For hundreds of urban students in Los Angeles, there aren’t many places like this garden in their lives. They live in the concrete world , despite the city's protestations to the contrary, green space is at a premium. Lucky for these students, the opportunity to take classes in a verdant space exists on their high school campus.

Peacefully resting alongside a busy four-lane city street, a small miracle survives: one acre of a green oasis surrounded by asphalt and diesel. Since 2002, The Learning Garden has been of service to the students of Venice High School, University of California at Los Angeles Extension and the community at large. Collective forces as disparate as men's church group, libertarian survivalists, students of alternative medical traditions, and tai chi practitioners come together in welcoming all comers to this garden.

To learn more about how the Learning Garden is a metaphor for an Atlantis on the Pacific, buy the May June edition of Touch the Soil magazine at a retail outlet or subscribe online.