spring

This winter at the agricultural center, List and his students harvested lettuces and broccoli and kept busy sprouting plants from seeds and tending cuttings that will be moved into one-gallon pots, and then shared with the community or taken home by students. They also graduate trees into 15-gallon pots and larger boxes to give away to other agriculture programs, community gardens, families and beautification projects. The students have learned that rainwater collected in barrels on campus is a precious commodity in the greenhouse: Rainwater has a neutral pH and a bit of nitrogen, so it gives seedlings a better start than tap water.

Just before spring, the students planted 1,500 strawberry plants and 1,000 bare-root trees, and they planned for their summer vegetables, including over 20 varieties of tomatoes, which range from the world’s smallest cherry tomato (Spoon) to heirlooms and Japanese hybrids, plus List’s favorite tomato, Momotaro Gold, which he says has the best flavor.

“We are harvesting a five-gallon bucket of tomatoes every day for two months,” says List. “Nothing goes to waste and everything is given away, from the plants to the harvests.” He hosts tomato tast- ings and salsa contests in the summer with students and community members to make use of the surplus of tomatoes and decide which varieties to plant next year.

Graduating Gardeners

Sylmar Charter High School is one of 10 schools in the district with an agriculture program. The ornamental horticulture classes that List teaches are part of LAUSD Career Technical Education, and List finds support in the district’s recent push to bring back shop classes and electives centered around vocational education.

List’s students graduate with hands-on experience in how to effectively tend gardens throughout the year and propagate plants in the greenhouse. The teens also learn about the agriculture industry as they consider possible career paths. For example, as List helps them learn how to grow wine grapes and hops on campus, they might imagine finding careers at one of the region’s many wineries and breweries.

Out In The Community

Steve List’s enthusiasm for gardening doesn’t take the weekend off, and it rubs off on community members who flock to his lectures offered through Pacoima Beautiful, a nonprofit funded by grants from the City of Los Angeles. Topics include soil and composting, fruit tree pruning and planting summer veggies. As a spokesperson for urban gardening, he has helped the City of Los Angeles give away over 800 rain barrels and he teach these recipients how to use them.

List challenges himself by trying out new techniques and new plants each year, working at new skills until he has mastered something he can teach. “If I haven’t done it hands-on or it hasn’t worked for me, I don’t lecture about it,” he says. At his workshops here in Southern California, he tells home gardeners they should be able to find something edible in their gardens every day, year-round. And to those who tell him gardening is expensive, he points out that everything you need can be near at hand, especially if you compost and collect rainwater.

“The problem is that certain people, only the few, do a ton for the environment, and the rest don’t do anything,” says List. “If everybody did a little bit, the world would be a better place.” He invests his energy into teaching with a firm belief that being involved in food through gardening helps the environment. This is the foundation he offers his students, regardless of what they might want to pursue after high school.

Steve List gives presentations at the Lopez Canyon Environmental Center in Sylmar, South Los Angeles Wetlands Park, Griffith Park and San Pedro Community Gardens, with new topics each month. Information, dates and videos of these community lectures are posted at his Instagram (@ask_mr_list) and YouTube channel (Ask Mr List), where you’ll find his tips on composting, growing tomatoes with his “lasagna” method of planting, and more.