DANA POINT : Gardeners’ Small Plots Worth Lots

To local dentist Madrid Uso, the small patch of hilltop soil he tends with his wife, Jenny, means more than the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower they will harvest.

“This is good therapy,” Uso said.

It’s a concept not lost on Harry Otsubo, for whom the 2 1/2-acre Harry Otsubo Gardens is named. Otsubo, 76, owner of the Dana Point Nursery, has been gardening and farming all his life. But, like the Usos, he wanted his own plot on the hillside overlooking Dana Point Harbor.

“People love nature, whether it’s animals or vegetables,” Otsubo said. “There’s something fascinating about things growing. I think that’s what keeps a farmer going. He actually sees something that’s the result of his work, and can watch it grow.”

At the gardens, people may lease any one of 48 plots of heretofore expensive Dana Point soil, either 10 feet by 20 or 20 feet square, for $10 or $20 a year, respectively.

What they use the plot for is up to the gardener.

“These are cool season vegetables,” said Jenny Uso, pointing to some baby seedlings poking through the soil. “After Christmas, we plan to try some strawberries.”

On her parcel, Michele Cuevas has planted lettuce, Brussels sprouts and various herbs.

“I’m hoping I won’t have to buy any at the store,” said Cuevas, who tends her plot daily with her two daughters, Brooke and Bridget. Michele is Otsubo’s granddaughter.

The idea for the Harry Otsubo Gardens evolved out of hours of discussion by the board of directors of the Capistrano Bay Park and Recreation District, said Lynn Muir, a board member and local architect. The acreage was deeded to the park district by the developer of the Searidge condominium project across Street of the Golden Lantern in exchange for the right to build. The gardens opened this fall, and already all but a few plots are taken.

“At first we weren’t sure what to do with it, but we finally decided that rather than just have it sit there, why not let people have a garden for themselves,” Muir said.

It was patterned after similar projects in Leisure World, Fullerton and the “Victory Garden” television program, Muir said.

“We figured there was a school (Dana Hills High School) right across the street, so there was already a place for people to play nearby,” said Otsubo, another district board member.

The rocky soil was rototilled and fertilized by the district, which also provides water. But Otsubo, with decades of experience, suggests that may not be enough.

“The hardest part is getting started,” he said. “You need to work the soil and add mulch and fertilizer. I always tell people it’s like a cake, you can put all the ingredients together, but if you don’t blend them right, they won’t work for you.”