In Laguna Woods, volunteers nurture a gift that keeps on growing

By Daniella Walsh

Laguna Woods Globe Correspondent

Eggplants, tomatoes, green beans, squash, zucchini, passion fruit, grapes, turnips, beets and broccoli.

The produce at Laguna Woods Village’s two garden centers is growing happily. Herbs and spices are carefully cultivated, as are seedlings that thrive in greenhouse spaces.

Sometimes planted on slanted ground better suited for the hooves of goats than human feet, the beds are tended by 12 volunteers. They call the project the Giving Garden: Much of the results will be given to Village residents with limited food sources.

The idea for residents to create a giving garden to help fellow residents came to Susan Margolis and Tami Halle in 2024, after they returned from Namibia, where they had volunteered on an animal reserve. They came away impressed by the kindness and caring the native residents had shown for one another and their community, and that set the pair to thinking how they could help their own neighbors in need.

“Both gardeners, we thought of providing fresh, organic vegetables to those with food insecurity,” Margolis said in an email.

Back home from Africa, Margolis and Halle returned to tending their own garden plots and fruit trees at the garden centers. Once ready to begin their giving project, they scouted for available land and came upon a neglected hillside at Garden Center 1.

“We asked (Garden Center Director) Tom McCray if we could use a plot that was not leasable because it was too steep and there was no entry to it,” Margolis said. “He graciously allowed us to use it, and then began the year of digging to level it and terrace it. We dug four old yellow shag carpets out of the soil that a long past gardener had used to keep weeds down.”

The pair wrote to 75 seed companies for free seeds, Margolis said, “and 20 came through with boxes of seeds. We were donated a small greenhouse and began to start the seeds.”

They also found fruit trees dying in soil polluted by the old carpet remnants and other flotsam, said Halle.

“We went to work cleaning up, laying down cardboard to prevent weeds from sprouting,” she said. “I made all the soil, and 5,000 wheelbarrows full of mulch later, the Giving Garden was born.”

During the course of the project, they learned that as much as 21 percent of Village residents may live below the poverty line, and many experience food insecurity.

“We are seniors helping seniors. We are going to be a food bank,” Halle said, adding, “We do everything organically, no herbicides or pesticides. The ultimate goal is to operate the Giving Garden year round.”

Still, she said, exactly how the produce eventually will be distributed to the needy has yet to be determined.

Along with the volunteers, Halle and Margolis have relied on donations to build the Giving Garden.

“We have garden beds donated by Laguna Woods residents and also received donations, as much as $100 from some, toward the building and upkeep of the greenhouse where we raise seedlings,” Halle said.

Meanwhile, the industrious group has scouted more barren land for the project. Beds need to be prepped, barrels of mulch are needed to cover the soil, and drip lines need to be laid for thirsty seedlings.

Also needed are low fencing and clever disguises to protect plants from hungry critters and the occasional sticky-fingered human.

Volunteers who tend to the Giving Garden spoke about the joys of gardening for happiness and peace of mind, of establishing and growing the Giving Garden and helping neighbors.

Cindy O’Grady calls the Giving Garden a place to learn and make new friends.

“It’s been so nice to be part of something that will benefit so many people,” she said.

Guy Lofts likens rediscovering gardening while nurturing the Giving Garden to reigniting a long lost love.

“I had forgotten the joy of it,” he said.

For some volunteers, like Steve McMahan, gardening is in their blood. One of five kids whose parents were avid backyard gardeners, he wrote: “Working in a garden and seeing the results of your effort is something that sticks with you your whole life.”

Seeing the Giving Garden as an opportunity to give back to the community, he also appreciates that the project benefits both sides – the recipients of nature’s bounty and the gardeners who plant and nurture it.

“I’ve never met a pessimistic gardener,” McMahan said. “It lifts my spirits when I see people working together for the good of others.”

John Izzo, president of the Garden Centers Club, moved to Laguna Woods in 2021 and put himself on the waitlist for a plot after becoming impressed with the garden centers. While waiting, he volunteered for the Giving Garden and found fresh produce and growing friendships.

“The Giving Garden combines two things I value deeply: gardening and helping others,” he said. “This has become one of the most meaningful parts of my Laguna Woods experience.”

For more information on the Garden Centers Club, visit gardencentersclub.com.