While many Stockton lawns are barely clinging to life amid the stifling summer heat, Miguel Guillen’s front yard stands apart.
It’s a lush landscape of cantaloupes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and more.
The greenery stretches from one side to the other, surrounding the modest home nestled in a leafy midtown neighborhood. Plants entwine mesh-and-wood trellises in true urban farming fashion. There are six types of melons alone — and not a blade of grass in sight.
“The garden is my canvas of creativity,” the 36-year-old social media marketing consultant said. “It’s always changing.”
There are community gardens where neighbors carve out tiny plots and struggle to grow what they can. And then there’s Guillen’s version: Eschew grass in favor of transforming his entire yard into a flourishing vegetable and fruit mecca.
Besides feasting at home, he shares his bounty with friends and neighbors. He even maintains a box of seed packets along the sidewalk to encourage passersby to develop their own gardening skills.
Guillen recently gave away potted plants to anyone who wanted one at the National Night Out celebration at Yosemite Street Village, a few blocks from his home. It’s the third year he’s offered the giveaways.
Are the efforts a lot of work? Yes, but he wouldn’t want it any other way. Gardening has become like therapy for him.
“This is my way to unplug,” Guillen said. “It’s my escape.”
That escape involves endless hours of study, digging, cultivating and experimentation. He watches online videos to unlock the secrets of green-thumb successes in similar climates. He moves plants to different parts of the yard to find the ideal growing spots for them. He sticks with underperformers — Brussels sprouts, for instance — even when they continue to disappoint, hoping that his changes will result in a breakthrough.
Guillen installed drip irrigation throughout his garden. The system is set on timers so it’s one less worry about watering. And because it’s so efficient, he said his water bill is only around $100 a month.
He started modestly enough. He bought the house he shares with his partner eight years ago. The yard was in shambles at the time. Guillen planned to plant grass initially, but the drought was on and “I thought it probably was not a good idea,” he said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he took a different tack. He planted pumpkin seeds all over the yard. They took off, spilling ripe gourds onto the sidewalk. Guillen became a neighborhood hero as he tried to find homes for the 70 pumpkins that grew. Flush with success, he then faced a new challenge: “What else can I grow?”
He tried garlic, onions and artichokes. He started getting more serious. He realized there’s a certain responsibility that comes with tilling the soil.
“It’s a nice feeling that there are plants that are depending on me,” he said.
As he gave away much of what he grew, Guillen reaped the friendships he’d sown. Neighbors started giving him edible gifts of their own, leaving homemade jams and freshly baked bread at his door. With no room to expand on his own property, Guillen has now taken over landscaping the parkways across the street from his house with his neighbors’ blessings.
As if he hasn’t given back enough, Guillen plans to host an annual garden party for 40 or so invitees as summer draws to a close. It will feature delights such as a signature cocktail based on juice from fruit grown in his garden.
“We celebrate our abundance,” he said.