Fresno Famous

Hmong immigrants lose a secret garden
The city plans to build on land where Hmong immigrants have gardened for 13 years.
Published online on Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2008
By Diana Marcum / The Fresno Bee

The setting sun is an orange stamp on a rice-paper sky. A late summer breeze rustles through 10-foot sugarcane tickling the stillness. A coat with Thai embroidery hangs inside an unoccupied shed fashioned from bamboo, cornhusks and a cardboard refrigerator box.

There doesn't seem to be anyone here on this 4 1/2 acres in southeast Fresno.

But, then, a glimpse of movement through cornstalks and staked Chinese long beans leads to a small man carrying a large bucket, hand-watering plants.

He is old. He is shy. He doesn't speak English. He ducks his head at a stranger and continues watering the garden the city of Fresno is about to uproot.

Other cities such as London and San Francisco have their guerrilla gardeners -- folks who take over blighted lands and start growing things like sunflowers in front of Parliament or a vegetable garden in the Richmond district. They are usually environmental activists looking to make a point and don't mind causing a rumble.

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/905324.html?storylink=mirelated