Bellyache Averts Headache as Limb Hits Produce Shed

Woodland Hills produce stand operator Geri Lee isn’t going out on a limb when she predicts the next big cash crop at the stand she’s managed for 10 years.

Forget cucumbers or melons or corn. Look instead for cords of choice native oak firewood.

A 10-ton branch from an 800-year-old oak tree that shades Lee’s vegetable stand ripped loose Monday and crushed the plywood shed, its berry racks and the huge walk-in cooler in back that keeps lettuce crisp on hot summer days.

Lee and co-worker Nancy Peterson narrowly escaped being mashed along with the asparagus and the zucchini.

They had popped in at a nearby market to buy yogurt to calm Lee’s upset stomach when the branch fell.

“Truthfully, that’s the only thing that saved us. If my stomach hadn’t hurt, we’d have been standing inside there when it hit,” said Lee, a Northridge resident.

Water Poured Out

Moisture soaked up by the aging oak from a 7-acre irrigated agricultural field behind the stand apparently weighed down the huge limb and caused it to fall. “Water was just pouring out of the tree after the limb came off. It was just saturated,” said Peterson, of Canoga Park.

Field hands nailed together a makeshift stand Tuesday to take the place of the one that was crushed. The replacement stand was placed just out of reach of other large limbs on the tree.

Because the tree apparently is in the city’s Mulholland Drive right of way, Los Angeles street maintenance workers puzzled Wednesday over how best to clean up the mess.

“We try to get over and clear away the limbs and remove the debris as soon as we can,” said Jesus Rivera, a supervisor with the Bureau of Street Maintenance. “For good public relations, we try to leave the firewood for the owner of the adjacent property.”

Other Trees Decayed

Rivera said other oaks in the vicinity of El Camino Shopping Center and the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital have similar decay and health problems.

Guido Giacopuzzi, who co-owns the produce stand with partner Mike Gazzera, said one expert who inspected the tree Wednesday suggested that the limb may produce six cords of firewood.

But Giacopuzzi said he may decide to donate part of the limb to the Leonis Adobe museum in next-door Calabasas instead of selling it as fireplace fuel.

Adobe officials expressed interest Wednesday in using it as a fresh replica of Calabasas’ legendary “hanging tree.” It would replace the current version, which is attached to a base next to Calabasas Road and is falling apart.

“We’re just waiting to see who owns that limb,” Giacopuzzi said.