Seniors Corner: End of an Era for Sun City Agricultural Club

By Chuck Reutter

The Agricultural Club of Sun City has served the seniors in our community by teaching people how to grow their own vegetables for many years. ]

When I came here in 1989, there were at least 50 people growing vegetables. I recall the great taste of corn on the cob when you pick it fresh. The tomatoes were great along with some exotic foreign vegetables such as Bok Choy, Fava Beans, plus grapes and so on.

I am writing this because our Sun City Civic Association’s Board of Directors decided to put our community gardens property up for sale and we may be witnessing the end of an era.

Community gardens were common at one time in the not too distance past and most people did this to save money or to grow exotic food. By the 1970s, it became so much more cost effective to purchase your vegetables at the supermarket or store.

One by one, the people dropped out of the Sun City Ag club due to having a tough time trying to keep up the garden until the Ag club membership reached four. As a result, the Sun City Civic Association’s Board of Directors approached the Eastern Municipal Water District and offered the nearly 9-acre parcel to the people at EMWD. The SCCA’s membership will be voting on whether to sell the Ag gardens.

We must understand it takes a lot of work to maintain a community garden and at one time, in the 1980s, we did have young people share a garden or two with us. This was an excellent opportunity for our seniors to teach and guide young people into the joys of gardening.

Food wasn’t the only item growing in the gardens because we had several plots dedicated to growing flowers and a flower club worked with some of the folks involved in the venture. Within the year, another era will have ended.

Chuck Reutter, a longtime resident of the Sun City area of Menifee, shares his thoughts on the senior scene here monthly.