Tierra Linda students donate harvest to Lighthouse mission
Summertime crop includes squash and berries

FRUITS OF LABOR- Tierra Linda Elementary School student Adam Polen holds a hefty zucchini he and fellow students grew in their Life Lab summer garden program. The garden produced more than 100 pounds of fresh vegetables, which were donated to the Lighthouse Women and Children's Mission in Oxnard. Camarillo-based soil maker Agromin donated the soil amendments for the garden.

Tierra Linda Elementary School's Life Lab summer garden program netted more than 100 pounds of vegetables that were then given to the Rescue Mission Alliance's Lighthouse Women and Children's Mission in Oxnard. The mission helps Ventura County homeless women and their children.

Yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, celery, onions and strawberries were grown and donated weekly from June through mid-July to the mission.

Twenty adults and children tended the school gardens once a week.

"We selected vegetables that would do well in hot weather and require less water," said Dianne Polen, Tierra Linda Life Lab chair.

During the school year, students maintain community gardens on campus. The children are responsible for clearing the gardens, planting seeds, caring for plants and harvesting crops.