Building green space with soil
Rubble Rousers is a network of projects that center soil health as a pathway to increase access to high quality, participatory green space.
We provide community members with accessible tools to assess and steward soils that are often degraded, disturbed, or untended. Collectively, we reimagine green spaces into opportunities to increase access to community soil health education, support cultural and biological diversity, and provide professional development opportunities in soils and landscaping.
We grow gardens and healthy soil
through cracks in the concrete landscape
Our Programs
Soil Health Assessments
We host Soil Health Field Days where we partner with community-led green spaces to facilitate soil health assessments that do not require lab equipment. Our model is based on a version of the Ecosystem Restoration Communities Soil Framework that we adapted to be more locally accessible and applicable.
Our team of soil scientists is trained to lead students and volunteers in hands-on field assessments. We provide ongoing monitoring and reports to inform soil management and document soil health impact.
Partners for this program include Test Plot, Seed To Landscape, Moonwater Farm, and Mud Valley Foundation.
Soil Health Field Day with Jefferson Blvd. Test PlotNative Parkway Gardens
Parkway gardens offer an opportunity to reimagine our streetscapes into community green space! In collaboration with local businesses and community centers, we operate a network of parkway gardens that organize volunteers to steward high quality green space alongside concrete sidewalks. Parkway Gardens not only build urban habitat connectivity but they also provide an educational opportunity for neighbors to learn about soil health, native plant ecology, and community planning.
We developed a Resident Gardener Program where we hire local youth and entry-level professionals to lead maintenance and programming.
Our Parkway Garden network includes Club Gay Gardens at Junior High LA and the Lucile Garden Parkway in partnership with Young People To the Front.
Monthly meetup with Club gay gardens at Junior high LAFire, Soil, & Seed
A collaborative project between SoilWise, Altadena Seed Library, and Rubble Rousers that brings together local soil and seed experts to support the growing network of community scientists addressing contaminated soils in Los Angeles.
This project organizes a cohort of local soil leaders to participate in professional development & community building opportunities in bioremediation and soil health.
Sites for this program include Elysian Valley Community Garden and Altadena Community Garden.
This program is supported by the LA Food Policy Council Cultivating Farmers Micro Grant Program.
Fire, Soil, & Seed Workday at Altadena community gardenOur Approach
❋ Mentorship & Cohort Based Learning
Our programming is supported by rotating cohorts who train alongside our lead staff. This provides mentorship opportunities that connect emerging soil practitioners with resources, local experts, and peers to help them enter the field of soil science.
❋ Workforce & Professional Development
We provide training opportunities for participants to grow their technical skills in soil assessment and stewardship. We also provide paid opportunities for entry-level practitioners to apply their skills in the field at green spaces in their local community.
While physical, chemical, and biological soil health indicators are key components of our work, we believe that community involvement is needed to paint the entire picture of soil health. This is why our baseline assessments are designed to be facilitated alongside local community members without any lab equipment.
❋ Community Science & Accessibility
We partner with students, universities, and institutions to expand the resources available for our partners to support soil health at their site. This could include research, amendment application, additional monitoring, and access to technical equipment to support long-term soil health projects.
❋ Educational Partnerships
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We’re happy to dig into any questions you have for us!
