The Ecology Center encourages residents to live sustainably during Grow Your Own! Spring Festival
One-year-old Nora Behenna, of San Juan Capistrano, plays in the dirt during The Ecology Center’s Grown Your Own! Spring Festival on April 16. Photo: Allison Jarrell
Visitors mosey between activity stations at The Ecology Center.
Live music was provided by multiple bands during The Ecology Center’s festival.
Matthew Junge, 3, of Ladera Ranch, constructs a seed ball during last weekend’s event.
Naomi Harmless, 8, of San Juan Capistrano, enjoys the company of a ladybug during her visit to The Ecology Center for the spring festival on April 16.
Visitors mosey between activity stations at The Ecology Center.
Charlotte Neaves, 4, of San Juan Capistrano, makes natural art at The Ecology Center’s spring festival.
Patricia Di Nino, of San Clemente, helps her daughter Inez onto a “treadle pump,” a piece of equipment used in Africa to pressurize standing water for irrigation purposes.
By Allison Jarrell
Organizers at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano anticipated thousands of visitors to arrive on their lush, natively-landscaped grounds on April 16 for the center’s annual spring festival, this year titled “Grow Your Own!,” which was centered around celebrating Earth Day.
Guests were able to explore the local nonprofit’s “eco labs” and learn about native landscaping using medicinal plants, veggie beds, fruit orchards and more. Children participated in hands-on activities such as pickling, planting seeds, making terrariums and creating tea satchels. The center also offered garden workshops, as well as the chance to take home eco-friendly resources such as rain barrels, seedlings and compost.
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