Central Los Angeles : Turning the Soil to Turn a Profit
The dog days of August are taking their toll on a community garden in Watts, but project coordinator Matthew Velasquez says the entrepreneurial spirit is still going strong.
Nearly 15 participants are braving hot weather to tend beans, flowers and fruit on a once-fallow patch of land across from the Jordan Downs housing project. With the aid of the nonprofit group Common Ground, the garden was launched in December as a way to involve Jordan Downs residents and other people in an endeavor that would bear fruit in more ways than one: Workers hope to harvest enough produce to start a community business.
Velasquez, who heads programs at a nearby drug abuse recovery center for women and children, was a natural to head the garden project. The psychologist was a longtime horticulturist for a leading fruit company in his native Belize.
“This garden really means a lot to people in the neighborhood, especially to kids,” Velasquez said.
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