Oak Park garden an offshoot of escalating food prices

WATCHING IT GROW—T.J. Barnholtz, 10, tends to the sunflowers in the plot belonging to her grandmother, Roseanne Parino, at the Oak Park Community Garden. Right, delicious grapes bask in the Southern California sun. The garden's increased popularity can be attributed to the rising cost of food. The public garden on Kanan Road features a variety of homegrown fruits and vegetables. With grocery prices on the rise, Conejo Valley consumers are finding that growing their own

food has become a viable way to save money. And, for the first time in its six-year history, the Oak Park Community Garden is nearly filled to capacity with gardeners.

Only three of the 66 plots in the garden at the northwest corner of Kanan Road and Sunnycrest Drive are open. Residents are using the 10-by-20-foot plots to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers.

"The cost of food is ridiculous," said Timmie High of Oak Park, who farms a plot in the community garden. "We'd like to think we're saving on the grocery bill. Makes you really appreciate what you have when you go into the market."

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers The entire garden is organic, said Roseanne Parino, garden president.

"You're not having produce trucked in from other states; there are no chemicals," said Parino, who lives in Agoura Hills. "One of my gardeners said she saw an organic bell pepper for $4 each. That's crazy."

The tomato is the most popular gardencrop. Many of the gardeners cultivate several varieties year-round, Parino said.

"You just cannot get that freshoff-the-vine taste, except maybe at the farmer's market. It's a stunning difference between one you pick and the shipped one you get in the store," Parino said. "They have to pick them just a little underripe, so they never develop the same sweet taste (they have when) they're vine ripened."

The same is true for any other fruit or vegetable, Parino added.

"If you've been to Hawaii and eaten a pineapple right off the field it's not the same as eating one from the supermarket," Parino said.

Other popular foods grown in the garden include butternut, acorn and other types of squash; eggplant; artichokes; beans; soybeans; and peppers. In winter, cold weather crops like broccoli, peas, lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots and radishes are planted. Many of the beginning gardeners grow zucchini.

"They plant three plants and find themselves giving away zucchini for the rest of their lives," Parino said.

Community garden members come from throughout the Conejo Valley. Gardeners range in age from 6 to 88 and include migrant workers, Hollywood screenwriters, families who want to teach their children where food comes from and others who want organic produce, Parino said. She often brings her grandchildren, who she has found are more willing to try a new food when they pick it themselves.

"It's a really great mix of people with all different ethnic backgrounds," Parino said.

The parcel is owned by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. Each plot costs $84 a year, which pays for water use and trash pickup. Gardening tools and resources are available onsite. The gardeners meet monthly to discuss shared issues and hear speakers.

"Working in the soil is a very serene and peaceful thing. It brings some sanity back to a crazy world sometimes," Parino said.

The gardeners are researching ways to cut down water usage.

"This was an underutilized piece of property that we've made into a nice little community," said High, who lives in a town house with very little sun and no room to plant. "This is a hobby that is economical and rewarding."

For more information, call (818) 735-9957 or visit www .oakparkcommunitygarden.org.