THE AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE : BUENA PARK : City Plot Renters Reap What They Sow

Phyllis Sexton took up gardening for the exercise and to grow a variety of vegetables to add to the family’s food supply.

Joe Maciel also putters in the garden daily because he’s retired and it gives him something to do. Besides, his crops are fresh, good-tasting vegetables not found in markets.

“The carrots are firm and crispy, and not mushy and soft like from the grocery store,” Maciel said.

Vitthalbhai Patel, a retired doctor, and his wife, Kantaben, also grow a variety of vegetables from seeds from their native India.

For these urban gardeners, growing their own food has not only become a pastime, but a preoccupation.

They reap their harvests from plots they rent at Buena Park’s community garden, a stretch of land they seed and sow on 10 acres underneath high-power lines.

Maciel, 75, garden coordinator, who has been farming his own plot there since the city-operated garden started in 1978, said there is a waiting list for residents who want to tend one of the 162 plots. The plots rent for $20 and $10 a year, depending on the size, and include water.

The popularity of the community garden, on Thelma Avenue off Knott Avenue, is not only the pleasure of working with the soil and watching crops grow, but also the rewards of growing fresh produce and fruits.

“People with a lot of kids can grow vegetables and it’s a savings on the groceries,” he said.

Maciel, who grows just about everything, including broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, radishes, beets and peas, said many residents don’t have back yards where they can garden.

Sexton, 67, who retired two years ago, is one of the newer gardeners. She got hooked after helping a friend take care of her plot.

In September, she planted a variety of crops, including lettuce, Brussels sprouts, chives, green beans, snow peas and cucumbers.

“I don’t know if I have a green thumb; I just enjoy growing things,” Sexton said. “It’s fun for me to work in the garden. You’re outside in fresh air, and you meet other people and share ideas.”

The Patels said gardening is part of their lives. The couple, who have lived in this country for 16 years, had grown roses and coffee on their 400-acre farm in Kenya.

“I’m still a lover of gardening,” said Vitthalbhai Patel, 78.

The Patels grow 40 kinds of vegetables and fruits they are accustomed to eating, such as the papdi , an Indian bean similar to the lima bean, or giloda , a miniature cucumber, and passion fruit.

“The reward is maintaining physical health,” Vitthalbhai Patel said of working in the garden. “And the family gets the food not readily available here.”