Urbanites Garden in Rented Plots
As Elizabeth Preston raked the rich black soil, a relaxed, contented look came over her face. Her small rented garden plot is a soothing anecdote to urban stress, she said.
“I find this extremely therapeutic,” Preston said. “This allows me to get in there and dig out the hidden resentments. It’s also rewarding to nurture things and see them grow.”
For Preston and about 55 other residents, country-style gardening is possible in this city of 180,000 through a community garden at Golden West College. Urban gardens are becoming increasingly popular in the United States and Europe among hemmed-in city dwellers, said Ray Borton, a senior agricultural economist with the state Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento.
Orange County has several other community gardens, including one in Buena Park operated by the city, one in Anaheim run by the University of California Cooperative Extension, and several tracts within the Leisure World retirement community in Laguna Hills.
“This is a real oasis in the city,” said Suzanne Morlock, who has a plot at Golden West. “It’s a joy for everyone who comes here and is a part of it.”
Less than a mile from the San Diego Freeway churning with its morning load of bumper-to-bumper vehicles, the Golden West garden’s loudest noises come from the occasional clink of hoes and rakes. Birds sing while roosting in fruit trees that border the community garden, and bees buzz among the array of flowers.
Morlock said the whole scene is cherished by the urban gardeners.
“That’s why we fought to preserve this garden,” she said. She noted that about two years ago, the governing board for Coast Community College District considered leasing some of the land at both Golden West and at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. One proposed lease site was the community garden.
“They were thinking of putting a commercial golf driving range here,” Morlock said. “Can you imagine?”
She added that many residents were outraged. “We got a petition signed by 3,000 persons (opposed to changing the land to a golf range),” Morlock said.
The college district subsequently dropped its proposal, but the gardeners still worry about another attempt to sell or lease the land.
Fay L. Hendry, public information officer for Golden West College, said no such action is being considered. But she added, “There is no way of assuring that this might not be revisited again in the future.”
Jessie Kelly, chairwoman of the governing committee of Golden West gardeners, said that any such attempt would be resisted. “We would fight it,” she said.
Kelly, a musician and former social worker, said people who rent the $48-a-year plots at Golden West range in age from “the early 20s to the late 70s.” Some have no land of their own to farm, she said.
“Some gardeners come here during their lunch hour. Some come here after work in the afternoon,” Kelly said. “There are some retired people who come out here regularly. For many of them, it’s a reason for getting out of the house and doing something.”
Water use is carefully managed all the time, especially in light of the drought, according to college officials and gardeners. Also, no chemical pesticides or fertilizers are allowed in the garden.
Les Hutchison, a 74-year-old retired technical writer from Westminster, said he regards his plot as his miniature kingdom. “It kind of gives you a feeling of being a master of a small piece of ground,” Hutchison said. “It’s very definitely relaxing. It gets you outside in the fresh air.”
