NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:

Last night, someone stole a bag of potting soil and four pots of newly purchased vegetables from our potting bench at the side yard. Vic told me to phone it in to the police. That should give them their laugh for the day. But it’s important to track crime statistics, and stealing something even as trivial as a tomato plant is a crime.

These were ordinary vegetables, but they were in environmentally friendly peat pots from a company called Bonnie. There is only a thin plastic wrapper around the peat pot, so the pot can be planted right in the ground along with the plant. I had just picked them out at Home Depot yesterday, so I really didn’t have time to get emotionally attached to them.

I chose an heirloom yellow pear tomato and a Roma tomato, a Black Beauty eggplant, plus some basil. I think my mistake was leaving them in the Home Depot bag on the potting bench, which can be easily seen from the street. That made them too easy to grow legs.

The thief left behind a six-pack of different colors of bell peppers from Lowe’s and two smaller heirloom tomatoes from Village Nursery that I also bought yesterday. I still have my Cherokee Purple and Big Zebra heirloom tomatoes, plus my Early Girls and Big Beef tomato that are already in the ground in back. The thief also ignored my bag of azalea mix, an acidic soil that I’m going to use to plant my two blueberry bushes. And they wisely left behind the open bags of planting compost and steer manure.

The things that were stolen really don’t go together. The potting soil is for growing plants in pots, not a soil amendment for the ground. I picked it up for Vic for a project that he’s planning. He wants to grow ginger and horseradish this year. Both of those can spread like crazy in the ground, and are best grown in pots.

We can pick up some ginger root at the grocery store and plant it three roots to a 12-inch pot. Ginger makes a beautiful plant that resembles delicate bamboo, and would make a nice addition to potted plants on anyone’s patio.

Horseradish seems to be a bit harder to come by, and I haven’t been able to find it locally at nurseries. But Vic is in luck, because April is the time to get horseradish bare roots. Cook’s Garden, one of my favorite online seed stores, sells six roots for $8.

I have no idea what we’ll do with six roots, much less all of the horseradish that can be grown from six roots. A jar of Silver Spring grated horseradish lasts us for years. But if Vic wants to grow something, I will encourage him. He has eight brothers and sisters, so I suspect that gift-giving is what he has in mind.

While I’m on the topic of tomatoes, I wanted to mention that Lowe’s has some clever offerings in the tomato line. The company carries six-packs of tomatoes with a different variety in each little well.

Lowe’s also has a mix of tomato hybrids that includes Early Girl, Better Boy, a cherry tomato and three others. There are also six-packs of heirloom tomatoes, six different varieties in each well. These are perfect for our small Southern California yards.

Even if you don’t have garden space in your yard, or don’t feel like digging up your landscaping, many things will grow in pots.

I’ve grown burpless cucumbers in pots with a trellis, as well as Japanese eggplants, spinach, lettuce, bok choy and green onions. Our friends Mark and Marlene Singer grow loads of tomatoes and hot peppers in 12-inch nursery pots. An advantage of pots is that you can move them with the seasons to take advantage of the sun.

Of course, a community garden is an ideal way to grow vegetables. I loved my plot at Goldenwest College, and “farmed” it for many years. Unfortunately, the college closed that garden down a number of years ago, and it’s now a parking lot.

But there is hope for another community garden in town. A group is organizing in southeast Huntington Beach. Annette Parsons and Joanne Rasmussen are seeking people in their neighborhood who are interested in having an organic garden for growing vegetables and flowers in individual plots.

They’re working with community services in the city to find suitable space, and several spots have been proposed.

They already have a name, the Huntington Beach Community Victory Garden. You can get more information from Joanne Rasmussen at (714) 593-1700 or Jreal1126@msn.com.

It will truly be a victory if they are able to bring this garden to fruition.

There are still many issues to consider, such as parking, fencing, water, a tool shed, sitting areas, size and layout of individual plots, and whether to have community space for shared crops such as blackberries, flowers or herbs.

There also are issues of liability insurance and whether to form a 501(c)3 to obtain donations from home improvement stores.

After they form their plans, the group’s members must go through the Community Services Commission, Public Works, Planning Commission and City Council, plus notify neighbors near the proposed project once the site is chosen. While it seems like an easy thing for a group of neighbors to get together and grow their own food on some vacant land, it is really far more complicated than one would think. The process is time-consuming, and there are expenses.

Vic and I are going to see what we can do to help get this garden established. With luck, maybe we can break ground on some new community garden plots by January.

Then we just have to hope that no one steals the tomatoes.

VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.