PHOTOS: A garden haven
Bob Ou, left, 43, a refugee from Cambodia, and Bilali Muya, a Somalian refugee who doesn’t know his age, share a laugh at the New Roots Community Farm in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego. The two farmers have become leaders in the community, demonstrating how to bridge cultural differences and develop friendships. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
At the New Roots Community Farm, Maryamo Mwechiwa listens as garden manager Bilali Muya identifies healthy chard seeds. “My children used to say, ‘I need hamburgers and pizza,’ ” Muya said. “Now they say, ‘When can you go to the garden and pick some crops?’ ” (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Bilali Muya shows Khadija Mheza a better way to harvest her leafy green vegetables so that new shoots will continue to sprout. Both are Somalian refugees. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Green winter vegetables thrive under the loving care of mostly Cambodian and Somalian refugees at the New Roots Community Farm. Since opening in September 2009, it has been not only a source of food for immigrant families, but also a connection to their homeland, their new country and each other. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
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Photographed through lemon grass, Bilali Muya inspects sweet chard in his garden at the New Roots Community Farm. “I had to find somewhere with security, peace, food and shelter,” he said. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Somalian refugee farmers Mariano Mgenga, left, Salam Muganga and Bilali Muya look over the menu with Jay Porter, right, owner of The Linkery restaurant. Porter bought some lemon grass from one of the farmers and was serving it in a dish that night. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Somalian women walk home along busy 54th Street after spending the day working in their gardens at the New Roots Community Farm. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
