Leimert Park Residents Turn Their Front Lawns Into Vegetable Gardens

Most big city residents would never dream of growing their own vegetables since there’s not enough room, the soil’s bad, and there’s no time.

But a South LA non-profit says it’s not just possible but they’ll help you do it.

Before the recycled water sprinklers, the rows of veggies, the solar-powered irrigation pumps, Mychal Creer had a pretty typical lawn outside his front door.

“I just enjoyed sitting out on the lawn, watching the cars go by and enjoying the sunsets with my wife,” Creer said.

But then Creer met Jamiah Hargins a man on a mission to re-invent LA’s lawns one yard at a time.

“All of these other efforts take time, money, and water,” said Jamiah Hargins the founder of Crop Swap LA. “Why not convert it into food, medicine, and health.”

Hargin’s non-profit supplied the know-how, the materials, and the plans to change Creer’s yard into something he never, ever imagined it could be.

They’re called “micro-farms.”

He changes un-used land such as a water-guzzling lawn, into a place where food is grown.

Hargin’s current focus is underserved communities of color, such as South LA.

Creer remembers how tough it was to find this kind of produce when he was a kid in this community.

“it was hard. You had to go look for it,” Creer said.

Everything here is 100% organic with no pesticides or herbicides.

Now, Creer’s front yard supplies veggies to 22 families in the area.

They each pay about $50 per month which Hargins says is less than you’d pay for organic produce at a supermarket.

“The families that support us can see their food being grown,” Creer said.

Creer loved his new role, as an “urban farmer” for Crop Swap so much that he now works for them full-time.

He teaches others how to convert their lawns into places where squash, broccoli, and peppers will some day be the rule, not the exception.

Source: NBC Los Angeles